House
File
730
-
Introduced
HOUSE
FILE
730
BY
MATSON
,
EHLERT
,
LEVIN
,
MADISON
,
KURTH
,
and
GJERDE
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
requiring
the
director
of
the
department
of
education
to
1
establish
a
special
education
weighting
work
group.
2
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
3
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Section
1.
SPECIAL
EDUCATION
WEIGHTING
WORK
GROUP.
1
1.
School
funding
in
Iowa
has
not
evolved
as
the
2
demographics
of
Iowa
students
have
changed
significantly,
with
3
little
attention
paid
to
supporting
the
special
education
needs
4
of
students.
In
order
to
meet
the
needs
of
such
students
and
to
5
ensure
access
to
special
education
across
school
districts,
the
6
special
education
weighting
work
group
shall
review
the
special
7
education
weighting
plan
under
section
256B.9,
which
has
not
8
been
altered
since
2004,
and
shall
consider
ways
to
increase
9
special
education
weightings.
10
2.
The
school
finance
review
committee
met
on
December
11
16,
2024,
and
received
a
memo
from
the
school
budget
review
12
committee
that
discussed
how
a
review
of
special
education
13
funding
should
be
conducted.
14
3.
The
director
of
the
department
of
education
shall
15
establish
and
appoint
members
to
a
work
group
to
make
16
recommendations
to
modify
the
special
education
weighting
plan.
17
The
department
of
education
shall
work
cooperatively
to
provide
18
staffing
assistance
for
the
work
group.
The
work
group
shall
19
be
composed
of
at
least
all
of
the
following:
20
a.
One
member
representing
the
Iowa
association
of
school
21
boards.
22
b.
One
member
representing
the
area
education
agencies.
23
c.
One
member
representing
the
Iowa
state
education
24
association.
25
d.
One
member
representing
the
school
administrators
of
26
Iowa.
27
e.
One
member
representing
the
urban
education
network
of
28
Iowa.
29
f.
One
member
representing
the
rural
school
advocates
of
30
Iowa.
31
g.
One
member
representing
the
professional
educators
of
32
Iowa.
33
h.
One
representative
of
the
school
district
with
the
34
highest
basic
enrollment
under
section
257.6
for
the
school
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budget
year
beginning
July
1,
2024.
1
i.
One
representative
of
a
school
district
with
a
basic
2
enrollment
under
section
257.6
for
the
school
budget
year
3
beginning
July
1,
2024,
that
is
ranked
in
the
highest
one-third
4
among
all
school
districts
in
the
state.
5
j.
One
representative
of
a
school
district
with
a
basic
6
enrollment
under
section
257.6
for
the
school
budget
year
7
beginning
July
1,
2024,
that
is
ranked
in
the
middle
one-third
8
among
all
school
districts
in
the
state.
9
k.
One
representative
of
a
school
district
with
a
basic
10
enrollment
under
section
257.6
for
the
school
budget
year
11
beginning
July
1,
2024,
that
is
ranked
in
the
lowest
one-third
12
among
all
school
districts
in
the
state.
13
l.
One
representative
of
a
school
district
located
in
whole
14
or
in
part
less
than
one
hundred
miles
from
the
eastern
border
15
of
this
state.
16
m.
One
representative
of
a
school
district
located
in
whole
17
or
in
part
more
than
one
hundred
miles
from
both
the
eastern
18
border
of
this
state
and
the
western
border
of
this
state.
19
n.
One
representative
of
a
school
district
located
in
whole
20
or
in
part
less
than
one
hundred
miles
from
the
western
border
21
of
this
state.
22
o.
Four
ex
officio,
nonvoting
legislative
members
23
consisting
of
the
following:
24
(1)
Two
state
senators,
one
appointed
by
the
majority
leader
25
of
the
senate
and
one
appointed
by
the
minority
leader
of
the
26
senate.
27
(2)
Two
state
representatives,
one
appointed
by
the
speaker
28
and
one
appointed
by
the
minority
leader
of
the
house
of
29
representatives.
30
4.
By
January
2,
2026,
the
work
group
shall
submit
31
recommendations
to
the
general
assembly
and
the
governor
for
32
adjustments
to
the
special
education
weightings.
33
EXPLANATION
34
The
inclusion
of
this
explanation
does
not
constitute
agreement
with
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the
explanation’s
substance
by
the
members
of
the
general
assembly.
1
This
bill
directs
the
director
of
the
department
of
2
education
to
establish
and
appoint
members
to
a
special
3
education
weighting
plan
work
group
to
review
the
special
4
education
weighting
plan
under
Code
section
256B.9,
and
shall
5
consider
ways
to
increase
special
education
weightings.
The
6
bill
directs
the
department
of
education
to
work
cooperatively
7
to
provide
staffing
assistance
for
the
work
group
and
8
establishes
the
minimum
persons
comprising
the
work
group.
9
By
January
2,
2026,
the
work
group
is
required
to
submit
10
recommendations
to
the
general
assembly
and
the
governor
for
11
adjustments
to
special
education
weightings.
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