(Des Moines) The Iowa House this past week passed Senate File 496, the “Parent Empowerment” bill, which contains many educational proposals.
Representative Tom Moore, of Griswold, said the House amended this legislation, sending it back to the Senate for their consideration. He said has a number of requirements.
Regarding transparency…
Under the parent rights language: parents have the ultimate responsibility and the fundamental, constitutionally protected right, to make decisions regarding the entire upbringing of their child.
Under Social Emotional Learning Survey Language: school districts must get parental consent prior to giving surveys, provide prior parental access to surveys, provide information on who created/sponsored the survey, how the data will be used, and how the data is stored.
Under Special Education/Homeschool Language: The AEA no longer will need to give consent before a special education student can receive CPI (Competent Private Instruction) and a special education CPI student may dual enroll.
Other items to note in the language: Gender identity/sexual orientation instruction is prohibited in grades K-6. The mention of AIDS and HPV/HPV vaccine as specific STDs or communicable diseases is removed from Code but does NOT prohibit instruction on these things as a part of the sex education component. A school cannot knowingly give false or misleading information to a parent/guardian regarding the student’s gender identity. If a student requests an accommodation for a gender identity different than their sex at birth, the teacher must report that to the administrator and the administrator contacts the parent/guardian.
