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Update on 2021 Legisaltive Session

March 1, 2021 By IACS

Update on 2021 Legislative Session

We apologize for the length of this email but we’ve received a lot of questions on the school choice bill(s) and the unfunded mandates that have been introduced this year and wanted to make sure our schools and families have all the relevant information.

The Legislature wrapped up week seven and is beginning week eight. The session is scheduled to end April 30. Friday, March 5 marks the first “funnel” deadline when all bills must be through the subcommittee and committee process in the chamber it was introduced in to be eligible for further consideration this session. There are exceptions for budget and tax bills, bills introduced by legislative leadership, etc.

We have a number of issues the Iowa Association of Christian Schools (IACS) is tracking. We wanted to take a moment to update you on a few of them:

The Governor’s Education Reform and School Choice Bill

The Governor introduced a bill making some reforms and introducing public, charter, and private school choice initiatives. We were undecided on that bill for a number of reasons we posted on. We had action alerts out for both the Senate and the House and many of you clicked the link and emailed your Senator and/or your Representative and encouraged them to improve and pass the bill. We appreciate your willingness to weigh in!  THANK YOU!

The Senate passed that bill early in the session and it has been sitting in the House education committee awaiting action. This week, the House Education Committee Chair split the Governor’s Bill into three separate bills. HSB 240 passed subcommittee last week and two have subcommittees March 2.  We are current declared “undecided” on each of them and will outline each bill below. Senate File 159, for all practical purposes, is dead and has been replaced by these three new bills in the House. The House didn’t make any substantive changes to the Senate version but simply broke it up into the following three bills:

  1. HSB 240 – “The Rest” of the Governor’s education bill that was in SF 159.
  2. HSB 242 – Charter Schools
  3. HSB 243 – Students First Scholarship (ESA)

HSB 240 – Statewide Database, Open Enrollment, Tuition and Textbook Tax Credit and Other Provisions

HSB 240 includes two sections that are of interest to IACS: The first section creates a statewide student information management system (database).  This would require public and private schools statewide to either replace their current student information software or add another layer of state-prescribed software that would collect data for the state. We are vehemently opposed to this provision of the bill and join public and private school interest groups in opposing its inclusion in any bill this session. The provision would cost public and private schools approximately $7 per student per year, payable to the state; is duplicative; and ignores the fact that our current systems work best with the realities of our schools, our websites, communication tools, etc. We believe it is wholly inappropriate for the state to include private schools in this program, especially when the genesis of the idea was frustration with data collection during a temporary situation (the pandemic) and could be remedied without forcing an expensive, one-size-fits-all system on Iowa’s schools. We believe it is bad public policy and we are disappointed it hasn’t been removed from the bill yet.

The second section of this bill that is of interest to IACS and our families is the tuition and textbook tax credit changes. The tuition and textbook tax credit is currently 25% of the first $1,000 spent by public and private school parents on educational expenses for each dependent. As of a couple of years ago, 70% of those credits were claimed by public school families.  The tax credit is currently uncapped. This changes in this bill raise it to 50% of the first $2,000 educational expenses for each dependent. It also includes homeschool families and is refundable, meaning that it will assist lower income families not currently itemizing or subject to state income tax. These are welcome changes that will help many Iowa families significantly. We appreciate that it is available to all Iowa families of school-aged children and the increases are a welcome relief for families spending significantly more on education in private settings. We will be encouraging the legislature to get this over the finish line this year.

HSB 242 – Charter Schools

Iowa is currently dead-last when it comes to charter opportunities for Iowa families. IACS is a “school choice” organization and we support the inclusion of charter options for Iowa families to the degree their introduction and expansion grows at a rate commensurate with private school choice. Iowa currently only has a couple of school-district-run charters that are, arguably, not really charters in the sense most people think of them.  We support charters having alternative methods of forming as outlined in the bill but we need to ensure that the number of charters is limited until the State is willing to provide universal school choice or make significant strides toward it simultaneous with any charter expansion. We are undecided and we hope that the state legislature chooses to pass legislation that ensures all ships rise. We don’t need the legislature picking more winners and losers. We simply want families to be empower to make ANY choice that is best for their child.

