Bill Text: IA SF442 | 2025-2026 | 91st General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to education, including by modifying provisions related to the calculation of the teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil, teacher preparation requirements, out-of-state placement of certain specified students requiring special education, the duties of the department of education, and minimum teacher salaries, and including effective date provisions.(Formerly SSB 1100.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced) 2025-02-26 - Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 368. [SF442 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2025-SF442-Introduced.html
Senate File 442 - Introduced SENATE FILE 442 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1100) A BILL FOR An Act relating to education, including by modifying provisions 1 related to the calculation of the teacher salary supplement 2 district cost per pupil, teacher preparation requirements, 3 out-of-state placement of certain specified students 4 requiring special education, the duties of the department 5 of education, and minimum teacher salaries, and including 6 effective date provisions. 7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 8 TLSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh
S.F. 442 DIVISION I 1 TEACHER SALARY SUPPLEMENT DISTRICT COST PER PUPIL 2 Section 1. Section 257.10, subsection 9, paragraph a, 3 subparagraph (3), subparagraph divisions (b) and (c), Code 4 2025, are amended to read as follows: 5 (b) The department of management shall categorize all 6 school districts into not more than ten tiers according to each 7 school district’s actual enrollment. Each tier established 8 by the department of management containing a school district 9 with an actual enrollment above three thousand five hundred 10 pupils shall contain, to the extent feasible, the same number 11 of school districts as other tiers containing school districts 12 with an actual enrollment of more than three thousand five 13 hundred pupils. Each tier established by the department 14 of management containing a school district with an actual 15 enrollment equal to or less than three thousand five hundred 16 pupils shall contain, to the extent feasible, the same number 17 of school districts as other tiers containing school districts 18 with an actual enrollment equal to or less than three thousand 19 five hundred pupils. 20 (c) (b) (i) To support school districts with meeting 21 the minimum teacher salary requirements under chapter 284, 22 including the minimum teacher starting salary requirement 23 of fifty thousand dollars ; and the minimum teacher salary 24 requirement for full-time teachers with, as of July 1, 2025, at 25 least twelve years of experience of sixty-two thousand dollars 26 under chapter 284 ; and the minimum teacher salary requirement 27 for teachers with at least twelve years of experience, who 28 have had a bona fide retirement from employment with a covered 29 employer as provided in section 97B.52A, and who have returned 30 to covered full-time employment with a covered employer 31 pursuant to chapter 97B as a teacher licensed under chapter 32 256, of fifty thousand dollars, and other costs associated 33 with such salary requirements, as identified in subparagraph 34 subdivision (ii) including costs associated with the employer’s 35 -1- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 1/ 13
S.F. 442 share of contributions to the Iowa public employees’ retirement 1 system and the employer’s share of the tax imposed by the 2 federal Insurance Contributions Act , the department of 3 management shall calculate and assign to all school districts 4 in a tier established under subparagraph division (b), a 5 teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil in an amount 6 based in part on the average cost to school districts within 7 the tier to meet the requirements , plus an amount equal to the 8 teacher salary supplement supplemental state aid amount for the 9 budget year . 10 (ii) If, however, a school district’s total teacher 11 salary supplement district cost under paragraph “c” , as 12 calculated using the teacher salary supplement district cost 13 per pupil assigned to the school district’s applicable tier, 14 is insufficient to comply with the applicable minimum teacher 15 salary requirements of the school district, including costs 16 associated with the employer’s share of contributions to the 17 Iowa public employees’ retirement system and the employer’s 18 share of the tax imposed by the federal Insurance Contributions 19 Act , the department of management shall set the school 20 district’s teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil 21 at an amount necessary to meet the district’s minimum salary 22 requirements and associated costs. If, however, a school 23 district reported a teacher’s years of experience incorrectly 24 on the fall 2023 basic educational data survey compared to the 25 fall 2024 basic educational data survey, and the difference 26 would have resulted in an additional per pupil amount for 27 the budget year beginning July 1, 2024, the department of 28 management shall increase the teacher salary supplement 29 district cost per pupil for the budget year beginning July 1, 30 2025, by the difference between the teacher salary supplement 31 district cost per pupil that would have been calculated if not 32 for the incorrect reporting and the teacher salary supplement 33 district cost per pupil actually calculated. 34 Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This division of this Act, being 35 -2- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 2/ 13
