Three days before the first funnel period, the committee referred a number of bills to the House for consideration.
DES MOINES, Iowa — The House Education Committee spent 3 1/2 hours in caucus, then debated a long list of bills for almost two hours, passing a number of bills backed by House Republicans.
The conference began consideration of legislation (HF 2329) that would direct the Department of Education to review the state's high school graduation requirements, core curriculum, core content standards, and educational standards.
House Democrats strongly supported the overhaul over in-state education, but one concern in particular they had was the potential elimination of social-emotional learning (SEL).
“We invite you to go into the classroom, see how our students are handling themselves, and see if we would like a program that helps students have better control over themselves. I recommend it,” said Rep. Sue Cahill, D-Marshall County. .
But House Republicans disagreed with that argument, arguing that this was an afterthought and not the bill's main purpose.
“So if you want to revisit these discussions, I'm happy to do so in the Chamber, but I don't think it's appropriate to go into that now when we're talking about a fundamental review of educational standards,” he said. . Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Lyon County. “This shouldn't turn into a mess of partisan nonsense.”
Another bill that passed the committee was one that would allow charter schools to purchase or lease property in school districts that is currently unused. HSB 673 would also restructure state funding for charter schools by adding various payment requirements from the state upon student enrollment.
Democrats argued that the law should only apply to Iowa students, not students from out of state.
“If you remember when we passed the charter school bill a few years ago, this seemed like a compromise to get Iowans to invest in charter schools rather than people coming from out of state to invest in charter schools. It was a thing. So now we're back to normal,” said Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Cerro Gordo County.
Another bill that has generated much debate would codify the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Directive issued by the Iowa Board of Regents. HF 2327 allows the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House to appoint two non-voting council members.
The bill would also establish a review of DEI resources and ensure all students have access to them, although opponents argue this could cause “unintended consequences.” Masu.
“If we make these widely available to all students and employees, will we need a larger office? Will we need more staff?” Cahill said.
All bills that pass out of committee are now eligible for consideration on the House floor.
