Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the career ladder for superintendents and building-level administrators.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1358 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO EDUCATION; AMENDING SECTION 33-1004B, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE2 PROVISIONS REGARDING THE CAREER LADDER; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND3 PROVIDING RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.4

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:5

SECTION 1. That Section 33-1004B, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby6 amended to read as follows:7 33-1004B. CAREER LADDER. School districts shall receive an allocation8 for instructional staff and pupil service staff based on their staffs' posi-9 tion on the career ladder as follows:10 (1) Instructional staff and pupil service staff who are in their first11 year of holding an Idaho certificate shall be placed in the first cell of the12 residency compensation rung and shall move one (1) cell on the residency com-13 pensation rung for each year they hold an Idaho certificate and are employed14 in an Idaho public school thereafter for up to three (3) years, at which point15 they will remain in the third cell of the residency rung until they earn a16 professional endorsement.17 (2) Instructional staff and pupil service staff in their first year of18 holding a professional endorsement shall be placed in the first cell of the19 professional compensation rung.20 (3) Instructional staff and pupil service staff on the professional21 compensation rung with four (4) years of experience shall move one (1) cell22 on the professional compensation rung unless they have failed to meet the23 professional compensation rung performance criteria for three (3) of the24 previous four (4) years. Instructional staff and pupil service staff on the25 professional compensation rung who meet the performance criteria for three26 (3) of the previous five (5) years, one (1) of which must be during the fourth27 or fifth year, shall move one (1) cell. Allocations for instructional staff28 and pupil service staff who do not meet the professional compensation rung29 performance criteria for three (3) of the previous five (5) years, one (1) of30 which must be during the fourth or fifth year, shall remain at the previous31 fiscal year allocation level. This also applies to the educational alloca-32 tion.33 (4) Instructional staff and pupil service staff in their first year of34 holding an advanced professional endorsement shall be placed in the first35 cell of the advanced professional compensation rung.36 (5) Instructional staff and pupil service staff on the advanced profes-37 sional compensation rung who met the performance criteria for the advanced38 professional rung in the previous year shall move one (1) cell on the ad-39 vanced professional compensation rung. Allocations for instructional staff40 and pupil service staff who do not meet the advanced professional compensa-41

2 tion rung performance criteria shall remain at the previous fiscal year al-1 location level. This also applies to the additional education allocation.2 (6) Career technical education instructional staff holding an occupa-3 tional specialist certificate shall be placed on the career ladder as fol-4 lows:5 (a) Instructional staff new to working in an Idaho public school:6 (i) With two (2) or three (3) years of industry experience in a7 field closely related to the subjects they seek to teach shall be8 placed in an equivalent cell to instructional staff who have been9 on the career ladder and met the movement requirements for one (1)10 year;11 (ii) With four (4) or five (5) years of industry experience in a12 field closely related to the subjects they seek to teach shall be13 placed in an equivalent cell to instructional staff who have been14 on the career ladder and met the movement requirements for two (2)15 years;16 (iii) With six (6) or seven (7) years of industry experience in a17 field closely related to the subjects they seek to teach shall be18 placed in an equivalent cell to instructional staff who have been19 on the career ladder and met the movement requirements for three20 (3) years; and21 (iv) With eight (8) or more years of industry experience in a22 field closely related to the subjects they seek to teach shall be23 placed in an equivalent cell to instructional staff who have been24 on the career ladder and met the movement requirements for four (4)25 years; and26 (b) Existing career technical education instructional staff on the27 residency compensation rung shall have their placement updated con-28 sistent with the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection if the29 update would result in a rung higher than their current placement.30 (7) Instructional staff or pupil service staff entering their first31 year on the career ladder, but with prior certificated instructional, pupil32 service, administrative, or equivalent elementary or secondary school ex-33 perience, including in an accredited private or parochial school, shall be34 placed on the career ladder as follows:35 (a) Instructional staff and pupil service staff who have been awarded a36 professional endorsement shall be placed as follows:37 (i) Those with four (4) years of certificated experience and doc-38 umentation from the hiring school district or charter school ad-39 ministrator, attesting the individual has provided evidence that40 the individual has met the professional compensation rung perfor-41 mance criteria in two (2) of the previous four (4) years, shall be42 placed in an equivalent cell on the career ladder to instructional43 staff or pupil service staff who have met the movement criteria for44 four (4) years; or45 (ii) Those with five (5) or more years of certificated experi-46 ence and documentation from the hiring school district or charter47 school administrator, attesting the individual has provided ev-48 idence that the individual has met the professional compensation49 rung performance criteria in three (3) of the previous five (5)50