S.F. 442 deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment. 1 DIVISION II 2 TEACHER PREPARATION 3 Sec. 3. Section 256.16, subsection 1, paragraph c, 4 subparagraph (1), Code 2025, is amended to read as follows: 5 (1) (a) Require Except as described in subparagraph 6 division (b), require that each student admitted to an approved 7 practitioner preparation program participate in pre-student 8 teaching field experiences that include both observation and 9 participation in teaching activities in a variety of school 10 settings. 11 (a) Pre-student teaching field experiences for students 12 participating in an initial teacher preparation program shall 13 comprise a total of at least eighty hours in duration, at least 14 ten hours of which shall occur prior to a student’s acceptance 15 in an approved practitioner preparation program. 16 (b) Pre-student teaching field experiences for students 17 participating in a teacher intern preparation program shall may 18 comprise a total of at least fifty hours in duration. 19 Sec. 4. Section 256.16, subsection 1, paragraph c, 20 subparagraph (2), subparagraph division (a), subparagraph 21 subdivision (i), Code 2025, is amended to read as follows: 22 (i) The If the student has prior work experience as a 23 substitute teacher, the board of educational examiners has 24 issued a substitute license , or substitute authorization , or a 25 para-educator certificate to the student. 26 Sec. 5. Section 256.16, subsection 1, paragraph c, 27 subparagraph (2), subparagraph division (b), subparagraph 28 subdivision (i), Code 2025, is amended by striking the 29 subparagraph subdivision. 30 Sec. 6. Section 256.16, subsection 1, paragraph m, 31 subparagraph (2), Code 2025, is amended by striking the 32 subparagraph. 33 DIVISION III 34 OUT-OF-STATE PLACEMENT 35 -3- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 3/ 13
S.F. 442 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 282.35 Children requiring special 1 education —— out-of-state placement. 2 1. For purposes of this section: 3 a. “Child” means an individual who is under the age of 4 eighteen years, or an individual who is under the age of 5 twenty-one and is a full-time student, to whom all of the 6 following criteria apply: 7 (1) The individual is eligible for health care benefits 8 under chapter 249A. 9 (2) The individual’s health care coordination and 10 intervention team determines, pursuant to section 249A.4A, 11 subsection 3, paragraph “c” , subparagraph (1), that the 12 placement of the individual in an out-of-state facility, or 13 placement of the individual with an out-of-state provider, is 14 necessary for the individual to realize the full benefits of 15 chapter 249A. 16 (3) The director of the department of health and human 17 services certifies that the placement of the individual in an 18 out-of-state facility, or placement of the individual with an 19 out-of-state provider, is necessary to prevent the filing of a 20 petition under chapter 232 related to the individual. 21 (4) The director of the department of education determines 22 that the placement of the individual in an out-of-state 23 facility, or placement of the individual with an out-of-state 24 provider, would provide to the individual the education 25 required under chapter 256B and the rules adopted pursuant to 26 chapter 256B. 27 (5) The individual is and remains a resident of this state. 28 b. “District of residence” means the school district in 29 which the parent or legal guardian of the child resides or the 30 district in which the district court is located if the district 31 court is the guardian of the child. 32 c. “Resident” means the same as defined in section 282.1, 33 subsection 2. 34 2. A child’s district of residence may place the child in 35 -4- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 4/ 13
S.F. 442 an out-of-state facility or with an out-of-state provider for 1 purposes of providing the child with the education required 2 under chapter 256B, subject to the terms of an agreement 3 between the child’s district of residence and the facility or 4 provider. The agreement shall satisfy all of the following 5 requirements: 6 a. The agreement must require the facility or provider to 7 provide periodic invoices to the child’s district of residence 8 that describes the services provided to the child and the cost 9 associated with such services. 10 b. The agreement must condition the child’s district of 11 residence’s payment of the invoice described in paragraph 12 “a” upon the facility or provider providing to the child the 13 education required under chapter 256B and the rules adopted 14 pursuant to chapter 256B. 15 3. a. A child’s district of residence is not financially 16 responsible for the services provided by an out-of-state 17 facility or an out-of-state provider to a child unless the 18 out-of-state facility or out-of-state provider provides notice 19 to the child’s district of residence that the child may be 20 subject to this section and the child’s district of residence 21 enters into an agreement with the out-of-state facility 22 or out-of-state provider that satisfies the requirements 23 established in subsection 2. 