Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

This time of year I sometimes have to remind my younger colleagues to take a breath and not get too worked up about what is going on in Des Moines. As one of the more 'seasoned' in the group, I know too well that we can run ourselves ragged trying to keep up with all of the bills that are filed during the early part of the legislative session, some of which are downright ludicrous. Inevitably, the neighbor of a legislator doesn't like how School District 'X' handles a particular situation in their school district, so the obvious solution is a legislative fix. More often than not, the proposed solution is quite the doozy and the legislator who filed the bill probably agrees. They are just being responsive to a constituent and realize that bill won't see the light of day. Unfortunately these bills oftentimes become the source of a great deal of stress and ill advised emails to said legislator. Admittedly, as a young superintendent I often fell for the trap until bequeathed the gift of experience. Until we reach the first funnel deadline it is a little bit like the wild west in the halls of the capitol. The statistic I heard recently was that somewhere in the vicinity of 1,500 bills will be filed in advance of the first funnel. According to the latest bill tracker on the Iowa Department of Education website, there are more than 75 bills with a direct impact on education. But alas, only about 10% will ultimately reach the finish line. As of last Friday, February 18th we have met that first milestone.

The funnel is meant to begin separating the wheat from the chaff. In order for a bill to stay alive for consideration, it must clear a committee in the Chamber of origin. The process goes a little bit like this. A bill is introduced, and then assigned to a subcommittee of three legislators. The majority of those legislators (two) have to agree to forward it to the full committee. The full committee votes, and if the majority agrees it clears the funnel and remains 'alive' for consideration. In all honesty, this is a pretty low bar. But, it is also a signal to start paying a little more attention. For me, up to this point I have been a pretty casual observer of the legislative process. I'll pay attention from the distance. If I think feedback will be helpful for legislators to understand the impact of a particular bill, I'm happy to oblige. However, I'm not commenting on every 'tin foil hat' idea that is proposed. What I have learned over the course of my tenure is that my opinion isn't really relevant or germaine to the debate. Facts on the other hand, well they can have an impact, particularly if they come from the genuine position of wanting to help. So I don't focus on the silliness, choosing to ignore that completely. We have folks in Des Moines representing us whose primary mission is to seek out and kill these bills. (That's a pro tip for the youngsters who may be following this blog.)

Granted, whatever has met that first low hurdle still has quite a way to go before it gets to the governor's desk. It is incredibly hard for a bill to become a law! Nevertheless, it is a signal to become a bit more attuned to what is transpiring in Des Moines. 

As we have previously discussed, property tax reform continues to be an area of priority this session and I am continuing to monitor those bills. But now that we are through the first funnel, I'd like to spend a bit of time today discussing a few bills that stick out to me and to consider some emerging themes. 

For starters, there are a number of bills with overlapping ideas; which suggests this is a priority area in the legislature this session. Among them are very prescriptive proposals for content that would become required in schools. Now, I understand the desire to add graduation requirements for such things as computer science or adding an additional unit of civics. I can also recognize the noble intent of adding additional physical activity requirements for recess at the elementary. But. Yes there is always a 'but'. Notwithstanding the fact that all of these proposals are unfunded mandates (despite the final paragraph of the bill proclaiming they are not), the one variable that is immovable no matter what: is time. Our school day is 405 minutes long. Each of those minutes has a purpose, whether designated as literacy time, physics class, lunch, recess, or even passing time between classes. Fitting something else into our day is more than an unfunded mandate. It means something else will need to go. Unfortunately, proposals never say, "Stop doing 'X' so you can start doing 'Y'".

One bill that I am particularly interested in learning more about is HF2451. This bill aims to limit the amount of 'school digital instruction limits' that elementary students (those as defined in grades K-5) are permitted. The proposals would mandate students could use these type of devices for no more than 60 minutes per day. Rumors had circulated prior to the start of the legislative session this would be a topic and the next logical step after the promulgation of state law one year ago restricting student cell phone access during instructional time. 

Even though we have reached the first funnel deadline and 'winnowed the field' so to speak, there is still a long way to go before any of these proposals end up state law. We've reached one milestone with many more to go. I'll continue to monitor their progress and keep you apprised. In the meantime, let's not get too worked up about anything yet!