House lawmakers kill classroom camera proposal

A controversial bill to install cameras in Iowa classrooms will not move forward after a House subcommittee declined to meet on the proposal.

“I was never in support of it,” said Rep. Ray Sorensen, the Republican leading the subcommittee. “I think it needs… a lot better explanation and a lot more time, honestly, to hear from the public on what something like that would look like.”

House File 2177 would have required schools to install a camera in every classroom, except for those designated for special education or physical education. The cameras would broadcast to a secure website, allowing only parents and guardians to watch the class in real time.

Sorensen, R-Greenfield, dismissed the subcommittee before hearing public testimony, citing scheduling issues. Rep. Ras Smith, the Democrat scheduled to sit on the three-person subcommittee, was not at the Capitol on Wednesday.

“I think it would have been great to have held the sub and let everybody voice their opinions, but without the Democrat here, and then rescheduling with so many bills and funnel week coming up, it just became a scheduling problem,” Sorenson said.

Education groups registered against the proposal online. No groups registered in favor of the bill.

Sorenson said lawmakers will have the upcoming campaign year to ask constituents whether they’d be interested in a similar proposal. 

“They can continue to give us their feedback, and next year, if it comes back again, I’m sure that stuff will be very popular,” he said. 

Rep. Norlin Mommsen, R-DeWitt, proposed the bill. He said he was “a little disappointed” the bill wouldn’t move forward, but he was glad to have started a conversation about parental involvement and oversight in schools.

“When I look at the remote learning, it did spark parental interest in what was going on in the schools, and that’s what I was trying to nurture and continue on,” Mommsen said.