First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
additions will appear in this style type, and deletions will appear in this style type.
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in this style type. Also, the
word NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in this style type or this style type reconciles conflicts
between statutes enacted by the 2024 Regular Session of the General Assembly.
SENATE ENROLLED ACT No. 146
AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning education.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
SECTION 1. IC 20-19-3-38 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY
1, 2025]: Sec. 38. (a) As used in this section:
(1) "school health plan" refers to a school employee health
plan offered under IC 20-26-17; and
(2) "state health plan" refers to a state employee health plan
offered under IC 5-10-8-6.7.
(b) Before November 1, 2025, the department shall prepare and
submit a report to the general assembly in an electronic format
under IC 5-14-6 that provides an analysis of the feasibility and cost
of increasing school corporation employee health plan options.
(c) The report described in subsection (b) must include the
following:
(1) An analysis of the feasibility and cost of allowing a school
corporation employee to elect to participate in a state health
plan if the state health plan is less expensive than the school
health plan offered by the employee's school corporation.
(2) An analysis of the feasibility and cost of allowing a school
corporation employee who elects, as described in subdivision
(1), to participate in a less expensive state health plan to apply
the difference between the amount of the school health plan
offered by the employee's school corporation and the amount
SEA 146 — CC 1 2
of the state health plan to:
(A) the employee's defined contribution account, if the
employee maintains a defined contribution account; or
(B) the employee's annual salary.
(d) This section expires July 1, 2026.
SECTION 2. IC 20-20-51 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
AS A NEW CHAPTER TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2025]:
Chapter 51. Indiana Teacher Recruitment Program
Sec. 1. As used in this chapter, "program" refers to the Indiana
teacher recruitment program established by section 2 of this
chapter.
Sec. 2. (a) The Indiana teacher recruitment program is
established. The purpose of the program is to provide grants to
training and recruitment programs for teachers in critical shortage
areas, as determined by the department, based on data contained
in the educator supply and demand marketplace maintained on the
department's website.
(b) The department shall administer the program.
Sec. 3. The department shall do the following:
(1) Create an application and approval process for training
and recruitment programs.
(2) Determine guidelines for awarding grants under the
program.
Sec. 4. This chapter expires June 30, 2027.
SECTION 3. IC 20-28-3-1, AS AMENDED BY HEA 1634-2025,
SECTION 1, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 1. (a) As used in this section, "teacher candidate"
means an individual recommended for an initial teaching license from
a teacher preparation program located in Indiana.
(b) As used in this section, "teacher preparation program" includes,
but is not limited to, the following:
(1) A teacher education school or department.
(2) A transition to teaching program under IC 20-28-4.
(3) Any other entity approved by the department to offer a course
of study leading to an initial teaching license.
(c) The department shall:
(1) arrange a statewide system of professional instruction for
teacher education;
(2) accredit and review teacher preparation programs that comply
with the rules of the department;
(3) approve content area licensure programs for particular kinds
SEA 146 — CC 1 3
of teachers in accredited teacher preparation programs; and
(4) specify the types of licenses for individuals who complete
programs of approved courses.
(d) The department shall work with teacher preparation programs to
develop a system of teacher education that ensures individuals who
complete teacher preparation programs are able to meet the highest
professional standards.
(e) Before July 1, 2015, the department shall establish standards for
the continuous improvement of program processes and the performance
of individuals who complete teacher preparation programs. The state
board shall adopt rules containing the standards not later than two
hundred seventy (270) days after the department finishes the standards.
(f) The standards established under subsection (e) must include
benchmarks for performance, including test score data for each teacher
preparation entity on content area licensure tests and test score data for
each teacher preparation entity on pedagogy licensure tests.
(g) Each teacher preparation program shall annually report the
program's performance on the standards and benchmarks established
under this section to the department. The department shall make the
information reported under this subsection available to the public on
the department's website. Each teacher preparation program shall make
the information reported under this subsection available to the public
on the teacher preparation program's website. In addition to reporting
performance, each teacher preparation program must report to the
department the following:
(1) The attrition, retention, and completion rates of teacher
candidates for the previous three (3) calendar years. The teacher
preparation program must also provide underlying data, as
determined by the department, used as part of calculating the
teacher preparation program's retention rates.
(2) The number of teacher candidates in each content area who
complete the teacher preparation program during the year,
disaggregated by ranges of cumulative grade point averages.
(3) The number of teacher candidates in each content area who,
during the year:
(A) do not pass a content area licensure examination; and
(B) do not retake the content area licensure examination.
(h) In making information available to the public on the
department's website, the department shall include in the report under
subsection (g), in addition to the matrix ratings described in subsection
(i), the following information:
(1) Average scaled or standard scores of teacher candidates who
SEA 146 — CC 1 4
complete teacher preparation programs on basic skills, content
area, and pedagogy licensure examinations.
(2) The average number of times teacher candidates who
complete a teacher preparation program take each licensing test
before receiving a passing score and the percentage of teacher
candidates who receive a passing score on each licensing test on
the teacher candidates' first attempts.