HSB 243 – Students First Scholarship (ESA)

This bill takes the Students First Scholarship program from the Governor’s initial bill and stands it on its own. Many House Republicans have shown reluctance to pass an ESA this year. We are concerned about this bill on two levels: First, that it is based on “failing” public schools and only pertains to families currently attending or entering kindergarten assigned to one of the 34 public school buildings on that list and, secondly, that the overall impact on parental choice is tiny and doesn’t allow us to compete with the current uncapped charter school legislation. We’ll be encouraging the legislature to pick any of the ESA bills we are declared in favor of and run one of those alongside charter expansion or find ways to bolster private school choice while limiting the number of charters available in the state.

Other Issues

HF 585 – “Safe and Sound” Program by the Department of Public Safety

This bill was introduced by the Iowa Department of Public Safety without consulting with education stakeholders first. It does a number of things including officer training; creates a system for accepting “anonymous” (this has been debated all session what that means) reports of self-harm, bullying, threats or actions of violence, etc.; the development by the Department of a voluntary violence prevention curriculum for use by schools, and participating requirements including mandating private religious schools advertise their hotline and programming despite our inability to vet the program for quality or assure that a person on the other end of a phone call or report understands the context or cultural considerations of the student. The bill also requires we share our emergency operations plans with the Department, which may share it with local law enforcement.

We have weighed in on our concerns and currently oppose the bill.  The House amended the bill to allow schools to advertise the program digitally instead of posting paper posters on our walls in three locations. Although better, it is still an unacceptable intrusion considering our schools already have programing and resources and we believe even a one-time digital advertisement on a website, email, or other form of communication simply confuses the school community on which resources are vetted by the school and parents. We have practical, religious liberty, and other constitutional concerns about this bill.

The bill has passed committee and is awaiting debate on the House floor. The Senate version has failed to advance through subcommittee at this time. Please use our action alert and ask your Representative to vote no on this bill and encourage the Department of Public Safety to work with stakeholders in the interim if they want to find ways to help our communities and school families. It is challenging for a legislature to vote against buzz words like “suicide,” “violence,” and “safety” if they don’t hear from you that you believe your school is a safe environment with plans and resources already in place without this troublesome program being enacted.

HF 167 – Seizure Disorders and Teacher Training

This bill has come up a number of years in a row and follows many other mandates by the legislature on teacher training. We have also seen Diabetes training and other training requirements pop up. We are declared opposed to the bill.  We understand the need to be able to address health and safety issues in our schools.  What we oppose is mandates on private, religious schools; especially when the current system of teacher training mandates is overloaded. Despite offering to meeting with organizations pushing this and mandates like it, we were not taken up on that offer and was surprised by the bill this year.  We will be responding to a request made recently to meet over the Summer.

We have worked with other private and public school stakeholders to suggest and amendment that replaces the bill with a study in the interim on a proposal to revamp the teacher training requirements to stretch out some of the timelines, put trainings in a rotator for CEUs, and create a system where the appropriate educators can get the appropriate trainings on a rotating schedule that better fits in with the financial and personal time constraints of Iowa’s teachers and administrators. We believe there is a win/win solution for interest groups and schools without piling on more unfunded training mandates. Please use our action alert to email your Representative and ask them to support an amendment that would create a teacher training study in the interim.

We have weighed in on other bills too. You can see a list of the most relevant bills we are declared on by visiting our “Key Legislation” page on our website. There are a number of bills we are supporting or monitoring.  We’ll also be keeping a scorecard on how Representatives and Senators vote on key bills and will provide a link to that as these bills get votes on the floor of each chamber. Our current action alerts can be found on our “Campaigns”page on our website. Please consider emailing your Representative about these bills today. All of our current resources can be found by visiting iowachristianschools.org and clicking on “Action Center.”

