HSB 714 (LSB 6327YC (9) 90)

HOUSE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION BILL BY CHAIRPERSON WHEELER)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to school funding, including the teacher salary supplement cost per pupil and teacher and education support professional compensation, and making appropriations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 257.10, subsection 9, paragraphs a and d, Code 2024, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  (1)  For the budget year beginning July 1, 2009, the department of management shall add together the teacher compensation allocation made to each district for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008, pursuant to section 284.13, subsection 1, paragraph “h”, Code 2009, and the phase II allocation made to each district for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008, pursuant to section 294A.9, Code 2009, and divide that sum by the district’s budget enrollment in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009, to determine the teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil. For the budget year beginning July 1, 2010, and succeeding budget years beginning before July 1, 2024, the teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil for each school district for a budget year is the teacher salary supplement program district cost per pupil for the base year plus the teacher salary supplement supplemental state aid amount for the budget year.
   (2)  (a)  For the budget year beginning July 1, 2024, the department of management shall calculate for each school district a teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil amount based on the sum of the following:
   (i)  An amount necessary to allow the school district to provide a minimum teacher starting salary of forty-seven thousand five hundred dollars in accordance with the requirements of chapter 284, including costs associated with the employer’s share of contributions to the Iowa public employees’ retirement system and the employer’s share of the tax imposed by the federal Insurance Contributions Act.
   (ii)  An amount necessary to allow the school district to provide an hourly wage of fifteen dollars per hour for education support personnel, including costs associated with the employer’s share of contributions to the Iowa public employees’ retirement system and the employer’s share of the tax imposed by the federal Insurance Contributions Act. However, if the amount calculated under this subparagraph subdivision for all school districts exceeds fourteen million dollars, the department of management shall proportionally reduce the amount calculated for school districts, based on the original calculation, so that the total amount calculated for all school districts is fourteen million dollars.
   (b)  For the budget year beginning July 1, 2025, the department of management shall calculate for each school district a teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil amount based on the sum of the following:
   (i)  An amount necessary to allow the school district to provide a minimum teacher starting salary of fifty thousand dollars in accordance with the requirements of chapter 284, including costs associated with the employer’s share of contributions to the Iowa public employees’ retirement system and the employer’s share of the tax imposed by the federal Insurance Contributions Act.
   (ii)  To allow each school district to provide an hourly wage of fifteen dollars per hour to education support personnel, the amount calculated for the base year under subparagraph division (a), subparagraph subdivision (ii), after the reduction if applicable, plus the product of that same amount multiplied by the categorical percent of growth under section 257.8, subsection 2, for the budget year.
   (3)  For the budget year beginning July 1, 2026, and succeeding budget years, the teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil for each school district for a budget year is the teacher salary supplement program district cost per pupil for the base year plus the teacher salary supplement supplemental state aid amount for the budget year.
   d.  For the budget year beginning July 1, 2010, and succeeding budget years, the use of the funds calculated under this subsection or available for use as provided in subsection 10, paragraph “d”, subsection 12, paragraph “d”, or section 257.46, subsection 3, shall be distributed to teachers pursuant to section 284.3A and shall comply in compliance with the requirements of chapter 284 related to such distribution under section 284.3A and may be distributed to education support personnel as described in paragraph “a”.
    Sec. 2.  Section 257.10, subsection 9, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  e.  For purposes of this subsection, “education support personnel” means regular and part-time employees of a school district who are not salaried.
    Sec. 3.  Section 257.10, subsection 12, paragraph d, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   d.  Except as otherwise allowed under this paragraph, for the budget year beginning July 1, 2014, and succeeding budget years, the use of the funds calculated under this subsection shall comply with the requirements of chapter 284 and shall be distributed to teachers pursuant to section 284.15. The funds shall be used only to increase the payment for a teacher assigned to a leadership role pursuant to a framework or comparable system approved pursuant to section 284.15; to increase the percentages of teachers assigned to leadership roles; to increase the minimum teacher starting salary to thirty-three thousand five hundred dollars the amount described in section 284.15, subsection 2, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (1); to cover the costs for the time mentor and lead teachers are not providing instruction to students in a classroom; for coverage of a classroom when an initial or career teacher is observing or co-teaching with a teacher assigned to a leadership role; for professional development time to learn best practices associated with the career pathways leadership process; and for other costs associated with a framework or comparable system approved by the department of education under section 284.15 with the goals of improving instruction and elevating the quality of teaching and student learning. If all requirements for the school district for the use of funds calculated under this subsection are met and funds received under this subsection remain unexpended and unobligated at the end of a fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2020, the school district may transfer all or a portion of such unexpended and unobligated funds for deposit in the school district’s flexibility account established under section 298A.2, subsection 2. At the end of a fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2022, school districts may use all or a portion of funds under this subsection for the purposes authorized under subsection 9, paragraph “d”, and, notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, school districts shall not be required to participate in or comply with section 284.15 in order to continue to receive funding under this subsection.
