Providing for the establishment of a policy prohibiting public school teachers from engaging in political or ideological advocacy while carrying out student instruction or otherwise acting within the scope of employment by a school district, providing for related training, and providing penalties

Such activities include but are not limited to endorsing, supporting, or opposing any candidate or nominee for public office or any elected or appointed official, whether such official is a member of the local, state, or federal government; endorsing, supporting, or opposing any pending, proposed, or enacted legislation or regulation, whether such legislation or regulation is pending, proposed, or has been enacted at the local, state, or federal level; introducing into discussion or coursework any controversial subject matter that is not germane to the topic of the course being taught; and advocating in a partisan manner for any side of a controversial issue as defined in the bill. Each school district is required to post the policy on the district’s internet site. The board is required to establish a process for annual, written notification of all teachers, students, and parents and guardians of students of the rights, responsibilities, and restrictions provided in the policy. The bill encourages employee organizations representing teachers in Iowa to voluntarily adopt a teachers’ code of ethics and professional responsibility that incorporates the principles of the policy and that specifically prohibits a public school teacher from engaging in political or ideological advocacy while carrying out student instruction or otherwise acting within the scope of the teacher’s employment by a school district. The bill requires the board of educational examiners to adopt rules to provide in the board’s code of professional conduct and ethics that any public school teacher who violates the policy engages in unprofessional and unethical conduct that may result in disciplinary action by the board. Under current law, rules adopted by the board may be enforced by the board through revocation or suspension of a practitioner’s license or by other disciplinary action. The bill requires that instances of disciplinary action taken against a public school teacher for violation of the policy be reported to the board of educational examiners. The bill requires the nonrenewal or termination of a public school teacher’s teaching contract for reasons of alleged or actual misconduct, and the resignation of a public school teacher, be reported to the board of educational examiners if the nonrenewal, termination, or resignation is a result of or following an incident or allegation of misconduct that, if proven, would constitute a violation of the policy, when the school board or reporting official has a good-faith belief that the incident occurred or the allegation is true. The bill requires a school board to require annual training at least three hours in length on the policy for all teachers employed by the district.3.16.2. The inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state mandates included in the bill.