Relating to education reporting, including the sharing of unit-level wage data for secondary and postsecondary program evaluation, the establishment of the condition of education report, consolidating certain required reports, modifying responsibilities for the future ready Iowa last-dollar scholarship report, modifying Iowa workforce development data-sharing provisions, and creating a return on investment reporting system to be overseen by the Iowa student aid commission

The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. This bill relates to education reporting. The bill requires the department of workforce development to provide unit-level wage data to the department of education upon request for the purpose of evaluating secondary and postsecondary program outcomes, including return on investment reporting. The bill defines “unit-level wage data” as individual-level employment records maintained by the department of workforce development, including but not limited to occupational title associated with a standard occupational classification code, hours worked, job-site location, wages, and employer industry classification. The bill permits the department of workforce development and the department of education to enter into data-sharing agreements. The bill establishes the annual condition of education report. The bill requires the annual condition of education report to be submitted to the governor and general assembly by April 1 of each year. The bill consolidates several existing reports into the annual condition report, including the online learning report, the compilation of financial information related to the secure an advanced vision for education (SAVE) report and school infrastructure local option (SILO) report, the achievement gap report, the incidents of violence report, and the kindergarten literacy assessment report.177, subsection 7. The bill adds to the annual charter school report the information that charter schools and innovation zone schools are currently required to report under Code chapter 256F, and strikes the detailed reporting requirements from that chapter.11 is contingent upon an appropriation by retaining the requirement that findings and recommendations be submitted only if funding is appropriated for purposes of the Code section. The bill modifies Iowa workforce development’s ability to share unit-level data by permitting disclosure of individual and employer information if such reporting is required by federal or state law for purposes of accountability or evaluation. The bill adds a duty to the Iowa student aid commission to oversee a statewide program-level postsecondary return on investment reporting system for eligible public institutions. Such institutions include community colleges and regents institutions, and are required to submit data in a form and manner specified by the commission. The bill requires the data submitted to include tuition and fees, time to completion, retention and completion rates, post-completion employment, median earnings, and alignment to high-demand occupations. The bill requires the commission to compile and annually publish the data in a consumer-facing format. Institutions failing to comply with the data reporting requirement, as determined by the commission, are ineligible for state-administered student financial aid until substantial compliance is achieved. The bill strikes an obsolete reference in Code chapter 284.