The requirement that applicants for state teachers’ licenses be at least 21 years old is being eliminated. The bill getting rid of that minimum age for Iowa teachers cleared the legislature unanimously this year and the governor has signed it into law. Senator Sandy Salmon of Janesville says the change is important for students who’re taking community college classes during high school.
Representative Thomas Moore of Griswold is a retired educator and coach. He says in today’s Iowa, prospective teachers who’re enrolled in community college and high school at the same time are penalized for completing college before they’re 21.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, 71 percent of the people teaching in Iowa schools in 2021 had started in the profession when they were under the age of 26. No other state had a higher percentage of teachers who got their initial teaching license when they were in their early 20s.
