Senate File 392 - Introduced SENATE FILE 392 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1049) A BILL FOR An Act relating to education, including eligibility for grants 1 under the teach Iowa scholar program, licenses issued by the 2 board of educational examiners, and the use of revenues from 3 the district management levy, and including applicability 4 provisions. 5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 6 TLSB 1048SV (2) 90 jda/jh

S.F. 392 Section 1. Section 256.16, subsection 1, Code 2023, is 1 amended by adding the following new paragraph: 2 NEW PARAGRAPH . m. If a higher education institution 3 providing practitioner preparation offers a program that is 4 designed to assist students in attaining a teacher intern 5 license from the board of educational examiners, the program 6 shall require participants to satisfy all of the following 7 requirements before completing the program: 8 (1) A participant in the program must have graduated from 9 an accredited or state-approved college or university and must 10 meet the requirements for an endorsement area approved by the 11 board of educational examiners for a teacher intern license. 12 (2) A participant in the program must submit with the 13 application to the program a copy of an offer of employment 14 from a school. 15 (3) A participant in the program must complete the required 16 pedagogy training. 17 (4) A participant in the program must work under the 18 supervision of a teacher leader assigned by the school district 19 or accredited nonpublic school, including during co-teaching 20 and planning time. 21 Sec. 2. Section 261.110, subsection 3, Code 2023, is amended 22 by adding the following new paragraph: 23 NEW PARAGRAPH . d. The total value of grants awarded under 24 this section each year to applicants who are preparing to 25 teach in a school district, charter school, or an accredited 26 nonpublic school shall be as follows: 27 (1) Fifty percent shall be awarded to applicants preparing 28 to teach in a school district with less than or equal to one 29 thousand two hundred students, a charter school with less than 30 or equal to one thousand two hundred students, or an accredited 31 nonpublic school with less than or equal to one thousand 32 two hundred students. However, if the amount requested by 33 applicants pursuant to subparagraph (2) is less than the amount 34 reserved for applicants under subparagraph (2), the commission 35 -1- LSB 1048SV (2) 90 jda/jh 1/ 8

S.F. 392 may award the difference to applicants under this subparagraph. 1 (2) Fifty percent shall be awarded to applicants preparing 2 to teach in a school district with greater than one thousand 3 two hundred students, a charter school with greater than one 4 thousand two hundred students, or an accredited nonpublic 5 school with greater than one thousand two hundred students. 6 However, if the amount requested by applicants pursuant 7 to subparagraph (1) is less than the amount reserved for 8 applicants under subparagraph (1), the commission may award the 9 difference to applicants under this subparagraph. 10 Sec. 3. Section 272.2, subsection 1, Code 2023, is amended 11 by adding the following new paragraph: 12 NEW PARAGRAPH . d. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection 13 establishing criteria for applicants for licenses who have 14 completed an accredited or state-approved teacher preparation 15 program and who are applying for the applicant’s first Iowa 16 teaching license shall not require the applicant to be an Iowa 17 resident if the applicant provides the board with a copy of an 18 offer of employment as a teacher from a school located in this 19 state. 20 Sec. 4. Section 272.2, subsection 13, Code 2023, is amended 21 to read as follows: 22 13. Adopt rules to provide for nontraditional preparation 23 options for licensing persons who hold a bachelor’s degree 24 or higher from an accredited or state-approved college or 25 university, who do not meet other requirements for licensure. 26 The rules shall, at a minimum, require the board to do all of 27 the following: 28 a. Issue a teacher intern license to an applicant who has 29 enrolled in a program established pursuant to section 256.16, 30 subsection 1, paragraph “m” . 31 b. Allow a licensee who has attained a teacher intern 32 license pursuant to paragraph “a” to apply for an initial 33 teaching license if the school that employed the licensee 34 during the licensee’s completion of the program established 35 -2- LSB 1048SV (2) 90 jda/jh 2/ 8

