SF 177 (LSB 1899XS (3) 88)

SENATE FILE 177

BY  MATHIS

A BILL FOR

An Act providing for the establishment of a teacher recruitment and retention task force.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  TEACHER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION TASK FORCE.
   1.  The director of the department of education shall convene a task force to conduct a study of teacher recruitment and retention. The study shall include but not be limited to an examination of all of the following:
   a.  The reasons individuals fail to enter or complete practitioner preparation programs or avoid certain subject areas in practitioner preparation programs.
   b.  The reasons teachers fail to apply for teaching positions in certain geographic or subject areas.
   c.  Recent efforts to recruit or incentivize potential teachers, including the history and funding of scholarship and grant programs designed for potential teachers and the barriers to productive, successful teacher preparation program recruitment.
   d.  Independent, high-quality research conducted to improve education policy and practice, including but not limited to the learning policy institute’s 2016 publication, “solving the teacher shortage: how to attract and retain excellent educators”.
   e.  The reasons teachers leave the profession or are attracted to other fields, including but not limited to the following Iowa-specific issues in rural, urban, and suburban schools:
   (1)  Inadequate preparation time and opportunity for collaboration with colleagues.
   (2)  Poor teaching conditions, including lack of supports from administrators.
   (3)  Poor compensation and benefits.
   (4)  General lack of respect.
   (5)  Teacher participation in decision making discouraged, rebuked, or prohibited at the school or district level.
   2.  The goal of the task force is to identify measures to improve teacher recruitment and retention efforts; increase scholarships, grants, marketing efforts, and other incentives to attract to or to keep individuals in the teaching profession; and develop measures to support teachers in achieving a successful life-long teaching career.
   3.  The task force shall be comprised of the director of the department of education or the director’s designee; the executive director of the board of educational examiners or the executive director’s designee; the executive director of the college student aid commission or the executive director’s designee; two individuals representing practitioner preparation programs at institutions of higher learning governed by the state board of regents, one of whom shall be employed by the university of northern Iowa; and shall include, at a minimum, the following:
   a.  Six members who shall be appointed by the following respective entities:
   (1)  The Iowa state education association.
   (2)  The school administrators of Iowa.
   (3)  The Iowa association of school boards.
   (4)  The urban education network.
   (5)  The rural school advocates of Iowa.
   (6)  The Iowa association of independent colleges and universities.
   b.  Three members, who shall be appointed by the director of the department of education based on recommendations submitted by the entities specified in paragraph “a”, as follows:
   (1)  A teacher employed by a growing suburban school district.
   (2)  A teacher employed by a rural school district.
   (3)  A teacher employed in an urban city center.
   4.  To the extent possible, appointments shall be made to provide geographical area representation and to comply with sections 69.16, 69.16A, 69.16C, and 69.16E.
   5.  The department of education and the practitioner preparation institutions governed by the state board of regents shall provide staff assistance and administrative support to the task force.
   6.  The task force shall submit its findings and recommendations in a report to the governor and the general assembly by November 29, 2019.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill provides for the establishment and membership of a teacher recruitment and retention task force.
   The director of the department of education shall convene the task force to conduct a study of teacher recruitment and retention that includes but is not limited to an examination of the reasons individuals fail to enter or complete practitioner preparation programs or avoid certain subject areas in practitioner preparation programs; the reasons teachers fail to apply for teaching positions in certain geographic or subject areas; recent efforts to recruit or incentivize potential teachers; independent, high-quality research conducted and published to improve education policy and practice; and the reasons teachers leave the profession or are attracted to other fields.
   The goal of the task force is to identify measures to improve teacher recruitment and retention efforts, increase marketing and incentives to attract to or to keep individuals in the teaching profession, and develop measures to support teachers in achieving a successful life-long teaching career.
   The task force shall be comprised of the director of the department of education or the director’s designee; the executive directors of the board of educational examiners and the college student aid commission or their designees; two individuals representing practitioner preparation programs at regents universities, one of whom must be employed by the university of northern Iowa; and, at a minimum, six members appointed by statewide education stakeholders, a teacher employed by a growing suburban school district, a teacher employed by a rural school district, and a teacher employed in an urban city center.
   To the extent possible, appointments shall be made to provide geographical area representation and to comply with Code provisions relating to political and gender balance and to minority and young adult representation on appointive boards.
   The department of education and the regents’ practitioner preparation institutions shall provide staff assistance and administrative support to the task force.
   The task force shall submit its findings and recommendations in a report to the governor and the general assembly by November 29, 2019.