New Iowa law brings large pay raises to Iowa Valley teachers

MARENGO — In what Iowa Valley Community School District Superintendent Curt Rheingans called “probably the most creative settlement I’ve ever been part of,” Iowa Valley teachers will see raises of $3,000 to $12,000 as the school meets new state law concerning teacher pay.

In March, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law House File 2612 which establishes a new minimum salary for teachers. Effective July 1, 2024, the salary for a new teacher must be at least $47,500, and the salaries for teachers with at least 12 years of experience must be at least $60,000.

Those salaries jump to $50,000 and $62,000 beginning July 1, 2025.

The legislature will provide additional funding through Teacher Salary Supplement funds to assist school districts in reaching these minimum salaries.

Rheingans told the school board this month that some teachers who have master’s degrees will be stuck at $47,500 until they reach the next level of the salary schedules. Others may be stuck at $62,000.

The salary schedule is based on years of additional education.

The minimum raise for the next school year will be $3,200. Some teachers will receive bonuses rather than pay raises as compensation, said Rheingans.

The school board wanted to make sure that longtime teachers are compensated, said School Board President Bobbi Miller.

The amounts for the pay raises didn’t come from the teachers’ association or from the school district, said Rheingans. “That was the direction we got from our elected officials.”

Bonuses came from Iowa Valley’s TAG fund, which has a surplus, Rheingans said. That money must be returned to the State if the district doesn’t use it, he said, so the district will use the money for teacher pay.

As of January 2023, TAG funds may be used for teacher salary supplement purposes.

Rheingans said in April that 23 teachers will receive $4,000 raises. A few will receive $6,000-$9,000.

“It’s a huge improvement,” Rheingans said.

The hourly rate for paraeducators was set by the legislature at $15. Eighteen paraeducators in the district will receive more than $1 an hour pay increases.

Some districts didn’t receive enough money to cover the pay raises needed to meet the new law, said Rheingans. “We will use almost $400,000 of it.”

The money the State gave each school district was based on how many pupils the district has, the salary schedule and the level of staffing, Rheingans said.

“We’re in better shape than a lot of districts,” said Rheingans. The $132,000 in new money amounts to more than 4% of the total budget, he said.

“We had some growth,” said Rheingans, and received a funding increase of more than 2.5%.

On the downside, insurance costs for the district increased by about 7%.