Legislative Update (March 17, 2024) per Jack Vanderflught

The second funnel date concluded last week. HF 2547, although passed by the House, did not

have widespread support by the Senate Education Subcommittee and the Senate Education

Chair. There were concerns about the costs and staffing needs given the timetable allocated in

the bill. There were other concerns as well regarding definitions. At this point, many in

leadership felt it would be best to wait and see the suggestions that come from the Iowa

Department of Education Director after completing the mandatory review of social studies and

all core areas as passed in a separate bill that passed the House and Senate this term. In both

houses there is a strong recognition that social studies need review with an emphasis placed back

on teaching social studies at all levels, one of our core priorities. There is also a strong belief an

accountability piece must be included in the revision. This has also been a priority of our Board.

Expect a similar revised bill to be proposed in the 2025 legislative session. I encourage between

now and over the next few weeks that all social studies teachers, Republican, Democrat or others

to use this time to share their feelings and beliefs and what should be the priorities of the new

proposal.

I would like to thank all those in the legislator on both sides of the argument for their willingness

to listen and have open and useful conversations on the matter. We had some of the best social

studies debates I have seen in years.

There are not any current bills moving forward that apply to only social studies. However, in

terms of education, the AEA bill and differences between the House and Senate versions will

make most of the education news as we move toward the end of the session.

Thank you,

Jack Vanderflught

Legislative Update (March 11, 2024)

House File 2544 (formally 2330) passed the Iowa House last week. This is the bill that adds a variety of specific expectations for elementary, middle school, high school, and higher education social studies. There are new course requirements as well.

The bill as passed is linked here. Please be sure to read through the bill and send your comments to your legislator as soon as possible.

The Iowa Senate has a tentative subcommittee hearing scheduled at this time for Tuesday, although there is a high level of skepticism of the costs of the bills by Senate leadership.

ICSS strongly encourages its members to read the bill and forward your comments to help shape debate.

ICSS did publish a statement regarding this bill earlier in the legislative session. You can read it here.

Several newspapers across the state have carried opinions about the bill from Iowa educators. One is from Gary DeLacy and Tandi Permenter from the Clinton Community School District. Their thoughts were published in the Clinton Herald. Consider contacting your local newspaper with your opinion about this bill.

Advocacy Update (December 4, 2023) per Jack Vanderflught

The 2024 Iowa Legislative session begins in January. The first month is very important for those interested in advocating. Starting after the First of January, legislators and their assistance will begin work with new proposals. This is the ideal time to make contacts and build a relationship with your legislators. Please see the Iowa Council for the Social Studies’ advocacy webpage to learn more about advocacy and how to contact your representatives.

On Thursday, January 25 th starting at 9:00 AM, the ICSS Executive Committee will be in the rotunda area of the Iowa Capitol near the Grand Staircase. We will be providing food and drinks and visiting with legislators and interested parties. Please join us.

Advocacy Update (July 19,2023 ) per Jack Vanderflught

I have had ongoing communications with Senate President Amy Sinclair and legislative research staff (especially Erin Kokemiller)who worked on the spring bills that included socials studies. They have been extremely helpful in clarifying the meaning of bill aspects. First and foremost, like the press and myself, there has been confusion on what is actually in the bill. There were several last minute amendments. Among these, the Civics Exam was taken out this year. It is not necessarily dead, but they felt that ran out of time to work out some differences in language this term. Other areas of interest include source identification, the ability to use items at the last minute and other such matters. I have linked the actual version passed with amendments and some of the comments from those who worked on the bill in some capacity.

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=90&ba=sf496 (SF496)

Responses to questions about source reporting and survey use:

*The seven days in this bill only refers to the required notice that parents must be given before requiring students to take a state or federally required survey or examination assessing mental, emotional, or physical health. As far as listings of instructional materials, the bill requires each school board to adopt a policy describing the procedure for the parent or guardian of a student or a resident of the district to review the instructional materials. This will be up to local school boards as to how these are posted online or how parents/guardians/residents are given access. The bill clarifies that this does not include lesson plans, but is aimed at textbooks and core materials. This shouldn’t prevent any instruction on current events.

* It sounds like these two different items were being confused, and it’s very likely that there is some confusion due to previous versions of the bill, but I do think this final version will make it much less burdensome on the school while also giving families needed transparency.

This was a response to questions about the use of political surveys in class that the teacher nor school sees but students used to do self-evaluations of things like political ideology or party affiliations.

*As for the surveys, SF 496 requires formal surveys evaluating student mental, emotional, and physical health to be opted-in by parents. Since this survey is really only for personal use, and the information is not analyzed or sent off, it is my understanding that that type of survey would be fine. I would use a similar argument for your exam questions about tax plans—this isn’t asking students to reveal personal information but to make/support an informed argument.