ISTA 2025 LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
Invest in Indiana's Future: Empower Educators and Students
The Indiana State Teachers Association is dedicated to strengthening public education in Indiana. Our 2025 legislative agenda focuses on investing in educators and students, ensuring equitable funding and fostering supportive learning environments.
Equitable Funding and Strengthening Early Education
Increase funding to efficiently support Indiana's public schools.
- Fully Fund Indiana’s Public Schools to ensure that all students and educators have the resources they need.
- Ensure State Funding for Textbooks covers all curricular material expenses for students.
- Expand Pre-K Funding and Mandate Kindergarten by lowering the compulsory attendance age to six.
Fair Compensation and Benefits for Educators
Ensure fair, competitive pay and benefits to attract and retain quality educators.
- Raise Teacher Salaries to align with inflation-adjusted benchmarks and close the 22.8% pay gap with other professions.
- Implement 12 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave for all public school employees.
- Support Retiree COLAs and the MyChoice Second Chance Program to maintain financial stability post-retirement.
Professional Development and Regulatory Reforms
Support educator growth by refining standards.
- Consolidate Recurring Training Requirements by creating a five-year cycle for state-mandated professional development, including trainings such as suicide awareness and child abuse prevention, to reduce redundancy and improve efficiency.
- Eliminate High-Stakes Testing for Literacy Endorsement for veteran teachers, allowing completion of an 80-hour Science of Reading course instead.
- Secure Funding for Literacy Endorsements, including stipends and professional development support.
Student Support and School Safety
Create supportive learning environments by addressing mental health and safety.
- Add 500 School Counselors Statewide to lower counselor-to-student ratios from 694:1 to 500:1 and reduce non-counseling duties.
- Establish Clear Reporting Mechanisms for Violence Against Staff, with penalties for non-compliant districts.
- Promote Restorative Justice Programs over suspensions for non-violent offenses.
Advancing Educator Safety and Equity
Restore educators' voices in decision-making and promote diversity within schools.
- Ensure Educator Safety by giving teachers mandatory collective bargaining rights in decisions impacting their safety and working conditions.
- Increase Funding for Diversity Scholarships and Programs to support minority educators and "grow our own" initiatives.
- Address Deficit Financing in School Budgets by allowing the bargaining of reserve funds that exceed 25% of a district's budget.
Click for printable versions of priorities.