HB438 Summary

• Creates the Education Transparency Board as a temporary board within the State Department of Education to oversee an impact study if the U.S. Department of Education budget is reduced by more than 20 percent.

• Board composition includes the Secretary of the State Board of Education (non-voting), plus one member each appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the House, Minority Leader of the Senate, and Minority Leader of the House, with appointees required to have voted opposite their appointing authority's party in at least two of the four preceding statewide elections.

• Requires the board to commission an independent, nonpartisan entity with education policy and finance expertise to conduct an impact study including district-by-district funding analysis, assessment of effects on student outcomes, and breakdown of financial and operational consequences for each local board of education.

• Mandates publication of a final report within 90 days of study initiation that includes elected officials' public statements supporting or opposing the reductions, to be distributed to state leaders and published on the Department of Education's website in accessible format.

• Board dissolves after report publication; State Board of Education authorized to adopt implementing rules; act becomes effective June 1, 2025.