24 b. By August 1 following the school year in which the 25 out-of-state facility or out-of-state provider provided 26 services to a child pursuant to an agreement entered into under 27 subsection 2, the child’s district of residence may submit 28 an accounting to the department of education that describes 29 the cost of the services provided by the facility or provider 30 during such school year. 31 c. By August 15 following the school year in which the 32 out-of-state facility or out-of-state provider provided 33 services to a child pursuant to an agreement entered into 34 under subsection 2, the department of education shall review 35 -5- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 5/ 13
S.F. 442 and either approve or modify the accounting submitted pursuant 1 to paragraph “b” and make payment to the child’s district of 2 residence toward the school year in which the cost of the 3 services was incurred. The payment amount is the difference 4 between the amount of the actual costs as reflected in the 5 district of residence’s accounting less the amount generated by 6 the weighting for the provision of services. 7 d. Any amounts paid by the department of education to school 8 districts in this state pursuant to paragraph “c” shall be 9 deducted on a monthly basis from the state foundation aid paid 10 under section 257.16 to all school districts in the state in 11 the school year following the school year in which the services 12 were provided. The portion of the total amount paid by the 13 department of education to a district that shall be deducted 14 from the state foundation aid paid to the district shall be the 15 same as the ratio that the budget enrollment for the budget 16 year of the district bears to the total budget enrollment in 17 the state for that budget year. 18 4. The department of education shall promptly and summarily 19 resolve any disputes between school districts related to the 20 financial responsibility of such school districts under this 21 section. 22 DIVISION IV 23 ONLINE STATE JOB POSTING SYSTEM 24 Sec. 8. Section 84A.6, subsection 4, Code 2025, is amended 25 by striking the subsection. 26 Sec. 9. NEW SECTION . 256.27 Online state job posting 27 system. 28 1. The department shall provide for the operation of an 29 online state job posting system. The system shall be designed 30 and implemented for the online posting of job openings offered 31 by school districts, charter schools, area education agencies, 32 the department, and accredited nonpublic schools. The system 33 shall be accessible via the department’s internet site. The 34 system shall include a mechanism for the electronic submission 35 -6- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 6/ 13
S.F. 442 of job openings for posting on the system as provided in 1 subsection 2. The system and each job posting on the system 2 shall include a statement that an employer submitting a job 3 opening for posting on the system will not discriminate in 4 hiring on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, 5 gender, age, physical disability, sexual orientation, gender 6 identity, religion, marital status, or status as a veteran. 7 The department may contract for, or partner with another entity 8 for, the use of an existing internet site to operate the online 9 state job posting system if the existing internet site is more 10 effective and economical than the department’s internet site. 11 2. A school district, charter school, or area education 12 agency shall submit all of its job openings to the department 13 for posting on the system and shall keep and maintain all 14 unfilled job openings on the system. The department shall post 15 all of its job openings on the system. An accredited nonpublic 16 school may submit job openings to the department for posting 17 on the system. 18 3. This section shall not be construed to do any of the 19 following: 20 a. Prohibit any employer from advertising job openings and 21 recruiting employees independently of the system. 22 b. Prohibit any employer from using another method of 23 advertising job openings or another applicant tracking system 24 in addition to the system. 25 c. Provide the department with any regulatory authority in 26 the hiring process or hiring decisions of any employer other 27 than the department. 28 DIVISION V 29 TEACHER COMPENSATION 30 Sec. 10. Section 284.15, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 31 2025, is amended to read as follows: 32 b. (1) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and each 33 subsequent fiscal year, the salary for a career teacher, model 34 teacher, mentor teacher, or lead teacher, who holds a valid 35 -7- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 7/ 13
