Senate panel passes bills on Bible studies and a school of ‘intellectual freedom'

Yahoo

05-03-2025

Bills passed out of the Iowa Senate Education Committee Tuesday would set guidelines for academic programs and change how child abuse in schools is investigated. (Photo via Getty Images)
The Iowa Senate Education Committee passed a number of bills aimed at both primary and higher education during its Tuesday meeting, only a couple of days out from the first funnel deadline of the session.
A few bills focused on child abuse in schools will move ahead with unanimous support from lawmakers, while perspectives clashed on proposed education programs on intellectual diversity and the study of the Christian Bible.
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Senate File 127 would require the University of Iowa to establish a 'school of intellectual freedom' in its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which would focus on 'the historical ideas, traditions and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society,' according to the bill, as well as free speech, civil discourse and intellectual diversity.
Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, had a number of issues with the legislation, including its potential to restrict intellectual freedom rather than promote it and the fact that it is an unfunded mandate that would have universities incur large annual costs.
Its companion bill passed out of the House Higher Education Committee in February, with a fiscal note added March 4 detailing costs of forming and maintaining the school. Staffing costs, including a dean, five tenure-eligible faculty members and two administrative staff members, are expected to amount to about $1.45 million annually, according to the analysis from nonpartisan legislative staff, with an additional $50,000 needed each year for programming expenses.
Quirmbach pointed out that the legislation states appropriated or donated funds cannot be used for indirect costs, like cleaning services and other expenses, which could drive that annual $1.5 million up even more.
'I think that we're seeing here a proposal for a school of intellectual freedom, which, in its authorization here, defeats intellectual freedom …,' Quirmbach said. 'It seems to be unnecessary because of these already existing statutory guarantees of intellectual freedom, it's an unfunded mandate, the personnel reviews for tenure are not consistent with standard practice. And aside from that, it's a great idea — not.'
The bill was moved onto the debate calendar with an 11-5 vote.
Senate File 138 would establish guidelines for school districts to offer an elective course on the Bible for grades 9-12, with approval from a district's school board required for such a course to be established. According to the bill, these courses 'shall not endorse, favor, promote, or disfavor, or be hostile toward, any particular religion, faith, or nonreligious perspective.'
Sen. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville, said when introducing the bill that all religious views of participating students must be respected in class.
Echoing comments she made during the bill's subcommittee meeting, Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, D-West Des Moines, said schools are already allowed to have elective courses on different religions and making this bill a law would be unnecessary and unconstitutional, as it promotes the teaching of one religion over another.
Though he said he supports the teaching of the Bible as it has had an enormous impact on history and culture, Quirmbach said other religions like Islam and Hinduism have also made significant influences on American life.
When he asked whether Salmon would be amenable to adding amendments to give guidelines on the teaching of the Quran and Hindu texts, she replied that schools already have the ability to offer classes on these subjects, but other religious texts haven't had the 'deep impact on our society, on our nation, that the Bible has had.'
'So to have a bill here that promotes reading of the Bible, which I support, but where there would be resistance to providing similar recognition to Islam, to Hinduism, to all of the other great world religions, all of which add to the knowledge and wisdom of humanity, that then is going to be a violation of the First Amendment,' Quirmbach said.
The bill passed 11-5 in the committee.
Senate Study Bill 1075 would change data reporting requirements for Iowa community colleges to have them report information directly to the Iowa Department of Education rather than the state community colleges bureau. It would also have colleges provide individual-level data to the department, and the Department of Education would need to include information on 'program level educational and employment outcomes' in its annual Condition of Community Colleges report, according to the legislation.
The legislation would also direct the Iowa Department of Administrative Services to work with the Department of Education and form an annual compensation schedule and set employee benefits for all employees of the Iowa Educational Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Iowa School for the Deaf.
Sen. Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center, introduced an amendment to exempt non-credit and continuing education instructors from code defining how community college teachers are subject to teacher contract continuation, termination, and discharge laws. These policies are also not applicable to adjunct instructors, he said.
Both the amendment and bill passed unanimously and without discussion.