Please don’t hesitate to contact us through our website if you have any questions or concerns. We are working hard every day to ensure the interests of Iowa’s Christian school parents and their educators are heard at the Capitol.

Filed Under: News, Legislative Update, Issue Update, School Choice, Education Savings Accounts, Tax Credits, Action Alert Tagged With: ESA, School Choice, Department of Ed, Private Education, Iowa ACE, Iowa, Education Savings Accounts, Iowa Legislature, Iowa House, Iowa Senate, Unfunded Mandates

National School Choice Week – January 24-30!

December 22, 2020 By IACS

NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE WEEK – JANUARY 24-30 – 2021

We are proud to be a part of the Iowa Alliance for Choice in Education and they are Iowa’s conduit for all things #SchoolChoiceWeek this year!  This year’s celebration is completely virtual – but we are still going to have fun!  Iowa ACE is sponsoring two contests for K-12 students:

  • I Love my Education Video Contest – Submit a short video on why you love the way you learn and you could win a Lenovo Chromebook!   Contest details available here I-love-my-education-NSCW-2021-Video-Contest-1-1 (2)
  • NSCW Official Dance Contest – Looking for something to do with your classmates, or with your family/friends during winter break?  Learn the NSCW Official Dance and submit a video of your performance to Iowa ACE!  You could win a prize party – and launch your dance career!  Contest details available here NSCW 2021 Dance Contest Details

Also available this year:

Calling all K-5 Iowa Teachers!  National School Choice Week is hosting a Penpal Program for NSCW 2021.  Find out more and sign up your class for this easy, fun activity on the NSCW website HERE

Filed Under: News, School Choice, Iowa ACE, IACS Events, Preschool, Elementary/Middle, High School Tagged With: School Choice, Video, Private Education, Iowa ACE, School Choice Week, Iowa, Events

Wrapping Up School Choice Week

January 25, 2019 By IACS

This week, hundreds of events across the country celebrated the diversity of school options available to parents currently and called on policy makers to make it easier for low- to middle-income families to make that choice too.  In Iowa, IACS is part of the Iowa Alliance for Choice in Education, which hosted a legislative breakfast at the Capitol this week with legislators meeting administrators from around the state and students from St. Theresa Catholic school and Ankeny Christian Academy.

There were dozens of stories in statewide and local media about school choice week but here are a couple from NW Iowa popping up on our news feeds and google alerts today:

It’s a Week for Celebration of School Choice

Western Offers More Than Education

White House Proclamation

Congressional Resolution

Filed Under: School Choice, Iowa ACE, School Spotlight Tagged With: School Choice, Private Education, Iowa ACE, School Choice Week, Iowa, School Spotlight

IACS January Newsletter – Legislative Session Preview

January 12, 2019 By IACS

Our IACS January 2019 Newsletter is out!  There are a few events to pencil in on your calendar and we have an overview on the legislature and our areas of focus for the year!

Filed Under: News, Legislative Update, Issue Update, School Choice, Iowa ACE, Education Savings Accounts, IACS Events, Best Practices Tagged With: ESA, Des Moines Christian, Iowa ACE, website, Iowa, Education Savings Accounts, Iowa Legislature, Iowa House, Transportation, Textbooks, Action Alert, Email List, IACS Events, Events, Iowa Senate, Marketing, Best Practices

529 Plan Updates

July 2, 2018 By IACS

You may now use 529 Plans to pay for K-12 tuition in Iowa.  Iowa ACE has worked with the state to get the latest information and we are passing it along.  Always consult your tax professional before making any changes to or contributions from any account or plan that has tax ramifications:

From Iowa ACE:

Disclaimer
This Fact Sheet is not intended to provide tax or legal advice. If you are considering using an Iowa 529 plan for K-12 purposes and you have specific questions about your impact, please seek guidance from a tax professional or an attorney. This document is subject to change.

Federal Law Change
Beginning in 2018, qualified expenses for federal tax benefit purposes include K-12 tuition at public, private or religious schools up to $10,000 per year per student in the aggregate across all qualified tuition programs for a designated beneficiary.