S.F. 442 license issued under chapter 256, subchapter VII, part 3 , and 1 who has been a teacher for at least twelve years, shall be at 2 least sixty-two thousand dollars. 3 (2) Notwithstanding subparagraph (1), for the fiscal year 4 beginning July 1, 2025, and each subsequent fiscal year, a 5 career teacher, model teacher, mentor teacher, or lead teacher, 6 who holds a valid license issued under chapter 256, subchapter 7 VII, part 3, who has been a teacher for at least twelve years, 8 who has had a bona fide retirement from employment with a 9 covered employer as provided in section 97B.52A, and who 10 has returned to covered full-time employment with a covered 11 employer pursuant to chapter 97B as a teacher licensed under 12 chapter 256, shall be paid not less than fifty thousand 13 dollars. 14 Sec. 11. Section 284.16, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 15 2025, is amended to read as follows: 16 b. (1) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and 17 each subsequent fiscal year, a career teacher, instructional 18 coach, curriculum and professional development leader, or model 19 teacher, who has been a teacher for at least twelve years, 20 shall be paid not less than sixty-two thousand dollars. 21 (2) Notwithstanding subparagraph (1), for the fiscal 22 year beginning July 1, 2025, and each subsequent fiscal 23 year, a career teacher, instructional coach, curriculum and 24 professional development leader, or model teacher, who has been 25 a teacher for at least twelve years, who has had a bona fide 26 retirement from employment with a covered employer as provided 27 in section 97B.52A, and who has returned to covered full-time 28 employment with a covered employer pursuant to chapter 97B as a 29 teacher licensed under chapter 256, shall be paid not less than 30 fifty thousand dollars. 31 Sec. 12. Section 284.17, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 32 2025, is amended to read as follows: 33 b. (1) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and each 34 subsequent fiscal year, the minimum salary of fifty thousand 35 -8- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 8/ 13
S.F. 442 dollars for a full-time teacher who has less than twelve years 1 of teaching experience and a minimum salary of sixty-two 2 thousand dollars for a full-time teacher who has at least 3 twelve years of teaching experience. 4 (2) Notwithstanding subparagraph (1), for the fiscal year 5 beginning July 1, 2025, and each subsequent fiscal year, a 6 minimum salary of fifty thousand dollars for a full-time 7 teacher who has at least twelve years of teaching experience, 8 who has had a bona fide retirement from employment with a 9 covered employer as provided in section 97B.52A, and who 10 has returned to covered full-time employment with a covered 11 employer pursuant to chapter 97B as a teacher licensed under 12 chapter 256. 13 EXPLANATION 14 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 15 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 16 This bill relates to education, including by modifying 17 provisions related to the calculation of the teacher salary 18 supplement district cost per pupil, teacher preparation 19 requirements, out-of-state placement of certain specified 20 students requiring special education, the duties of the 21 department of education (DE), and minimum teacher salaries. 22 DIVISION I —— TEACHER SALARY SUPPLEMENT DISTRICT COST PER 23 PUPIL. Current law requires the department of management 24 (DOM), beginning July 1, 2025, to categorize all school 25 districts into not more than 10 tiers according to each school 26 district’s actual enrollment and to calculate and assign 27 to all school districts within each tier a teacher salary 28 supplement district cost per pupil in an amount based on the 29 average cost to school districts within the tier to meet 30 requirements related to minimum teacher salaries. The bill 31 strikes the provisions related to tiers and instead requires 32 DOM to calculate and assign to all school districts a teacher 33 salary supplement district cost per pupil in an amount to meet 34 the requirements related to minimum teacher salaries, including 35 -9- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 9/ 13
S.F. 442 costs associated with the employer’s share of contributions to 1 the Iowa public employees’ retirement system (IPERS) and the 2 employer’s share of the tax imposed by the federal Insurance 3 Contributions Act, plus an amount equal to the teacher salary 4 supplement supplemental state aid amount for the budget year. 5 The bill provides that if a school district reported a 6 teacher’s years of experience incorrectly on the fall 2023 7 basic educational data survey compared to the fall 2024 basic 8 educational data survey, and the difference would have resulted 9 in an additional per pupil amount for the budget year beginning 10 July 1, 2024, DOM shall increase the teacher salary supplement 11 district cost per pupil for the budget year beginning July 1, 12 2025, by the difference between the teacher salary supplement 13 district cost per pupil that would have been calculated if not 14 for the incorrect reporting and the teacher salary supplement 15 district cost per pupil actually calculated. 16 The division takes effect upon enactment. 17 DIVISION II —— TEACHER PREPARATION. Current law provides 18 that pre-student teaching field experiences for students 19 participating in a teacher intern preparation program shall 20 comprise at least 50 hours in duration. The bill modifies this 21 provision to provide that such field may comprise at least 50 22 hours in duration. 23 Current law provides that a student shall be credited 24 a minimum of 1 week, but not more than 10 weeks, of prior 25 work experience as a substitute teacher or a para-educator 26 toward the requirements associated with the 14-week student 27 teaching experience, if, among other requirements, the board of 28 educational examiners (BOEE) has issued a substitute license, 29 substitute authorization, or a para-educator certificate to 30 the student. The bill modifies this requirement to provide 31 that, if the student has prior work experience as a substitute 32 teacher, the BOEE has issued a substitute license or a 33 substitute authorization to the student. 34 The bill strikes the requirement that the BOEE must have 35 -10- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 10/ 13
