This year’s legislative session was one of the most challenging, unique sessions in IACS history. With all the challenges this session, IACS is grateful for the successes we had advocating for our students. Our membership consists of our schools but our advocacy is always centered around what is best for students – even over our own organizations. Student interests should always come before institutional interests. This year we successfully advocated for a number of changes to benefit our students’ opportunities for learning and their safety. We have much more work to do moving forward!
AEA Reform Summary
It’s helpful to first have some background. In 2022, a SPED task force mandated by legislation gathered to better study how to implement special education services in nonpublic schools. This task force had representation from all stakeholders, including IACS members. It has taken 2 years, but the recommendations from that task force have now been implemented as part of the AEA bill, which we believe is a big win for us!
HF 2612, better known as the “AEA Bill,” was signed into law by Governor Reynolds on Wednesday, March 27 after many versions, amendments, and debate about the content.
IACS and the Iowa Catholic Conference worked very hard to make sure this bill did not harm our schools, and for the most part, we believe that we accomplished that goal with a few substantive details to work out in the future. A task force will be formed in the coming weeks to hash out implementation, and we will have a nonpublic school representative on that task force. Year one will see little to no changes to what you have in place now. IACS will be providing information and guidance on the SPED placement issues for IEPs to our schools.
Here are the main parts of the legislation:
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- For nonpublic schools, a significant piece of the bill clarifies existing law in a very clear way that SPED students shall be served in the school they are enrolled in except in extenuating circumstances: “Provide information to individualized education program teams and public agencies that nonpublic schools shall be considered a placement option so long as the individualized education program of a child with a disability does not require some other arrangement.” This means that your nonpublic school shall be the default placement and location for special education services provided through a student’s IEP unless the IEP actually calls for another arrangement (for example, the student needs a specialized behavior classroom and your school does not have one).
- During Year 1 (2024-2025), 100% of state funding for special education will flow through the public school to the AEA; in year 2 and after, 90% will go to the AEA for SPED.
- During Year 1 for media and other educational services, 60% of state funding will flow through the public school district to the AEA. 40% will stay with the school district.
- For Year 2 and after, all education and media services funding will go to the public school district and they will decide how to spend it. The districts can do business with anyone they choose (although DE must approve the professional development), or can spend the money on any allowable general fund use. This effectively ends these services for nonpublic schools (unless a district wants to help) without changes in legislation next session.
- Mandatory trainings, professional development, and licensure renewal credits will still be provided through the AEA with all courses and trainings approved by the Department of Education.
- At least one of the full-time equivalent positions that will be established shall be a liaison for accredited nonpublic schools working through issues that nonpublic schools have related to IEP implementation.
- The AEA shall charge reasonable costs that are consistent with current market rates for the educational services, special education services, professional development services, and media services established by the area education agency.
- Over two years, there will be an increase in minimum public school teacher salary to $50,000. We are told this will put us in the top 5 states.
- Starting next school year, there will be an increase in the minimum salary for public school teachers with 12 years of experience to $62,000 over two years.
- $14 million is provided to districts for para-educator salary increases.
- The Department of Education will be responsible for compliance and oversight of special education. The DE will hire at least one full-time DE to be a liaison with nonpublic schools in the division of special education.
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Bottom Line On AEA Bill:
Special education dollars remain intact, available to nonpublic students, and the bill provides additional protections for special education students and an employee at the Department dedicated to helping nonpublic schools and parents navigate the process and address situations that will inevitably come up.
The bill fundamentally shifts the responsibility for oversight and authority from the AEAs to the Department of Education. At a time when the Department is both understaffed and struggling to be responsive, time will tell if the additional employees paid for in the bill improve services.
We must engage in the task force recommendations this summer/fall and IACS stands ready to advocate for an equitable share of media and ed services next session.
Other Bills IACS Worked On This Session:
Social Studies Curriculum and Study – The Iowa legislature passed a bill that requires a study of social studies curriculum while simultaneously writes social studies curriculum focusing on American history and Western Civilization. Proponents of the bill argue that it doesn’t exclude world studies or other subjects but ensures subjects they believe are being ignored in schools are included. Opponents of the bill point out that both parties for years have maligned efforts to write curriculum and specific standards in Code and point out the “interesting” decision to include an interim study but then make conclusions in Code ahead of time. IACS was undecided on this bill as it affects only state accredited schools but we did weigh in with concerns on precedent bills like this set and pointed out that this type of legislation goes against the public policy making principles of both parties.
Immunization Resources and Seizure Mitigation Teacher Training Mandate – Senator Green introduced a bill that would require schools give parents information on vaccines and their rights around exemptions. IACS was undecided on this bill and didn’t have any concerns. It passed the Senate and was hijacked by the House when they added a non-germane teacher training mandate on seizure response. We agree that schools should have someone in the building trained in seizure mitigation but we oppose some details in the bill and we strongly oppose any further teacher training mandates until there is a review of current mandates, the deletion of any mandates that are no longer needed, and there is a teacher training “rotator” put in place that sets the amount of time the State believes is reasonable for teachers to be in trainings each year and spreads out training timing when new mandates are passed. This protection of our educators’ time is critical and we will work hard to defeat any further mandates until these protections are in place. We have tried to work with stakeholders pushing for current mandate additions but they have not been willing thus far to help us get our protections so they can get their mandate. The bill was sent back to the Senate and we are grateful they chose not to take it up at the 11th hour. We are happy to work with Senator Green and other legislators to get his underlying immunization language passed and we’ll be working over the interim to set the stage for legislation protecting educators’ time while ensuring school employees are prepared to handle critical situations that may arise in a school building.
