Senate File 2216 - Reprinted



                                       SENATE FILE       
                                       BY  COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

                                       (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 3097)


    Passed Senate, Date               Passed House,  Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act concerning state and local measures for preparing a
  2    student for a career or for postsecondary education, including
  3    a statewide core curriculum for school districts and
  4    accredited nonpublic schools and a state=designated career
  5    information and decision=making system.
  6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  7 TLSB 6127SV 82
  8 kh/nh/5

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 256.7, subsections 26 and 28, Code
  1  2 Supplement 2007, are amended to read as follows:
  1  3    26.  a.  Adopt rules that establish a voluntary model core
  1  4 curriculum and requiring, beginning with the students in the
  1  5 2010==2011 school year graduating class, high school
  1  6 graduation requirements for all students in school districts
  1  7 and accredited nonpublic schools that include at a minimum
  1  8 satisfactory completion of four years of English and language
  1  9 arts, three years of mathematics, three years of science, and
  1 10 three years of social studies.  The voluntary model core
  1 11 curriculum adopted shall address the core content standards in
  1 12 subsection 28 and the skills and knowledge students need to be
  1 13 successful in the twenty=first century.  The voluntary model
  1 14 core curriculum shall include social studies and twenty=first
  1 15 century learning skills which include but are not limited to
  1 16 civic literacy, health literacy, technology literacy,
  1 17 financial literacy, and employability skills; and shall
  1 18 address the curricular needs of students in kindergarten
  1 19 through grade twelve in those areas.  For purposes of this
  1 20 subsection, "financial literacy" shall include but not be
  1 21 limited to financial responsibility and planning skills; money
  1 22 management skills, including setting financial goals, creating
  1 23 spending plans, and using financial instruments; applying
  1 24 decision=making skills to analyze debt incurrence and debt
  1 25 management; understanding risk management, including the
  1 26 features and functions of insurance; and understanding saving
  1 27 and investing as applied to long=term financial security and
  1 28 asset building.
  1 29    b.  The state board shall continue Continue the inclusive
  1 30 process begun during the initial development of a voluntary
  1 31 model core curriculum for grades nine through twelve including
  1 32 stakeholder involvement, including but not limited to
  1 33 representatives from the private sector and the business
  1 34 community, and alignment of the voluntary model core
  1 35 curriculum to other recognized sets of national and
  2  1 international standards.  The state board shall also recommend
  2  2 quality assessments to school districts and accredited
  2  3 nonpublic schools to measure the voluntary model core
  2  4 curriculum.
  2  5    The state board shall not require school districts or
  2  6 accredited nonpublic schools to adopt a specific textbook or
  2  7 textbook series to meet the core curriculum requirements of
  2  8 this subsection or the core content standards adopted pursuant
  2  9 to subsection 28.
  2 10    28.  Adopt a set of core content standards applicable to
  2 11 all students in kindergarten through grade twelve in every
  2 12 school district and accredited nonpublic school.  For purposes
  2 13 of this subsection, "core content standards" includes reading,
  2 14 mathematics, and science.  The core content standards shall be
  2 15 identical to the core content standards included in Iowa's
  2 16 approved 2006 standards and assessment system under Title I of
  2 17 the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, 20
  2 18 U.S.C. } 6301 et seq., as amended by the federal No Child Left
  2 19 Behind Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107=110.  School districts and
  2 20 accredited nonpublic schools shall include, at a minimum, the
  2 21 core content standards adopted pursuant to this subsection in
  2 22 any set of locally developed content standards.  School
  2 23 districts and accredited nonpublic schools are strongly
  2 24 encouraged to include the voluntary model core curriculum or
  2 25 set higher expectations in local standards.  As changes in
  2 26 federal law or regulation occur, the state board is authorized
  2 27 to amend the core content standards as appropriate.
