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Bill > SF485

IA SF485

A bill for an act establishing requirements related to nonpublic schools that receive tuition payments from parents or guardians whose students are participating in the education savings account program.

summary

Introduced
03/03/2025
In Committee
03/03/2025
Crossed Over
Passed
Dead

Introduced Session

91st General Assembly

Bill Summary

This bill establishes requirements related to nonpublic schools that receive tuition payments from parents or guardians whose students are participating in the education savings account program. Current Code section 257.11B establishes the education savings account program, which allows for payments to be made to parents and guardians for the payment of qualified educational expenses. Current law defines “qualified educational expenses” to include tuition and fees at a nonpublic school. The bill modifies the definition of “qualified educational expenses” for purposes of the education savings account program to provide that the nonpublic school must adhere to all of the following: the accountability and transparency requirements applicable to the boards of directors of school districts, the data reporting requirements applicable to school districts, the accreditation standards applicable to school districts, and the teacher employment and teacher licensing requirements applicable to school districts. The bill strikes a provision of Code section 257.11B that prohibits the Code section from being construed to authorize the state or any political subdivision of the state to require a nonpublic school to modify the nonpublic school’s educational program in order to receive payment from a parent or guardian using funds from a pupil’s account in the education savings account fund.

AI Summary

This bill modifies the education savings account (ESA) program by adding new requirements for nonpublic schools that want to receive tuition payments from parents or guardians participating in the program. Specifically, the bill requires these schools to meet the same accountability, transparency, data reporting, accreditation, and teacher licensing standards that public school districts must follow. The bill changes the definition of "qualified educational expenses" to include tuition only from nonpublic schools that comply with these new standards. Additionally, the bill removes language that previously prevented the state from requiring nonpublic schools to modify their educational programs to receive ESA funding. The new provisions mean that nonpublic schools seeking to participate in the ESA program must now adhere to more stringent operational and educational standards that were previously only applicable to public school districts, potentially increasing oversight and standardization of private school education.

Committee Categories

Education

Sponsors (16)

Last Action

Subcommittee: Rozenboom, Kraayenbrink, and Quirmbach. S.J. 405. (on 03/04/2025)

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