Iowa State Law Change
The Iowa Tax Reform legislation signed into law in June 2018 contained provisions related to distributions from an Iowa 529. The tax provisions were retroactive to January 1, 2018. Under the new legislation Iowa taxpayers can use assets in one of the plans under the Iowa Education Savings Plan Trust to pay for K-12 tuition with no Iowa state tax consequences if:

  • The beneficiary attends an elementary or secondary school in the state of Iowa;
  • The elementary or secondary school is accredited under Iowa Code Section 256.11; and
  • The elementary or secondary school adheres to the provisions of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Iowa Code Chapter 216.

State tax treatment of K-12 withdrawals is determined by the state(s) where the taxpayer files state income tax. If you’re not an Iowa taxpayer, please consult with a tax advisor.

FAQ’s

Can an Iowa taxpayer use their 529 funds for K-12 tuition out of state?
Yes. However, their withdrawal would be considered nonqualified for Iowa state tax purposes and would be subject to recapture.

What is the recapture on non-qualified withdrawals?
Contributions to an Iowa 529 Plan that were previously deducted for Iowa income tax purposes must be included as Iowa income when distributed, unless they are used to pay for qualified education expenses. For Iowa income tax purposes, a rollover to a non-Iowa 529 plan will be treated as a nonqualified withdrawal and taxed as income to the extent previously deducted as a contribution to the Iowa 529 Plan.

Who can receive a distribution for K-12 tuition?
A qualified K-12 withdrawal can be sent directly to a K-12 Institution or to the Participant. Unlike higher education qualified withdrawals, distributions will not be sent directly to the Beneficiary.

Can a 529 participant have a K-12 distribution sent directly to the K-12 institution?
Yes. Forms and the website will be updated to clearly indicate if the payment is going to a K-12 or Higher Education Institution. Until then, participants may request a payment to the Eligible Institution and payment will be mailed directly to the K-12 institution.

Are the age-based tracks suitable for funds contributed for K-12 purposes?
No. Age-based options are designed for higher education and are generally not appropriate for K-12 time horizons. Please consult with a tax advisor for additional advice.

Are other K-12 expenses such as books and supplies qualified education expenses?
No. Tuition is the only qualified education expense for K-12.

When can participants start making qualified withdrawals for K-12?
Now. The federal law became effective on January 1, 2018 and the state law is retroactive to January 1, 2018. Forms are in the update process, but withdrawals may be taken at any time for K-12 Tuition.

The online and/or paper withdrawal form has not been updated, how do I request a qualified withdrawal for K-12 tuition?
We are in the process of changing the language related to withdrawals. Once that process is complete, there will be a selection specifically for K-12 qualified withdrawals. Until that time, you should select the qualified withdrawal option (even though it may indicate that is for higher education). You may direct the payment to the account owner or the K-12 Institution; simply enter that where it asks for the Institution of Higher Education.

How quickly can I receive my funds?
Please allow 7-10 business days for payment by check by regular mail to reach the account owner or the K-12 institution.
Changes to your account that can delay the regular delivery time of 7-10 days:

  • Contributions made by check, recurring contribution or EBT will not be available for withdrawal for seven business days.
  • If the address information that you have requested the withdrawal be sent to has changed in the last nine business days, your withdrawal will be held until this waiting period has been satisfied.
  • If the banking information that you have requested the withdrawal be sent to has changed in the last 15 calendar days, your withdrawal will be held until this waiting period has been satisfied.

What if I have additional questions?
Please call the 529 Plan and an associate will assist you.
College Savings Iowa: 888.672.9116
IAdvisor 529 Plan: 800-774-5127

Iowa ACE coordinated with the State Treasurer’s office for this information.

Trish Wilger, Executive Director, Iowa Alliance for Choice in Education,
twilger@iowaace.org, 515.323.0687

Filed Under: News, Issue Update, Iowa ACE Tagged With: Iowa ACE, Iowa, 529 Plan

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