(i) Not later than July 30, 2016, the department and the commission
for higher education, in conjunction with the state board, the
Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc., and teacher preparation
programs, shall establish a matrix rating system for teacher preparation
programs based on the performance of the programs as demonstrated
by the data collected under subsections (g) and (h). The matrix rating
system may not rank or compare teacher preparation programs. The
matrix rating system must be based on data collected for teachers who
initially receive their teaching license during the previous three (3)
years. The department shall make the matrix ratings available to the
public on the department's website.
(j) Each teacher preparation program shall report to the department,
in a manner prescribed by the department, the teacher preparation
program's admission practices, in accordance with:
(1) the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation
standards, for teacher preparation programs accredited by the
Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation;
(2) rigorous academic entry requirements for admission into a
teacher preparatory program that are equivalent to the minimum
academic requirements determined by the Council for the
Accreditation of Educator Preparation, for teacher preparation
programs that are not accredited by the Council for the
Accreditation of Educator Preparation; or
(3) the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator
Preparation standards, for teacher preparation programs
accredited by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator
Preparation.
The department shall include information reported to the department
on the department's website.
(k) Not later than July 30, 2016, the department and the commission
for higher education, in conjunction with the state board, the
Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc., and teacher preparation
programs, shall establish a minimum rating under the matrix rating
system established under subsection (i) that teacher preparation
programs must achieve to avoid referral under subsection (l).
SEA 146 — CC 1 5
(l) Not later than July 1 of each year, the department shall submit a
list of teacher preparation programs that do not meet the minimum
rating established under subsection (k) or the requirements of section
3.1 or 3.2 of this chapter to the commission for higher education and
the Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc. for one (1) of the following
actions:
(1) In the case of a state educational institution, the commission
for higher education shall place the teacher preparation program
on an improvement plan with clear performance goals and a
designated period in which the performance goals must be
achieved.
(2) In the case of a proprietary postsecondary educational
institution, the commission for higher education shall recommend
to the teacher preparation program an improvement plan with
clear performance goals and a designated period in which the
performance goals should be achieved.
(3) In the case of a nonprofit college or university, the
Independent Colleges of Indiana, Inc., shall coordinate a peer
review process to make recommendations to the peer institution
in achieving the department's performance metrics.
(m) The department shall approve at least two (2) accreditors that:
(1) accredit teacher preparation programs; and
(2) are recognized by the Council for Higher Education
Accreditation;
to accredit teacher preparation programs for use in Indiana.
(n) Not later than December 31, 2024, the department and the
commission for higher education, in conjunction with the state board,
shall partner with teacher preparation programs to receive an outside
evaluation by a nationally recognized nonprofit, nonpartisan
organization that leverages evidence based approaches on the science
of reading to evaluate teacher preparation reading instruction programs.
SECTION 4. IC 20-28-9-26, AS ADDED BY P.L.165-2021,
SECTION 154, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS
[EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2025]: Sec. 26. (a) For each school year
beginning after June 30, 2022, June 30, 2025, if a school corporation
determines that the school corporation cannot establish a minimum
salary of forty forty-five thousand dollars ($40,000) ($45,000) for each
full-time teacher, the school corporation and the department shall
submit a report to the department explaining the school corporation's
inability to meet the minimum threshold requirement.
(b) A report submitted under this section must include an
explanation of the financial challenges, with detailed data, that
SEA 146 — CC 1 6
preclude the school corporation from meeting the minimum salary
threshold required under subsection (a). The report must also describe
the cost saving measures taken by the school corporation in attempting
to meet the minimum salary threshold required under subsection (a).
must comply with the requirements of subsections (b) through (d).
(b) For each state fiscal year that a school corporation fails to
meet the minimum salary requirements for full-time teachers
under subsection (a), the department shall submit in both a written
and an electronic format a notice to the school corporation's:
(1) superintendent;
(2) school business officer; and
(3) governing body;
that the school corporation failed to meet the requirements set
forth in subsection (a) for the applicable state fiscal year.
(c) If a school corporation's governing body receives a notice
from the department under subsection (b), the school corporation
shall do the following:
(1) Publicly acknowledge receipt of the notice from the
department at the governing body's next public meeting.
(2) Enter into the governing body's official minutes for the
meeting described in subdivision (1) acknowledgment of the
notice.
(3) Not later than thirty (30) days after the meeting described
in subdivision (1), publish on the school corporation's website:
(A) the department's notice; and
(B) any relevant individual reports prepared by the
department.
(d) If the department determines a school corporation that
received one (1) or more notices from the department under
subsection (b) has met the minimum salary requirements required
under subsection (a) for a subsequent state fiscal year, the school
corporation may remove from the school corporation's website
any:
(1) notices the school corporation received under subsection
(b); and
(2) relevant individual reports prepared by the department
under subsection (c)(3).