    Sec. 4.  Section 284.15, subsection 2, paragraph a, subparagraph (1), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  (a)  The For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, the salary for an initial teacher who has successfully completed an approved practitioner preparation program as defined in section 256.145 or holds an initial or intern teacher license issued under chapter 256, subchapter VII, part 3, shall be at least thirty-three forty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, which shall also constitute the minimum salary for an Iowa teacher.
   (b)  For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and each subsequent fiscal year, the salary for an initial teacher who has successfully completed an approved practitioner preparation program as defined in section 256.145 or holds an initial or intern teacher license issued under chapter 256, subchapter VII, part 3, shall be at least fifty thousand dollars, which shall also constitute the minimum salary for an Iowa teacher.
    Sec. 5.  Section 284.16, subsection 1, paragraph a, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   The For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, the beginning teacher shall be paid not less than thirty-three forty-seven thousand five hundred dollars and. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and each subsequent fiscal year, the beginning teacher shall be paid not less than fifty thousand dollars. Each beginning teacher shall meet the following requirements:
    Sec. 6.  Section 284.17, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  a.  A For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, the minimum salary of thirty-three forty-seven thousand five hundred dollars for a full-time teacher.
   b.  For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025, and each subsequent fiscal year, the minimum salary of fifty thousand dollars for a full-time teacher.
    Sec. 7.  SCHOOL DISTRICT FUNDING SUPPLEMENT —— FISCAL YEAR 2024-2025.
   1.  There is appropriated from the general fund of the state to the department of education for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025, twenty-two million dollars to make all payments to school districts required under subsection 2.
   2.  a.  Moneys appropriated to the department of education under subsection 1 shall be used to provide a funding supplement to each school district during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025.
   b.  Each school district’s funding supplement amount shall be equal to twenty-two million dollars multiplied by the quotient of the school district’s budget enrollment for the budget year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024, divided by the statewide total budget enrollment for the budget year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024.
   c.  Moneys received by a school district under this section shall be miscellaneous income for purposes of chapter 257 and shall not be included in district cost.
   d.  The school district funding supplement received by a school district under this section shall be used at the school district’s discretion to supplement teacher salaries and the salaries and wages of education support personnel in a manner that promotes quality teaching and rewards experience.
   3.  Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys appropriated in this section that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated until the close of the succeeding fiscal year.
   4.  The payment of funding supplement amounts under this section shall be paid by the department of education at the same time and in the same manner as the teacher salary supplement is paid under section 257.10, subsection 9, for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and ending June 30, 2025.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to school funding, including the teacher salary supplement cost per pupil and teacher and education support professional compensation.
   Currently, Code chapter 284 (teacher compensation) provides that the minimum annual salary for an initial teacher who has successfully completed an approved practitioner preparation program or holds an initial or intern teacher license issued by the board of educational examiners (BOEE) shall be at least $33,500. For the 2024-2025 school year, the bill increases the minimum teacher starting salary to $47,500. For school years beginning on or after July 1, 2026, the bill increases the minimum teacher starting salary to $50,000.
   The bill defines “education support personnel” as regular and part-time employees of a school district who are not salaried.
   For the budget year beginning July 1, 2024, the department of management must calculate a teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil in an amount equal to the sum of the amount necessary to allow the school district to provide the minimum starting teacher salary and the amount necessary, not to exceed $14 million in the aggregate among all school districts, to allow each school district to provide a minimum education support personnel (ESP) wage of $15 per hour including costs associated with the employer’s share of contributions to the Iowa public employees’ retirement system and the employer’s share of the tax imposed by the federal Insurance Contributions Act. The bill requires similar calculations in the budget year beginning July 1, 2025, to account for the increase in the minimum annual teacher salary. The bill also provides that the amount calculated related to ESP shall grow by the categorical state percent of growth. For budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2026, the teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil for each school district for a budget year is the teacher salary supplement program district cost per pupil for the base year plus the teacher salary supplement supplemental state aid amount for the budget year, which is the calculation used for the budget year 2023-2024.
   The bill appropriates $22 million to the department of education (DE) for FY 2024-2025 to provide a funding supplement to each school district to be used at the school district’s discretion to supplement teacher salaries and the salaries and wages of ESP in a manner that promotes quality teaching and rewards experience. Each school district’s funding supplement amount will be an amount equal to $22 million multiplied by the quotient of the school district’s budget enrollment for the budget year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024, divided by the statewide total budget enrollment for the budget year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024. The moneys appropriated to the DE that remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of the fiscal year do not revert but remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated until the close of the succeeding fiscal year. The payment of funding supplement amounts must be paid by the DE at the same time and in the same manner as the teacher salary supplement district cost is paid for FY 2024-2025.
   The bill makes conforming changes.