  2 28    Sec. 2.  Section 256.9, Code Supplement 2007, is amended by
  2 29 adding the following new subsection:
  2 30    NEW SUBSECTION.  57.  Develop and distribute, in
  2 31 collaboration with the area education agencies, core
  2 32 curriculum technical assistance and implementation strategies
  2 33 that school districts and accredited nonpublic schools may
  2 34 utilize, including but not limited to the development and
  2 35 delivery of formative and end=of=course assessments classroom
  3  1 teachers can use to measure student progress on the core
  3  2 curriculum adopted pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26.
  3  3 The department shall continue to collaborate with Iowa testing
  3  4 programs on the development of end=of=course and additional
  3  5 assessments to align with the expectations included in the
  3  6 Iowa core curriculum.
  3  7    Sec. 3.  Section 256.9, Code Supplement 2007, is amended by
  3  8 adding the following new subsection:
  3  9    NEW SUBSECTION.  58.  Submit an annual report to the
  3 10 general assembly by January 1 regarding activities, findings,
  3 11 and student progress under the core curriculum established
  3 12 pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26.  The annual report
  3 13 shall include the state board's findings and recommendations.
  3 14    Sec. 4.  Section 279.61, Code Supplement 2007, is amended
  3 15 to read as follows:
  3 16    279.61  STUDENT PLAN FOR PROGRESS TOWARD UNIVERSITY
  3 17 ADMISSIONS == REPORT.
  3 18    1.  For the school year beginning July 1, 2007 2008, and
  3 19 each succeeding school year, the board of directors of each
  3 20 school district shall cooperate with each student enrolled in
  3 21 grade eight to develop for the student a core curriculum plan
  3 22 to guide the student toward the goal of successfully
  3 23 completing, at a minimum, the voluntary model core curriculum
  3 24 developed by the state board of education pursuant to section
  3 25 256.7, subsection 26, by the time the student graduates from
  3 26 high school.  The plan shall include career options and shall
  3 27 identify the coursework needed in grades nine through twelve
  3 28 to support the student's postsecondary education and career
  3 29 options.  Additionally, the plan shall include a timeline for
  3 30 each student to successfully complete, prior to graduation,
  3 31 all components of the state=designated career information and
  3 32 decision=making system administered by the department in
  3 33 accordance with section 118 of the federal Carl D. Perkins
  3 34 Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2006, Pub.
  3 35 L. No. 109=270.  The student's parent or guardian shall sign
  4  1 the core curriculum plan developed with the student and the
  4  2 signed plan shall be included in the student's cumulative
  4  3 records.
  4  4    2.  For the school year beginning July 1, 2007 2008, and
  4  5 each succeeding school year, the board of directors of each
  4  6 school district shall report annually to each student enrolled
  4  7 in grades nine through twelve in the school district, and, if
  4  8 the student is under the age of eighteen, to each student's
  4  9 parent or guardian, the student's progress toward meeting the
  4 10 goal of successfully completing the core curriculum and high
  4 11 school graduation requirements adopted by the state board of
  4 12 education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26.
  4 13    Sec. 5.  Section 280.3, Code 2007, is amended to read as
  4 14 follows:
  4 15    280.3  DUTIES OF BOARD EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM == ATTENDANCE
  4 16 CENTER REQUIREMENTS.
  4 17    1.  The board of directors of each public school district
  4 18 and the authorities in charge of each nonpublic school shall
  4 19 prescribe the minimum educational program and an attendance
  4 20 policy which shall require each child to attend school for at
  4 21 least one hundred forty=eight days, to be met by attendance
  4 22 for at least thirty=seven days each school quarter, for the
  4 23 schools under their jurisdictions.
  4 24    2.  The minimum educational program shall be the curriculum
  4 25 set forth in subsection 3 of this section and section 256.11,
  4 26 except as otherwise provided by law.  The board of directors
  4 27 of a public school district shall not allow discrimination in
  4 28 any educational program on the basis of race, color, creed,
  4 29 sex, marital status or place of national origin.
