1. There is hereby established a joint committee of the general assembly, which shall be known as the “Joint Committee on Education”, which shall be composed of seven members of the senate and seven members of the house of representatives. The senate members of the committee shall be appointed by the president pro tem of the senate and the house members by the speaker of the house.

2. The committee shall meet at least twice a year. In the event of three consecutive absences on the part of any member, such member may be removed from the committee.

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3. The committee shall select either a chairman or cochairmen, one of whom shall be a member of the senate and one a member of the house. A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum. Meetings of the committee may be called at such time and place as the chairman or chairmen designate.

4. The committee shall:

(1) Review and monitor the progress of education in the state‘s public schools and institutions of higher education;

(2) Receive reports from the commissioner of education concerning the public schools and from the commissioner of higher education concerning institutions of higher education;

(3) Conduct a study and analysis of the public school system;

(4) Make recommendations to the general assembly for legislative action;

(5) Conduct an in-depth study concerning all issues relating to the equity and adequacy of the distribution of state school aid, teachers’ salaries, funding for school buildings, and overall funding levels for schools and any other education funding-related issues the committee deems relevant;

(6) Monitor the establishment of performance measures as required by section 173.1006 and report on their establishment to the governor and the general assembly;

(7) Conduct studies and analysis regarding:

(a) The higher education system, including financing public higher education and the provision of financial aid for higher education; and

(b) The feasibility of including students enrolled in proprietary schools, as that term is defined in section 173.600, in all state-based financial aid programs;

(8) Annually review the collection of information under section 173.093 to facilitate a more accurate comparison of the actual costs at public and private higher education institutions;

(9) Within three years of August 28, 2007, review a new model for the funding of public higher education institutions upon submission of such model by the coordinating board for higher education;

(10) Within three years of August 28, 2007, review the impact of the higher education student funding act established in sections 173.1000 to 173.1006;

(11) Beginning August 28, 2008, upon review, approve or deny any expenditures made by the commissioner of education pursuant to section 160.530, as provided in subsection 5 of section 160.530.

5. The committee may make reasonable requests for staff assistance from the research and appropriations staffs of the house and senate and the committee on legislative research, as well as the department of elementary and secondary education, the department of higher education and workforce development, the coordinating board for higher education, the state tax commission, the department of economic development, all school districts and other political subdivisions of this state, teachers and teacher groups, business and other commercial interests and any other interested persons.

6. Members of the committee shall receive no compensation but may be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses associated with the performance of their official duties.