3 years, with one (1) year being the fourth or fifth year, shall be1 placed in an equivalent cell on the career ladder to instructional2 staff or pupil service staff who have met the movement criteria for3 the equivalent number of years as they have verified experience.4 (b) Instructional staff and pupil service staff who have been awarded5 an advanced professional endorsement with nine (9) or more years of cer-6 tificated experience and documentation from the hiring school district7 or charter school administrator, attesting the individual has provided8 evidence that the individual has met the professional compensation rung9 performance criteria in three (3) of the previous five (5) years, with10 one (1) year being the fourth or fifth year, shall be placed in an equiv-11 alent cell on the career ladder to instructional staff or pupil service12 staff who have met the movement criteria for the equivalent number of13 years as they have verified experience.14 (8) In addition to the allocation amount specified for the applicable15 cell on the career ladder, school districts shall receive an additional al-16 location amount for career technical education instructional staff holding17 an occupational specialist certificate in the area for which they are teach-18 ing in the amount of three thousand dollars ($3,000), which shall be des-19 ignated for career technical education staff and included as part of their20 salary.21 (9) In addition to the allocation amount specified for the applicable22 cell on the career ladder, school districts shall receive an additional23 allocation amount for instructional staff and pupil service staff holding24 a professional or an advanced professional endorsement who have acquired25 additional education and meet the professional or advanced professional26 compensation rung performance criteria. In determining the additional ed-27 ucation allocation amount, only transcripted credits and degrees on file28 with the teacher certification office of the state department of education,29 earned at an institution of higher education accredited by a body recognized30 by the state board of education or credits earned through an internship or31 work experience approved by the state board of education, shall be allowed.32 All credits and degrees earned must be in a relevant pedagogy or content area33 as determined by the state department of education. Additional education34 allocation amounts are not cumulative. Instructional staff whose initial35 certificate is an occupational specialist certificate shall be treated as BA36 degree-prepared instructional staff. Credits earned by such occupational37 specialist instructional staff after initial certification shall be cred-38 ited toward the education allocation. Additional education allocations39 are:40 (a) For instructional staff and pupil service staff holding a profes-41 sional or an advanced professional endorsement, a baccalaureate degree42 and twenty-four (24) or more credits, two thousand dollars ($2,000) per43 fiscal year.44 (b) For instructional staff and pupil service staff holding a profes-45 sional or an advanced professional endorsement and a master's degree,46 three thousand five hundred dollars ($3,500) per fiscal year.47 (c) Effective July 1, 2021, the allocation shall be:48

4 Base1 Allocation2 1 2 3 4 5 Residency3 $40,369 $40,990 $41,611 Professional4 $42,991 $44,836 $46,681 $48,526 $50,370 Advanced5 Professional6 $52,734 $53,207 (d) Effective July 1, 2022, the allocation shall be:7 Base8 Allocation9 1 2 3 4 5 Residency10 $40,742 $41,486 $42,231 Professional11 $43,488 $45,302 $47,116 $48,930 $50,743 Advanced12 Professional13 $53,478 $54,442 $55,389 (e) Effective July 1, 2023, the allocation shall be:14 Base15 Allocation16 1 2 3 4 5 Residency17 $41,118 $41,988 $42,860 Professional18 $43,990 $45,773 $47,555 $49,337 $51,119 Advanced19 Professional20 $54,233 $55,705 $57,165 $58,613 (f) Effective July 1, 2024, the allocation shall be:21 Base22 Allocation23 1 2 3 4 5 Residency24 $41,500 $42,500 $43,500 Professional25 $44,500 $46,250 $48,000 $49,750 $51,500 Advanced26 Professional27 $55,000 $57,000 $59,000 $61,000 $63,000 (10) Effective July 1, 2025, the educator salary-based apportionment28 program compensation rung cell amounts shall be adjusted by an amount equiv-29 alent to the salary-based apportionment adjustment for administrative and30 classified staff positions.31 (11) A review of a sample of evaluations completed by administrators32 shall be conducted annually to verify such evaluations are being conducted33 with fidelity to the state framework for teaching evaluation, including34 each domain and identification of which domain or domains the administrator35 is focusing on for the instructional staff or pupil service staff member36 being evaluated, as outlined in administrative rule. The review shall be37 completed prior to November 1 of each year. The state board of education38 shall randomly select a sample of administrators throughout the state. A39

5 portion of such administrators' instructional staff and pupil service staff1 employee evaluations shall be independently reviewed. The ratio of in-2 structional staff evaluations to pupil service staff evaluations shall be3 equal to the ratio of the statewide instructional staff salary allowance to4 pupil service staff salary allowance. The state board of education, with5 input from the Idaho-approved teacher preparation programs and the state6 department of education, shall identify individuals and a process to conduct7 the reviews. Administrator certificate holders shall be required to par-8 ticipate in ongoing evaluation training pursuant to section 33-1204, Idaho9 Code. The state board of education shall report annually the findings of10 such reviews to the senate education committee, the house of representatives11 education committee, the state board of education and the deans of Idaho's12 approved teacher preparation programs. The state board of education shall13 promulgate rules implementing the provisions of this subsection.14 (12) School districts shall submit annually to the state the data nec-15 essary to determine if an instructional staff or pupil service staff member16 has met the performance criteria for movement on the applicable compensation17 rung. Such data shall include the individuals' performance on each of the18 performance criteria as defined in section 33-1001, Idaho Code, including19 the percentage of students meeting their measurable student achievement and20 student success indicator targets. The department of education shall calcu-21 late whether or not instructional staff and pupil service staff have met the22 compensation rung performance criteria based on the data submitted during23 the previous five (5) years. Individually identifiable performance evalu-24 ation ratings submitted to the state remain part of the employee's person-25 nel record and are exempt from public disclosure pursuant to section 74-106,26 Idaho Code.27 (13) Superintendents and building-level administrators entering their28 first year on the career ladder, but who have prior certificated instruc-29 tional, pupil service, administrative, superintendent, or equivalent ele-30 mentary or secondary school experience, including experience in an accred-31 ited private or parochial school, and whose hiring school district or pub-32 lic charter school administrator attests that the individual has provided33 evidence of meeting the performance metrics of cumulatively proficient or34 higher in their administrative or superintendent evaluation for three (3) of35 the previous five (5) years, one (1) of which shall be during the fourth or36 fifth year, shall be placed in an equivalent cell to instructional staff or37 pupil service staff on the career ladder.38 (14) Superintendents and building-level administrators with prior39 placement on the career ladder as instructional staff or pupil service40 staff shall return to an instructional staff or pupil service staff place-41 ment while counting years of experience in a superintendent or building42 administrator role toward advancement on the career ladder, provided that43 the individual has provided evidence of meeting the performance metrics of44 cumulatively proficient or higher in the individual's administrative or45 superintendent evaluation.46

SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby47 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its48 passage and approval, and retroactively to July 1, 2021.49