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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate Bill 2406 Modifies Charter School Funding, Operations, and Extracurricular Eligibility
Last action · March 19, 2026: Placed on calendar under unfinished business. S.J. 599 .
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What This Bill Would Do
Senate File 2406 modifies charter school and legacy charter school operations in Iowa by adjusting funding formulas to include teacher salary supplements, eliminating , and updating rules for student participation in public school athletics. The bill also requires to provide educational and media services to charter school students and standardizes initial charter contract terms to five years.
The measure alters how charter schools receive state foundation aid by incorporating teacher salary supplements and changes how local school districts fund area education agency services for charter students. It also establishes clear pathways for charter school students to participate in public school athletic contests and driver education programs.
- Iowa authorized charter schools under previous legislation, leading to distinct governance frameworks under Chapters 256E and 256F. context
- Area education agencies in Iowa provide specialized support services, media, and educational resources to local schools. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Charter school students
Students experience changes in funding allocations, access to area education agency services, athletic participation rules, and driver education availability.
School districts
School districts are subject to state aid deductions for area education agency services and must accommodate charter school students in athletic programs and driver education under specific agreements.
Area education agencies
Area education agencies are required to provide educational and media services to charter school students and receive monthly payments through state aid deductions.
Charter school teachers and administrators
Teachers gain the ability to count three years of service at an eligible charter school toward advanced license requirements.
Key Facts
- Eliminates innovation zone schools by striking related provisions and removing references across the state code.
- Extends initial charter school contracts and legacy charter school contracts to a term of five school budget years.
- Adds the teacher salary supplement state cost per pupil to the funding calculations received by charter schools under chapter 256E.
- Requires area education agencies to furnish educational and media services to students enrolled in charter schools.
Show all 9 facts
- Authorizes the director of the department of management to deduct media and educational service amounts from state aid due to school districts and pay area education agencies monthly.
- Requires school districts to allow resident and contiguous-district students enrolled in charter schools to participate in public school interscholastic athletic contests under specific conditions.
- Mandates that charter schools offer or make available an approved course in driver education, and requires public school districts to offer driver education to charter students with the charter school covering costs.
- Allows teachers to attain licensure beyond an initial license after completing at least three years of successful teaching experience at an eligible charter school.
- Revises charter school opening timelines, requiring schools to open on the first day of the school year two years subsequent to contract execution unless adequate preparation allows a one-year opening.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Senate File 2406 change charter school funding?
Can charter school students participate in public school sports?
What happens to innovation zone schools under this legislation?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
20 actions- Mar 19, 2026SenatePlaced on calendar under unfinished business. S.J. 599 .
- Mar 6, 2026Iowa LegislatureFiscal note .
- Mar 4, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Mar 2, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 03/04/2026 8:30AM RM 304.
- Mar 2, 2026HouseSubcommittee: Gehlbach, Matson and Stone. H.J. 485 .
- Feb 23, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Appropriations. H.J. 380 .
Show 14 earlier actions
- Feb 23, 2026Iowa LegislatureCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 2699 .
- Feb 19, 2026SenateCommittee report, approving bill. S.J. 333 .
- Feb 19, 2026SenateIntroducedIntroduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 329 .
- Feb 18, 2026Iowa LegislatureCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 2406 .
- Feb 18, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Feb 18, 2026HouseCommittee vote: Yeas, 14. Nays, 9. H.J. 359 .
- Feb 18, 2026HouseCommittee report, recommending amendment and passage. H.J. 359 .
- Feb 16, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 02/18/2026 9:30AM Room 315.
- Feb 16, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee: Evans, Quirmbach, and Taylor.
- Feb 16, 2026Iowa LegislatureIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Education.
- Feb 11, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
- Feb 9, 2026Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 02/11/2026 12:30PM RM 304.
- Feb 4, 2026HouseSubcommittee: Gehlbach, Fett and Kurth. H.J. 207 .
- Feb 4, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Education. H.J. 204 .
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Consolidation of Charter Code Chapters
The bill consolidates separate legacy charter provisions (Chapter 256F) into subchapter II of Chapter 256E and eliminates innovation zone schools entirely.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance80How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz45Current news / social attention level
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