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Indiana鈥檚 largest teachers union listed educator pay boosts, increased public school funding and consolidated training requirements among its top asks for the 2025 legislative session.

The Indiana State Teachers Association, which represents roughly 40,000 Hoosier educators, released a priority agenda on Tuesday 鈥� just weeks before state lawmakers are set to return to the Statehouse.

Jennifer Smith-Margraf, ISTA鈥檚 vice president, emphasized that 鈥渆quitable funding for Indiana鈥檚 public schools鈥� is of highest concern to the union.

The 2025 session will see state legislators craft the state鈥檚 next biennial budget, about half of which has historically been earmarked for education.

In recent years, however, Indiana鈥檚 Republican-dominated legislature has opted to grow the state鈥檚 private school voucher system at a faster rate 鈥� a shift ISTA has long opposed.

鈥淲e鈥檙e here to speak for educators and every student whose future depends on a fair, safe and supportive learning environment,鈥� Smith-Margraf said during a Tuesday news conference. 鈥淗oosiers value strong public schools that provide equal opportunities for all students. Whether Black or white, Latino, Asian, Native (American) or newcomer, every Hoosier child deserves a quality education, and that starts with well-funded schools.鈥�

Top priorities focus on funding increases

A two-page agenda released by ISTA officials breaks the union鈥檚 priorities down into five categories.

A section on funding emphasizes increased funding to 鈥渆fficiently support鈥� Indiana鈥檚 public schools. That includes greater funding for early childhood education, as well as additional dollars to ensure that schools can adequately afford students鈥� textbook costs.

In 2023, the General Assembly mandated K-12 schools to cover the cost of textbooks and a range of other curricular materials, but district officials have since expressed concerns that the state dollars they鈥檝e received .

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e asking (lawmakers) to do is to not just cover the textbook portion of it, but the fee portion of it, because we don鈥檛 believe that parents should be responsible for that, especially if they鈥檙e out working two, three and four jobs,鈥� Smith-Margraf said.

The union is also advocating for Indiana鈥檚 compulsory school attendance age to drop to six, meaning kindergarten would become a requirement for Hoosier kids. Currently, Indiana students are not required to attend school until age seven, when first grade begins.

鈥淓very child deserves a solid start,鈥� Smith-Margraf said in reference to mandated kindergarten. 鈥淭his funding will help make that possible.鈥�

Another bundle of ISTA requests center around 鈥渇air compensation and benefits for educators.鈥� The union wants to see teacher salaries aligned with 鈥渋nflation-adjusted鈥� benchmarks 鈥� which Smith-Margraf said would close the 22.8% pay gap with other professions. ISTA is also asking for all public school employees to receive 12 weeks of parental leave.

The showed the average teacher salary in Indiana during the last school year 鈥� up from $58,531 the year prior.

ISTA is not recommending a specific minimum salary, however. Baseline educator pay in the state currently sits at $40,000.

鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at how inflation has affected all of our different locals across the state, and we are looking for an increase in funding that will help make sure that we are paid competitively,鈥� Smith-Margraf said. 鈥淲e also know when we look at our surrounding states that we are not keeping up with salary increases with them, and we continue to lose folks across the border to Michigan, to Ohio, to Illinois and to Kentucky. And so we know we have work to do in looking at those metrics to make sure that our pay is competitive.鈥�

鈥淲e have a critical educator shortage,鈥� she continued. 鈥淲e just have so many good people who are either retiring early or who are leaving the profession because they鈥檙e burnt out from many different things 鈥� we can all see from the numbers that there are too many of them leaving, and there are too many openings statewide. And that鈥檚 affecting those things that the legislature has talked about being really important: making sure that every kid can read by third grade, making sure that we have numeracy skills in fifth grade, making sure that we have folks around who are qualified to implement these new high school diplomas.鈥�

鈥楬opeful鈥� about new administration

Reduced training requirements via the creation of a five-year cycle for state-mandated professional development is among the union鈥檚 other priorities, too. That would 鈥渞educe redundancy and improve efficiency,鈥� and affect trainings around suicide awareness and child abuse prevention, according to ISTA officials.

Smith-Margraf also noted teachers鈥� request to exclude veteran teachers from the state鈥檚 new 鈥� and controversial 鈥� literacy licensure requirement, allowing for the completion of an 80-hour science of reading course, instead.

After the requirement was approved by the General Assembly earlier this year, the 鈥渦nfair鈥� and 鈥渙verwhelming鈥� 80-hour training. Many pleaded for to be made available for teachers to complete the professional development course 鈥� or that it be removed as a requirement altogether.

The state鈥檚 education department has since adjusted and added training options. Some educators have already been exempted from the licensure requirements, as long as they aren鈥檛 teaching literacy to students past fifth grade.

Additionally included among ISTA鈥檚 priorities is:

The addition of 500 school counselors statewide to lower Indiana鈥檚 counselor-to-student ratio from 694:1 to 500:1, and to reduce non-counselor duties.

Establishing 鈥渃lear reporting mechanisms鈥� for violence against school staff, as well as penalties for non-compliant districts, especially in light of a in which thousands of Hoosier teachers and other school workers said they were hurt by students on the job during the last academic year.

Promotion of restorative justice programs over suspensions for non-violent offenses among students.
Giving teachers mandatory collective bargaining rights in 鈥渄ecisions impacting their safety and working conditions.鈥�

Increasing funding for diversity scholarships and programs to recruit and retain minority educators.
Allowing the bargaining of schools鈥� reserve funds that exceed 25% of a district鈥檚 budget.

Smith-Margraf said many of the union鈥檚 priorities are aligned with those in Gov.-elect Mike Braun鈥檚 agenda. She noted that ISTA is actively meeting with the new Republican governor鈥檚 administration and other state officials ahead of the legislative session.

鈥淕ov.-elect Braun and various members of leadership from both parties have talked about all of these things as being priorities, and so they鈥檙e priorities for them, and they鈥檙e priorities for us,鈥� Smith-Margraf said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking forward to working together with them as we go through the legislative session to figure out how we鈥檙e going to fund these and implement these different priorities. But since these are priorities for all of us and for our state, we believe that鈥檚 how it stays top of mind for everyone.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: [email protected].

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