Relating to education, including by modifying provisions related to community college and department of education reporting requirements, the national board certification pilot project, employees of the Iowa educational services for the blind and visually impaired program or the Iowa school for the deaf, and the employment contracts between community colleges and community college instructors, and including effective date provisions

This bill relates to education, including by modifying provisions related to community college and department of education (DE) reporting requirements, the national board certification pilot project, and employees of the Iowa educational services for the blind and visually impaired program or the Iowa school for the deaf. DIVISION I —— REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. Current law requires the state board of education to adopt rules directing the community colleges to submit certain specified data from the most recent fiscal year to the community colleges bureau using criteria determined by the community colleges bureau. The bill modifies these provisions to instead require the data to be submitted directly to DE. The bill makes several other modifications related to data submitted by the community colleges to DE, and related to data submitted by DE to the state board and the general assembly, including modifications related to the information to be included in the annual condition of community colleges report. DIVISION II —— NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION PROGRAM AND STIPENDS.44 to the national board certification program. The bill provides that funds appropriated for purposes of the student achievement and teacher quality program that are allocated to DE for the issuance of national board certification awards that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall be available for expenditure by DE for purposes of providing stipends to individuals who receive an advanced dyslexia specialist endorsement from the board of educational examiners (BOEE). This provision takes effect upon enactment. DIVISION III —— IOWA EDUCATIONAL SERVICES FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PROGRAM AND THE IOWA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF.27 (discharge of a teacher) applies to employees of the Iowa educational services for the blind and visually impaired program and employees of the Iowa school for the deaf, whether or not licensed by the BOEE, who are responsible for the care, instruction, or supervision of children. The bill requires the department of administrative services, in consultation with DE, to establish an annual compensation schedule applicable to all employees of the Iowa educational services for the blind and visually impaired program and all employees of the Iowa school for the deaf and to set the employee benefits for such employees.