Action Line for March 5, 2009
Volume XXXII, Number 8
SF 217 and SF 218 were signed by Gov. Culver on Friday, Feb 27. SF 217 sets a 2 percent allowable growth rate for the categorical funds that were rolled into the foundation formula (Teacher Quality Basic Salary, Professional Development, Phase II and Class Size/Reading Initiatives) for the school year beginning July 1, 2010, which is FY 2011. SF 218 establishes the regular allowable growth within the school foundation formula at 2 percent for FY 2011. These bills maintain the 4 percent allowable growth for FY 2010. Neither bill addresses the mix of state aid, property tax, spending authority or federal stimulus money for FY 2010. That issue will be addressed in a later budget bill if changes are to be made. With this action, the Iowa Legislature and governor complied with the Iowa law requirement to set the FY 2011 rate within 30 days of the release of the governor’s budget, which was Feb. 28.
Thank legislators for maintaining the cost per pupil at 4 percent allowable growth for FY 2010. See the Feb. 4 Allowable Growth Action Network for details of the governor’s budget recommendation and additional background and talking points at www.ia-sb.org/Publications.aspx?id=6566.
After the Revenue Estimating Conference meets on March 20 and details of the federal stimulus package become clearer, IASB may encourage legislators to revisit the FY 2011 allowable growth rate.
HF 351 is awaiting assignment of a new bill number, having been passed by the House Education Committee, with the next step of floor debate in the House. IASB is opposed to this bill, which takes away a local district’s authority to establish a school start date reflecting the needs of the local community and students. The bill would require school to start the week of the fourth Monday in August. It does allow exceptions for year-round school. The bill eliminates the ability of districts to request a waiver from the DE for starting early and penalizes the school district 1/180th of state foundation aid for every student attendance day prior to the mandated date.
Keep talking to House members about the priority of student achievement, connecting with our communities, and local control.
See the IASB press release sent to the media on Wednesday, March 4 at http://www.ia-sb.org/assets/b690a4efd5404584b7a5988137cf3ef0.pdf. Also see this link to the School Start Date Mandate Action Network for bill status, talking points and contact information: http://www.ia-sb.org/Publications.aspx?id=6754.
SSB 1016 - Writing Assessment Bill by Education (New bill number pending.)
This bill, requested by the Iowa Department of Education (DE), requires the state board of education to establish a statewide writing assessment for students in third, sixth and 10th grades and requires districts to begin administering the assessments in the 2010-11 school year. The assessments are to measure specified essential writing skills in the Iowa Core Curriculum. The bill directs the DE to collaborate with stakeholders on the development of the assessments, create a mechanism for collecting and reporting assessment data and include the results in the next annual Condition of Education Report. IASB supports this bill, which was approved by the Senate Education Committee Wednesday.
SF 177 – Open Enrollment Transportation to the Governor
This bill addresses those instances in which a change in the path of a road requires a school bus to travel through a neighboring school district to pick up students on its route. See the Feb. 26 Action Line for a complete bill description: http://www.ia-sb.org/Publications.aspx?id=6818. IASB supports this bill.
SF 314 - Teacher Salary Funds into Single District Schedule by Schoenjahn
This bill requires school districts and AEAs to include the teacher quality salary and Phase II salary funds into their district salary schedule by FY 2011. This would eliminate the multiple salary schedules or addendum letters that school districts and AEAs currently have. When the funds were included in the school foundation formula as per pupil amounts during last year’s session, a budget guarantee was also created to set a floor for any district’s allocation. IASB is working with ISEA on an amendment in the full Senate Education Committee that would require a reopener if funds are reduced from these specific salary allocations. IASB is monitoring the bill until the amendment is adopted and intends to support it after that. The bill is in the Senate Education Committee.
Please visit www.ia-sb.org to view this week’s Capitol Cast video clip from Margaret Buckton.
Don’t forget!
Plan to attend the March 19 ICN Legislative Update with IASB lobbyists. Hear the latest about key bills and the stimulus package. Visit www.ia-sb.org for locations.
Report Legislative Contacts
There is now a quick survey tool to help you easily keep IASB in the loop on conversations and e-mail exchanges you have with legislators. Whether you are talking about allowable growth or want to report something that helps us understand your district or legislator’s viewpoint on any issue at all, please visit the IASB Web site: http://www.ia-sb.org/LegislativeAdvocacy.aspx?id=6466 and take two minutes to describe your conversation via the Local Legislative Contact Report. This saves you a phone call or e-mail and gives us everything we need to follow-up with your legislators or spot themes in conversations that we can address through this Action Line or an Action Network. Thanks for helping us keep track of your great advocacy work!
IASB Government Relations Team
Margaret Buckton, mbuckton@ia-sb.org
Mary Gannon, mgannon@ia-sb.org
Emily Piper, emily80@mchsi.com
Marte Brightman, mbrightman@ia-sb.org
Delivery Note: IASB sends you the Action Line by the fastest method possible: E-mails are usually sent Thursday evening; the print version is mailed Friday. If you prefer the Action Line by a method other than how it's now being sent to you, please contact Marte Brightman at IASB, mbrightman@ia-sb.org, or 1-800-795-4272.