S.F. 442 issued a para-educator certificate to the student in order for 1 the student to be credited a minimum of 1 week, but not more 2 than 14 weeks, of work experience as a para-educator toward 3 the requirements associated with the 14-week student teaching 4 experience. 5 The bill strikes the requirement that a participant in a 6 program provided by a higher education institution that is 7 designed to assist students in attaining a teacher intern 8 license from the BOEE must submit with the application to the 9 program a copy of an offer of employment from a school. 10 DIVISION III —— OUT-OF-STATE PLACEMENT. The bill provides 11 that a child’s district of residence may place the child in 12 an out-of-state facility or with an out-of-state provider for 13 purposes of providing the child with the education required 14 under Code chapter 256B (special education), subject to 15 the terms of an agreement between the child’s district of 16 residence and the facility or provider. The bill establishes 17 requirements related to the agreement. 18 The bill provides that a child’s district of residence 19 is not financially responsible for the services provided 20 by an out-of-state facility or an out-of-state provider to 21 a child unless the out-of-state facility or out-of-state 22 provider provides notice to the child’s district of residence 23 that the child may be subject to the bill’s provisions and 24 the child’s district of residence enters into an agreement 25 with the out-of-state facility or out-of-state provider that 26 satisfies the bill’s requirements related to such agreements. 27 Additionally, the bill provides that, by August 1 following the 28 school year in which the out-of-state facility or out-of-state 29 provider provided services to a child pursuant to an agreement, 30 the child’s district of residence may submit an accounting 31 to DE that describes the cost of the services provided by 32 the facility or provider during such school year. The bill 33 requires that by August 15 following the school year in which 34 the out-of-state facility or out-of-state provider provided 35 -11- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 11/ 13
S.F. 442 services to a child pursuant to an agreement, DE shall review 1 and either approve or modify the accounting and make payment 2 to the child’s district of residence toward the school year in 3 which the cost of the services was incurred. The bill provides 4 that any amounts paid by DE to school districts in this state 5 pursuant to these provisions shall be deducted on a monthly 6 basis from the state foundation aid paid under Code section 7 257.16 to all school districts in the state in the school year 8 following the school year in which the services were provided. 9 The portion of the total amount paid by DE to a district that 10 is required to be deducted from the state foundation aid paid 11 to the district is the same as the ratio that the budget 12 enrollment for the budget year of the district bears to the 13 total budget enrollment in the state for that budget year. 14 The bill defines “child”, “district of residence”, and 15 “resident”. 16 DIVISION IV —— ONLINE STATE JOB POSTING SYSTEM. Current 17 Code section 84A.6(4) requires the department of workforce 18 development (IWD), in consultation with DE, to establish a 19 system that allows DE, school districts, charter schools, 20 area education agencies, and accredited nonpublic schools to 21 post job openings on an internet site. Current Code section 22 84A.6(4) also requires DE, school districts, charter schools, 23 and area education agencies to submit all job openings to 24 IWD for posting on the internet site. Current Code section 25 84A.6(4) establishes requirements related to the job openings 26 system. The bill strikes Code section 84A.6(4) and enacts new 27 Code section 256.27, which transfers to DE the responsibilities 28 related to establishing and operating an online state job 29 posting system for school districts, charter schools, area 30 education agencies, and accredited nonpublic schools. 31 DIVISION V —— TEACHER COMPENSATION. Current Code chapter 32 284 (teacher compensation) provides that the minimum annual 33 salary for a teacher who has at least 12 years of teaching 34 experience shall be at least $62,000. The bill provides 35 -12- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 12/ 13
S.F. 442 that if such a teacher has had a bona fide retirement from 1 employment with a covered employer as provided in Code section 2 97B.52A (bona fide retirement under IPERS), and has returned 3 to covered full-time employment with a covered employer as a 4 licensed teacher, the teacher’s minimum annual salary shall be 5 $50,000. 6 -13- LSB 1126SV (2) 91 jda/jh 13/ 13
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