SECTION 5. IC 20-28-9-28, AS AMENDED BY P.L.150-2024,
SECTION 26, AND AS AMENDED BY P.L.136-2024, SECTION 43,
AND AS AMENDED BY THE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS BILL
OF THE 2025 GENERAL ASSEMBLY, IS CORRECTED AND
AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2025]:
SEA 146 — CC 1 7
Sec. 28. (a) Subject to subsection (g), (c), for each school year in a state
fiscal year beginning after June 30, 2023, June 30, 2025, a school
corporation shall expend an amount for teacher compensation that is
not less than an amount equal to sixty-two percent (62%) sixty-five
percent (65%) of the state tuition support, other than the state tuition
support described in subsection (b), distributed to the school
corporation during the state fiscal year. For purposes of determining
whether a school corporation has complied with this requirement, the
amount a school corporation expends for teacher compensation shall
include the amount the school corporation expends for adjunct
teachers, supplemental pay for teachers, stipends, and for participating
in a special education cooperative or an interlocal agreement or
consortium that is directly attributable to the compensation of teachers
employed by the cooperative or interlocal agreement or consortium.
The amount a school corporation expends on teacher compensation
shall also include the amount the school corporation expends on
dropout recovery educational services for an at-risk student enrolled
in the school corporation provided by an agreement with an eligible
school that is directly attributable to the compensation of teachers
employed by the eligible school. Teacher benefits include all benefit
categories collected by the department for Form 9 purposes.
(b) If a school corporation determines that the school corporation
cannot comply with the requirement under subsection (a) for a
particular school year, the school corporation shall apply for a waiver
from the department.
(c) The waiver application must include an explanation of the
financial challenges, with detailed data, that preclude the school
corporation from meeting the requirement under subsection (a) and
describe the cost saving measures taken by the school corporation in
attempting to meet the requirement in subsection (a). The waiver may
also include an explanation of an innovative or efficient approach in
delivering instruction that is responsible for the school corporation
being unable to meet the requirement under subsection (a).
(d) If, after review, the department determines that the school
corporation has exhausted all reasonable efforts in attempting to meet
the requirement in subsection (a), the department may grant the school
corporation a one (1) year exception from the requirement.
(e) A school corporation that receives a waiver under this section
shall work with the department to develop a plan to identify additional
cost saving measures and any other steps that may be taken to allow
the school corporation to meet the requirement under subsection (a).
(f) A school corporation may not receive more than three (3)
SEA 146 — CC 1 8
waivers under this section.
(b) State tuition support distributed to a school corporation for
students enrolled in the school corporation who are receiving one
hundred percent (100%) virtual instruction from a teacher employed
by a third party provider with whom the school corporation has
contracted is not included as state tuition support distributed to the
school corporation for purposes of subsection (a).
(g) (c) For purposes of determining whether a school corporation
has complied with the requirement in subsection (a), distributions from
the curricular materials fund established by IC 20-40-22-5 that are
deposited in a school corporation's education fund in a state fiscal
year are not considered to be state tuition support distributed to the
school corporation during the state fiscal year.
(c) (h) (d) Before November 1, 2022, and before November 1 of
each year thereafter, the department shall submit a report to the
legislative council in an electronic format under IC 5-14-6 and the state
budget committee that contains information as to:
(1) the percent and amount that each school corporation expended
and the statewide total expended for teacher compensation;
(2) the percent and amount that each school corporation expended
and statewide total expended for teacher benefits, including
health, dental, life insurance, and pension benefits; and
(3) whether the school corporation met the requirement set forth
in subsection (a). and
(4) whether the school corporation received a waiver under
subsection (d).
(d) (e) The department shall publish the report described in
subsection (c) (d) on the department's website.
(e) (f) Beginning after June 30, 2024, for each state fiscal year that
a school corporation fails to expend the amount for teacher
compensation as required under subsection (a), the department shall
submit in both a written and an electronic format a notice to the school
corporation's:
(1) superintendent;
(2) school business officer; and
(3) governing body;
that the school corporation failed to meet the requirements set forth in
subsection (a) for the applicable state fiscal year.
(f) (g) If a school corporation's governing body receives a notice
from the department under subsection (e), (f), the school corporation
shall do the following:
(1) Publicly acknowledge receipt of the notice from the
SEA 146 — CC 1 9
department at the governing body's next public meeting.
(2) Enter into the governing body's official minutes for the
meeting described in subdivision (1) acknowledgment of the
notice.
(3) Not later than thirty (30) days after the meeting described in
subdivision (1), publish on the school corporation's website:
(A) the department's notice; and
(B) any relevant individual reports prepared by the
department.
(g) (h) If the department determines a school corporation that
received one (1) or more notices from the department under subsection
(e) (f) has met the expenditure requirements required under subsection
(a) for a subsequent state fiscal year, the school corporation may
remove from the school corporation's website any:
(1) notices the school corporation received under subsection (e);
(f); and
(2) relevant individual reports prepared by the department under
subsection (f)(3). (g)(3).
SEA 146 — CC 1 President of the Senate
President Pro Tempore
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Governor of the State of Indiana
Date: Time:
SEA 146 — CC 1