Legislative Priorities

2023-2024 Legislative Priorities 

At the August 2023 board meeting, Dr. Pattee and the Board reviewed the proposed list of Legislative priorities as developed by the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) for the upcoming Iowa Legislative session and approved the following priorities. 

MENTAL HEALTH

Student mental health issues are increasing and impacting student achievement. To address these concerns, we support statepolicies that would establish comprehensive school and community mental health systems to offer preventative and treatmentservices to:

  • Increased access for in-school and tele-health services;• Increased access to mental health professionals via in-person or tele-health visits;• Improve awareness and understanding of child emotional and mental health needs through ongoing teacher,administrator, and support staff training.
  • Integration of suicide prevention and coping skills into existing curriculum;
  • Support the mental health needs of educators and staff.• Provide comprehensive mental health resources clearinghouse for schools and community providers.
  • Expand trainings that includes a referral plan for continuing action provided by mental health professionalsoutside of the school district.
  • Designate categorical funding stream for mental health professionals serving students and ongoing teacher,administrator, and support staff mental health training
  • Support development of a mental health workforce to provide services to children.

TEACHER RECRUITMENT AND LICENSURE

A highly skilled teacher workforce is essential to student achievement and can be supported by state policies that:

  • Ensure high-quality teacher preparation programs, including alternative licensure programs for individuals with nontraditional or international education backgrounds.
  • Provide research-based pedagogy training in addition to content knowledge in a curricular area.
  • Encourage initiatives and programs that diversify Iowa’s teaching profession to better match our student demographicmakeup.
  • Expand programs such as: Teach Iowa Scholar, Teacher intern Program, and others as approved by the Board of Examiners;
  • Create programs for student teaching grants and stipends and expand teacher apprenticeship programs to make educationcareers a more attractive and affordable option.
  • Use the management fund to offer recruitment incentives to attract high-quality teachers.
  • Create reciprocity agreements with other states that have high-quality teacher preparation programs to increase diversityamong certified teachers and administrators.

SUPPLEMENTAL STATE AID

The school aid formula is the biggest driver in providing resources for a high quality education that translates to a successfulfuture for our students and economic growth in our state. A school’s general fund supports a high-quality teacher workshop,critical for student achievement. We support state policies on supplemental state aid rate that:

  • Sufficiently supports the ability of local districts to meet parent and community expectations and provide a world-classeducation for all students
  • Provide the resources to recruit and retain a high quality teacher and staff workforce;
  • Incorporate inflation and cost-of-living increases to minimize the negative impact on a district’s general fund from theseincreased costs.

LOCAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND DECISION MAKING

Local Accountability and decision making include:

  • Student Achievement: As locally elected officials, school boards should have the ability to set priorities, customizeprogramming, and maximize community strengths to improve outcomes for all students.
  • Accountability and Reporting: Data collection for state accountability should enhance the ability of school boards tofocus on student learning and school improvement. IASB supports streamlining state-level reporting onmanagement operations and eliminating duplicative or inefficient reporting processes.
  • Funding Flexibility: School Boards dhould have the ability to maximize existing resources to meet local needs;
  • Transparency: School Boards should have the flexibility to provide public access to records in ways to promotetransparency for citizens while balancing the cost to taxpayers; and
  • Flexibility on Health and Safety measures: School boards should have the ability to make decisions, in partnershipwith local officials, regarding the health and safety needs of students, staff, families, and the community.

PUBLIC SCHOOL INNOVATION

Supports providing the flexibility to expand educational opportunities and choices for students and families. Educational optionsmust remain under the sole authority of locally elected school boards charged with representing community Interests andaccountability. IASB supports efforts including:

  • Invest in magnet and innovation schools; expand flexible program offerings; and allow greater partnerships amongschools and community organizations;
  • Allow charter schools only when under the direction of locally elected public school board.
  • Establishment or use of accredited online schools or classes.
  • Continued collaboration between public and nonpublic provided that no funds are redirected to private schools at theexpense of public schools.