Iowa would offer building financing to charter and eligible private schools

The Iowa finance authority would manage school building loan funds and could issue bonds, which are debts repaid to investors. Financing would cover Iowa charter schools and accredited private schools accepting state education savings account payments, for buying, building, or improving school buildings. Loans would depend on available program money. Repayments, earnings, and unused year-end money would stay in the funds. The authority could also make agreements to help schools secure financing. Schools could promise school payments and other allowed money to repay bonds. State and local governments would not guarantee repayment. Program bonds and notes would be exempt from Iowa taxes. Their interest would be exempt from Iowa personal and corporate income taxes. The personal income tax provision would apply retroactively to January 1, 2026, for tax years beginning on or after that date.

Charter school payments would include teacher salary money. Eligible schools and their workers would fall under the Iowa public employees’ retirement system. The school payment provision would cover Iowa charter schools. Retirement coverage and federal funding status would have separate eligibility rules. Retirement coverage would require the charter school to meet all federal requirements for participating. A closing school's assets would cover payroll and retirement-system debts before other creditors. If assets fall short, a court would distribute them using the required priorities. Boards approved under Iowa's founding group–state board model would be designated as local education agencies, meaning school bodies that can receive federal funds for their school sites. This would not guarantee an award. The school payment provision would apply to school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2026.

Public districts would allow eligible charter students to join school sports. Eligible families could apply in December for one semester of state education savings account payments. Sports rules would cover charter students living in the host district or a bordering district. Education savings account payments would cover eligible students attending private schools. Sports participation would require an agreement between the schools. Students would follow district participation and conduct rules and pay any fee, capped at the fee for district students. For sports in the student's home district, the charter school must not have offered the sport in the two immediately preceding school years or have another agreement providing access to it. For sports in a district sharing the home district's border, neither the charter school nor the home district could have offered the sport in those two school years. Whether the separate restriction on other sports agreements applies to charter schools is unclear. December applicants would need approval and would receive half the annual per-student state funding amount for one semester. This money would pay only allowed education expenses. December applications would be due on or after December 1 and on or before December 20 before the requested semester. Approved payments would be deposited within 30 days after application submission.

School districts would sign requested community preschool agreements. Preschool and private-school accreditation rules would protect providers' control over admissions and teaching. These provisions would cover community providers in Iowa's voluntary preschool program and private schools under the independent accreditation provisions. Preschool agreements could not cap the number of eligible children served. Providers would deliver high-quality instruction within an approved local program for four-year-olds. The preschool program could not require providers to change admission standards or teaching programs to receive payments. Providers receiving payments would not become government agents. The preschool and private-school accreditation provisions would not authorize unnecessary regulations. Rules imposing an undue burden would be invalid, while state and federal law would still apply.

The Iowa department of education would convene and support a task force to review required teacher training and teaching-license renewal rules. The review would cover training required by Iowa law and requirements for renewing a teaching license. The task force would recommend specific legal changes for more manageable training and license renewal schedules. Members or the organizations they represent would pay their own expenses. The review itself would not change teachers' requirements. The task force would submit its findings and recommendations to the legislature on or before December 31, 2026.