S.F. 392 pursuant to section 256.16, subsection 1, paragraph “m” , and 1 the higher education institution that operated the program, 2 recommend that the licensee be allowed to apply for an initial 3 teaching license. 4 Sec. 5. Section 272.2, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 5 following new subsection: 6 NEW SUBSECTION . 26. Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 7 17A that allow an individual seeking a career and technical 8 secondary authorization to apply, and if eligible, be issued 9 the secondary authorization prior to accepting an offer of 10 employment with a school. 11 Sec. 6. Section 279.46, Code 2023, is amended to read as 12 follows: 13 279.46 Retirement incentives and teacher recruitment and 14 retention incentives —— tax. 15 1. The board of directors of a school district may adopt 16 a program for payment of a monetary bonus, continuation of 17 health or medical insurance coverage, or other incentives 18 for encouraging its employees to retire before the normal 19 retirement date as defined in chapter 97B . The program is 20 available only to employees who notify the board of directors 21 prior to April 1 of the fiscal year that they intend to retire 22 not later than the start of the next following school calendar. 23 The age at which employees shall be designated eligible for 24 the program shall be at the discretion of the board. An 25 employee retiring under this section subsection may apply for 26 a retirement allowance under chapter 97B or chapter 294 . The 27 board may include in the district management levy an amount to 28 pay the total estimated accumulated cost to the school district 29 of the health or medical insurance coverage, bonus, or other 30 incentives for employees fifty-five years of age or older who 31 retire under this section subsection . 32 2. a. The board of directors of a school district may 33 adopt a program for teacher recruitment incentives to recruit 34 new teachers and a program for teacher retention incentives 35 -3- LSB 1048SV (2) 90 jda/jh 3/ 8

S.F. 392 to retain teachers currently employed by the board. If the 1 board does adopt a program for teacher recruitment or retention 2 incentives, the board shall adopt a policy to implement the 3 program. Under the program, the board of directors of a school 4 district shall not do any of the following: 5 (1) Pay a teacher a teacher recruitment or retention 6 incentive that annually exceeds ten percent of the amount of 7 the salary for an initial teacher established pursuant to 8 section 284.15, subsection 2, paragraph “a” , subparagraph (1). 9 (2) Pay a teacher a teacher recruitment or retention 10 incentive in more than five school budget years. 11 b. The board may include in the district management levy 12 an amount to pay the total estimated accumulated cost to 13 the school district of the teacher recruitment or retention 14 incentives adopted under this subsection. 15 3. The board may adopt either the program for early 16 retirement benefits provided in subsection 1, or the programs 17 for teacher recruitment or retention incentives provided in 18 subsection 2, but the board shall not adopt the program for 19 early retirement benefits concurrently with a program for 20 teacher recruitment or retention incentives. 21 4. The board of directors of a school district shall 22 discuss the adoption of the program for early retirement 23 benefits provided in subsection 1 or the programs for teacher 24 recruitment or retention incentives provided in subsection 25 2, if applicable, at a regular or special meeting prior to 26 adopting the program. The board of directors of the school 27 district shall provide sufficient time to receive public 28 comment on the program. The board shall allow each interested 29 member of the public to speak at the meeting regarding the 30 program, but may impose a time limit on the amount of time a 31 member of the public is allowed to speak if the time limit is 32 the same for each speaker and necessary due to the amount of 33 people wishing to speak. 34 Sec. 7. Section 298.4, subsection 1, paragraph e, Code 2023, 35 -4- LSB 1048SV (2) 90 jda/jh 4/ 8

S.F. 392 is amended to read as follows: 1 e. To pay the cost of early retirement benefits to employees 2 under section 279.46 , subsection 1, or teacher recruitment or 3 retention incentives under section 279.46, subsection 2. A 4 board of directors of a school district shall not expend the 5 district management levy on the costs of early retirement 6 benefits to employees under section 279.46, subsection 1, in 7 the same fiscal year as the costs of teacher recruitment or 8 retention incentives under section 279.46, subsection 2 . 9 Sec. 8. APPLICABILITY. The following applies to grants 10 awarded by the college student aid commission on or after July 11 1, 2023, to initial applicants under the teach Iowa scholar 12 program established pursuant to section 261.110: 13 The section of this Act amending section 261.110. 14 Sec. 9. APPLICABILITY. The following apply to school budget 15 years beginning July 1, 2024: 16 1. The section of this Act amending section 279.46. 17 2. The section of this Act amending section 298.4. 18 EXPLANATION 19 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 20 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 21 This bill relates to education, including eligibility for 22 grants under the teach Iowa scholar program, licenses issued 23 by the board of educational examiners (BOEE), and the use of 24 revenues from the district management levy. 25 The bill provides that if a higher education institution 26 providing practitioner preparation offers a program that is 27 designed to assist students in attaining a teacher intern 28 license from the BOEE, the program shall require participants 29 to satisfy certain specified requirements. 30 The teach Iowa scholar program, administered by the 31 college student aid commission, provides grants to certain 32 high-caliber, full-time teachers in Iowa in amounts not to 33 exceed $4,000 annually or $20,000 over five years. The bill 34 provides that the total value of grants awarded under the 35 -5- LSB 1048SV (2) 90 jda/jh 5/ 8