  4 30    3.  The board of directors of each public school district
  4 31 and the authorities in charge of each nonpublic school shall
  4 32 do all of the following:
  4 33    a.  Adopt an implementation plan by July 1, 2010, which
  4 34 provides for the adoption of at least one core curriculum
  4 35 subject area each year as established by the state board of
  5  1 education for grades nine through twelve pursuant to section
  5  2 256.7, subsection 26.  The core curriculum established for
  5  3 grades nine through twelve by the state board of education
  5  4 pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26, shall be fully
  5  5 implemented by each school district and school by July 1,
  5  6 2012.
  5  7    b.  Adopt an implementation plan, by July 1, 2012, which
  5  8 provides for the full implementation of the core curriculum
  5  9 established for kindergarten through grade eight by the state
  5 10 board of education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26,
  5 11 by the 2014=2015 school year.
  5 12    4.  A nonpublic school which is unable to meet the minimum
  5 13 educational program may request an exemption from the state
  5 14 board of education.  The authorities in charge of the
  5 15 nonpublic school shall file with the director of the
  5 16 department of education the names and locations of all schools
  5 17 desiring to be exempted and the names, ages, and post office
  5 18 addresses of all pupils of compulsory school age who are
  5 19 enrolled.  The director, subject to the approval of the state
  5 20 board, may exempt the nonpublic school from compliance with
  5 21 the minimum educational program for two school years.  When
  5 22 the exemption has once been granted, renewal of the exemption
  5 23 for each succeeding school year may be conditioned by the
  5 24 director, with the approval of the board, upon proof of
  5 25 achievement in the basic skills of arithmetic, the
  5 26 communicative arts of reading, writing, grammar, and spelling,
  5 27 and an understanding of United States history, history of
  5 28 Iowa, and the principles of American government, of the pupils
  5 29 of compulsory school age exempted in the preceding year.
  5 30 Proof of achievement shall be determined on the basis of tests
  5 31 or other means of evaluation prescribed by the director of the
  5 32 department of education with the approval of the state board
  5 33 of education.  The testing or evaluation, if required, shall
  5 34 be accomplished prior to submission of the request for renewal
  5 35 of the exemption.  Renewal requests shall be filed with the
  6  1 director by April 15 of the school year preceding the school
  6  2 year for which the applicants desire exemption.  This section
  6  3 shall not apply to schools eligible for exemption under
  6  4 section 299.24.
  6  5    5.  The board of directors of each public school district
  6  6 and the authorities in charge of each nonpublic school shall
  6  7 establish and maintain attendance centers based upon the needs
  6  8 of the school age pupils enrolled in the school district or
  6  9 nonpublic school.  Public school kindergarten programs shall
  6 10 and public and nonpublic school prekindergarten programs may
  6 11 be provided.  In addition, the board of directors or governing
  6 12 authority may include in the educational program of any school
  6 13 such additional courses, subjects, or activities which it
  6 14 deems fit the needs of the pupils.
  6 15    Sec. 6.  DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION == CORE CURRICULUM STUDY.
  6 16 The department of education shall conduct a study of the
  6 17 measures necessary for the successful adoption by the state's
  6 18 school districts and accredited nonpublic schools of core
  6 19 curriculums and core content standards established by rule
  6 20 pursuant to section 256.7, subsections 26 and 28.  The
  6 21 department shall submit its findings and recommendations,
  6 22 including recommendations for statutory and administrative
  6 23 rule changes necessary, to the general assembly by November
  6 24 14, 2008.
  6 25    Sec. 7.  STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED.  In accordance
  6 26 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring
  6 27 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall
  6 28 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid
  6 29 received by the school district under section 257.16.  This
  6 30 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed
  6 31 to meet all of the state funding=related requirements of
  6 32 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding
  6 33 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act by
  6 34 and enforcement of this Act against all affected school
  6 35 districts.
  7  1 SF 2216
  7  2 kh:nh/cc/26