Minor Driving Permits – IACS was undecided on the youth driving bill despite serious concerns about the limitations put on nonpublic school students on a school permit. The new law reduces the mileage from 50 miles to 25. There was near-unanimous support for this in both chambers the moment the bill was introduced and in the last interim when a task force made the recommendation. For a number of years, public and nonpublic school students had a different radius. The current law was also difficult to enforce. This bill creates a more uniform school permit structure. We are not pleased with the reduction in mileage (we appealed for public school students to have the same mileage as current nonpublic students since there is zero data showing the current radius poses any safety concerns) but the feelings of legislators was that 50 miles was too far. This bill affects every student getting a school permit after July 1, 2024.
School Safety and Security – The legislature made it easier for public and nonpublic schools to arm staff. IACS was undecided on this bill as current law stays in place and we now have more options. This bill wasn’t necessary for nonpublic schools but we appreciate the legislature working to give public schools more options at the local level.
Chronic Absenteeism – A bill that would require nonpublic schools to work with county attorneys on truancy and attendance policies was defeated but a revised version was passed in another bill at the 11th hour. (See page 22 in the link.) We do not have any serious concerns with the version that passed as it doesn’t require consultation with county attorneys or law enforcement. The initial bill, because it included nonpublic schools, was a solution in search of a problem.
Preschool Funding – IACS supported a coalition of education interests looking to increase funding for lower income preschool students. This bill failed to pass this year.
Athletic Eligibility & Participation – An IACS member school got a bill introduced that would require public schools accept nonpublic students in athletic teams if the nonpublic school didn’t have the sport. A growing number of public school administrators (most partner well with our schools) are taking out their frustrations with school choice legislation on our students by refusing to allow them to play sports on the public school team. We were initially opposed to the bill as it would have required nonpublic schools to accept any public school student who wanted to play on the nonpublic school team as well. Aside from the obvious admissions and religious liberty issues, the bill ignored a fundamental difference in funding, purpose, and culture of public and nonpublic schools. Once that provision was removed, we supported the bill but the Senate refused to take it up after the House passed it and sent it over as they had concerns about unintended consequences in certain circumstances. We appreciate legislators in both chambers working on this. We’ll work to address this again next session.
Student Information Systems – IACS successfully worked with other education stakeholders to defeat a Department of Education bill that would have required all schools in Iowa use the state’s student information system. We have serious concerns about privacy, access to private information by the state, and functional concerns with a one-size-fits-all system mandated by the state. The program starts out costing about the same as the average of current providers but wasn’t limited in the years two or beyond, meaning the state could raise rates unilaterally without competition. We vehemently oppose any effort by the state to hijack our data, prohibit us from duplicating our own data for our own use, and obtaining a blank check on fees. The bill was, thankfully, defeated.
“Grooming” Bill – IACS supported a bill that would strengthen accountability for educators who engage in “grooming” behaviors. We believe our faculty and staff should be above reproach and felt this bill was written adequately to protect our staff from frivolous or false accusations in most cases.
Right of First Refusal / Deed Restrictions (Senate File 2368) – IACS opposed the bill initially as it only included charter schools in the right of first refusal when a public school district is selling an existing building. This was changed the last week of session and we supported its passage. It is awaiting the Governor’s signature. Districts opposed to nonpublic education or wishing to take out their frustrations with school choice programs are increasingly putting on “deed restrictions” on their vacant buildings, preventing nonpublic schools or charter schools from purchasing those buildings. The bill as passed would prohibit this practice and give education providers first right of refusal on those buildings. We are pleased the legislature got this over the finish line this year.
Athletic Competition Changes (cash & socio-economic factors in classification) HSB 605 – Iowa’s athletic unions recently decided that lower income students should be counted as less of a human being to make adjustments to classifications in athletic competitions. Although we appreciate this bill addressing that immoral situation, it also mandated that every school accept cash. For any number of reasons, many schools are moving away from cash and only accepting cards or other electronic payment methods to reduce errors, reduce theft, and make the process for volunteers and attendees more seamless and efficient. We don’t believe the state should be mandating private organizations policies on payment methods. We opposed the bill and it did not pass this year.
School Start Date – A number of bills had modifications to address the unintended consequences of the current school start date law preventing schools from starting earlier in the week when the current date falls on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. The bills sought to compromise with the tourism industry and the State Fair by simply saying schools could start earlier in the week or two after the fair. Industry prevailed in defeating this reasonable compromise so current policy on school start dates stay in place.
The dollar amount for ESAs have increased 2.5% to $7,826.00. This change is tied to the annual supplemental state aid growth for public schools. Increases for ESAs, if past predicts future, will average from 0% to 3% per year.
There were no changes to the STO tax credit program this year.
For more detailed information on every bill we declared on this General Assembly (last two sessions), visit our bill tracker and check out our legislative scorecard.
Thank you for your active participation in this year’s legislative session. We look forward to supporting members in implementing the bills that passed and in advocating for issues again in next year’s session.