S.F. 392 program to applicants who are preparing to teach in a school 1 district, charter school, or an accredited nonpublic school 2 shall be equally divided between applicants preparing to 3 teach in a school district, charter school, or an accredited 4 nonpublic school with less than or equal to 1,200 students and 5 applicants preparing to teach in a school district, charter 6 school, or accredited nonpublic school with greater than 7 1,200 students. The bill authorizes the commission to award 8 different amounts to each group of applicants if the amount 9 requested by applicants of either group is less than the amount 10 reserved for that group. The bill establishes that this 11 provision applies to grants awarded by the commission on or 12 after July 1, 2023, to initial applicants under the program. 13 Current law authorizes the BOEE to issue a regional exchange 14 teaching license to an applicant who has completed a teacher 15 preparation program outside of the state and who is applying 16 for the applicant’s first Iowa teaching license if, among 17 other requirements, the applicant is a resident of the state. 18 The bill removes the requirement that such an applicant be a 19 resident of this state if the applicant provides the BOEE with 20 a copy of an offer of employment as a teacher from a school 21 located in this state. 22 Current law requires the BOEE to adopt rules to provide 23 for nontraditional preparation options for licensing persons 24 who hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college 25 or university and who do not meet other requirements for 26 licensure. The bill provides that the rules shall require 27 the BOEE to issue a teacher intern license to an applicant 28 who has completed a program offered by a higher education 29 institution providing practitioner preparation that is designed 30 to assist students in attaining a teacher intern license. The 31 bill requires the BOEE to allow a licensee who has attained 32 a teacher intern license under such a program to apply for 33 an initial teaching license if the school that employed 34 the licensee during the program and the higher education 35 -6- LSB 1048SV (2) 90 jda/jh 6/ 8

S.F. 392 institution recommend that the licensee be allowed to apply. 1 The bill requires the BOEE to adopt rules that allow 2 an individual seeking a career and technical secondary 3 authorization to apply, and if eligible, be issued the 4 secondary authorization prior to accepting an offer of 5 employment with a school. 6 Currently, Code section 279.46 authorizes the board of 7 directors of a school district to adopt a program for early 8 retirement benefits to encourage its employees to retire 9 before the normal retirement date. The bill modifies Code 10 section 279.46 to also authorize the board of directors to 11 adopt a program for teacher recruitment incentives to recruit 12 new teachers and a program for teacher retention incentives 13 to retain current teachers. The bill requires the board of 14 directors to discuss the adoption of the program for early 15 retirement benefits or the program for teacher recruitment or 16 retention incentives, if applicable, at a regular or special 17 meeting prior to adopting the program and allow for public 18 comment. The bill prohibits the board of directors from paying 19 a teacher recruitment or retention incentive that annually 20 exceeds 10 percent of the amount of the salary for an initial 21 teacher established under Code section 284.15. Additionally, 22 the bill prohibits the board of directors from paying a 23 teacher recruitment or retention incentive in more than five 24 school budget years. The bill also prohibits the board of 25 directors from adopting the program for early retirement 26 benefits concurrently with the program for teacher recruitment 27 or retention incentives. In addition, the bill prohibits the 28 board of directors from adopting either the program for early 29 retirement benefits or the program for teacher recruitment 30 or retention incentives within five years after adopting the 31 other program. These provisions apply to school budget years 32 beginning July 1, 2024. 33 The bill authorizes the board of directors to expend the 34 district management levy to pay the costs of either the program 35 -7- LSB 1048SV (2) 90 jda/jh 7/ 8