I hope everyone is having a good first week back at school. This year I have a fifth grader, a sophomore and a UNI Nursing student. Where has the time gone?
During the 2025 Legislative Session, we tackled several bills related to our K-12 education system. Some of these changes will have a direct impact on the 2025-2026 school year, and you may have already noticed some of them. Here are a couple of the biggest changes affecting our schools this year.
School Funding
Every year, the Legislature is tasked with setting the SSA (Supplemental State Aid) increase to state funding for our public schools. Since Iowans put Republicans in control of the Iowa House in the 2010 election, school funding has steadily risen – despite what you may hear from the minority party. This graph illustrates just how much funding has increased for public schools over that time.
This year, we increased SSA by 2%. The Legislature also provided an additional $5 per student to address the school funding equity issue that has existed since the implementation of the school funding formula in the 1970s. These increases have raised the state’s funding level for each student – known as state cost per pupil – to $7,988 for Fiscal Year 2026 (2025-2026 school year). This is an increase of $162 over the previous year’s level.
Teacher Salary Increases
This year also brings phase two of the teacher salary increase. This includes almost $35 million additional dollars for public schools. The minimum starting teacher salary is now $50,000, while teachers with 12 years of experience or more can make no less than $62,000.
New Cell Phone Policy
The biggest change our students will probably notice this year is the new rules around cell phones during class time. This session, we passed a law requiring school districts to implement a policy that, at a minimum, prohibits the use of cell phones during instructional time. Schools can implement a more stringent policy, but this is the minimum standard.
We did our best to ensure school districts implement this policy responsibly. The policy must also contain exemptions for medical reasons that students may need access to their phones and must outline methods for parents to communicate with students during emergencies.
This will ensure that the classroom remains a place where students can be free from the distraction of their phones and can focus on learning. Iowa schools that implemented policies restricting cell phone use on their own are already seeing results of better grades and lower suspensions.
School Safety Threat Assessment Teams
This session, we passed Senate File 583 to build on our efforts to make our schools as safe as possible. This new law requires schools to create a multidisciplinary threat assessment team to intervene when a student is exhibiting threatening behaviors. These teams can include local law enforcement, school officials, mental health professionals, representatives from juvenile court services, or social services representatives.
Under this law, schools and government agencies are allowed to share information on students struggling with mental illness. It encourages collaboration between schools, law enforcement, and mental health professionals to ensure the safest environment possible for our students and staff in schools. And, it provides immunity from civil liability for individuals who report credible threats.
Improving Math Instruction
Math proficiency is a big indicator of future success both in the classroom and the workforce. Iowa’s math scores, while above the national average, have been dropping in rankings since 2019. We’ve gone from 7th to 30th in fourth graders and 15th to 23rdfor eighth graders.
We passed a law this year that aims to reverse this trend by ensuring children struggling in math are identified and receive the personalized help they need. Schools are required to assess students in math three times a year from Kindergarten to 6th grade. If a student is identified as persistently at risk in math, schools must implement personalized mathematics plans and interventions. The law also strengthens math instruction by equipping teachers with evidence-based professional development and high-quality teacher prep training.