Senate File 237 would have the Iowa Department of Education form a working group focused on the impacts of school-provided technology, including computers, class slideshow presentations and online learning management systems, on students' cognitive function and academic performances. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services will work with the Department of Education for this working group, according to the bill.
If passed, the group would submit a report to the General Assembly by Dec. 31 on their findings and recommendations for best practices in mitigating negative effects of school provided technology on 'social and behavioral development, attention span, mental concentration and learning ability of students,' according to the bill.
Sen. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, voiced her support for the bill, saying parents could potentially learn from the work group as well as educators and bring some new practices into the home.
'I think that we are only touching the tip of the iceberg as we talk about our schools and the use of technology,' Winckler said. 'Certainly, there is a lot of technology used outside of school, but we really don't have control of that.'
An amendment brought forward by Taylor would require that the working group include parents of school-aged children, mental health professionals and educators. It, as well as the full bill, passed unanimously.
Taylor said he introduced this legislation in part in response to a bill proposed by Gov. Kim Reynolds that would set a statewide cellphone policy in schools.
'Student-used laptops and online learning platforms and PowerPoint presentations in the classroom, those can be wonderful in many ways, and there's lots of benefits and advantages to using those, but there are also some drawbacks to that as well, and I think it would be useful to know what those are,' Taylor said.
Salmon said Senate File 221 would move the responsibility of investigating alleged child abuse cases at school from the school where it occurred to the Department of Health and Human Services. When a report of child abuse is brought forward, the school would need to notify the department and place the employee who allegedly committed the abuse on administrative leave.
If found to have committed child abuse, the employee would have their license revoked by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners and be fired by the school.
Lawmakers expressed concerns that the Department of Health and Human Services does not have the capacity to handle alleged child abuse cases for school districts across the state. Sen. Mike Zimmer, D-DeWitt, said he would like to see an amendment where a level one investigator is brought in from another school district to handle the case in order to remove the appearance of a conflict of interest while avoiding putting undue burden on the department. He said level two investigators, or those from an outside agency hired by the school, could also be utilized.
Salmon said Iowa would be following a number of other states by enacting this policy, and it would also serve to provide more transparency and objectivity to the investigation.
Winckler said during discussion of another bill relating to child abuse in schools that the two pieces of legislation contradict one another, and both cannot be passed.
Senate File 366 would require all Iowa schools to immediately place employees on administrative leave if they are involved in a Iowa Board of Educational Examiners case involving the abuse of a child with probable cause, or if they were 'involved in any criminal or civil action in which a court found that the employee was negligent' while employed by the school, according to the bill.
'It is important that administrative leaves occur. It is important that abuse is taken seriously and actions are taken immediately,' Winckler said. 'But it seems like we have two different ideas in regard to how things would progress, and we just need to work those out before they come to the floor. We can't pass both of them.'
With unanimous votes, both bills will move to the Senate floor for debate.
Called 'Erin's Law' by Taylor, Senate File 172 would require the head of the Iowa Department of Education to develop guidelines on how schools can teach students in kindergarten through sixth grade about child sexual abuse with the goal of prevention and increasing awareness. Schools would be required to offer instruction based on these guidelines, according to the legislation.
Students would be educated on how to identify safe-versus-unsafe touches and secrets, Taylor said, and how to escape an abuser and report what occurred. Iowa is one of 12 states that have not passed a version of Erin's Law, Taylor said, and he hopes that the state will stop lagging behind in providing students with necessary and important education that could keep them safe.
Trone Garriott said it is 'incredibly important' to help students understand sexual abuse and teach them how to ask for help, as child sexual abuse is a prevalent problem that is often done by people they know. There is a lot of misinformation out there about child sexual abuse and its perpetrators, something she said the Legislature contributes to, with 'the idea that it's some certain group or some certain population that's doing this.'
'Knowledge is power, and knowledge protects our children, and so having accurate information, correct terms for body parts, understanding of what's appropriate and healthy and what is not safe, is incredibly powerful for these young people,' Trone Garriott said.
An amendment introduced by Taylor and passed by the committee would include an opt-out option for parents who don't wish for their child to participate in these lessons. The bill will move to Senate debate after a unanimous vote from the committee.
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