Iowa Association of Christian Schools

The Public Policy Voice of Iowa's Protestant, Christ-Centered Schools.

We are the public policy voice of
Iowa's Protestant, Christ-centered schools.

IACS Supported Bills Advance

By

Today in the Iowa House, a number of bills supported by IACS cleared hurdles and advanced to the next stage of the legislative process.

House File 2090 (Education Savings Accounts) passed out of subcommittee today and will move to the full Education Committee in the House.  This bill has significant opposition from public school groups and we urge you to keep an eye open for a call-to-action very soon.  Be sure to sign up for our email list to ensure you get the action alert as soon as it comes out.

Today in the Education Committee, the following IACS-supported bills passed out of Committee and will now be eligible for debate on the floor of the House:
HF 559 (This bill corrects the nonpublic start date waiver issue created in last year’s ed reform bill and addresses the counting of days in the case of early outs or late starts for emergencies or inclement weather)
HSB 562 (Transitional Coaching Authorization – makes it easier to hire coaches)

We’ll do our best to keep you in the loop on bills that impact your school.  Please feel free to peruse the list of bills on the DE website and let us know if you have questions or concerns about any  listed.

Education Savings Account Legislation Introduced!

By

For the first time in the Iowa House, Education Savings Account (ESA) legislation has been introduced!

House File 2090 would authorize the state to fund Education Savings Accounts for each student outside of the public school system. The amount would be the average basic state aid for public school students, this year about $5,580.  Those funds can cover private school tuition and fees, and/or some private instruction, tutoring, and educational therapies. We believe this proposal offers true freedom of choice in education to all families.

You can learn more about this unique school choice concept and how it would work by watching Iowa Alliance for Choice in Education’s (Iowa ACE) YouTube video on ESAs.  Iowa ACE will be leading the charge on this legislation and we’ll be with them every step of the way.

Rep. Chris Hagenow (R-Windsor Heights), Rep. Jake Highfill (R-Johnston) and Rep. Peter Cownie (R-West Des Moines) have sponsored the bill.  Please be sure to sign up for our email list and we’ll keep you in the loop on the latest news and calls-to-action.