Are you licensed for your position?

If you are a licensed teacher, but you are unlicensed for the particular position you hold with the school district, the Board of Educational Examiners (BEE) may soon be paying you a visit.

The Board requested an opinion from the office of the Iowa Attorney General concerning the appropriate consequences to a teacher and the district if the teacher is offered and signs a contract for a position without holding the proper license for that position. Based on provisions of federal and state law, the assistant attorney general concluded in an opinion dated August 26, 1999:

"School districts are required to employ only qualified teachers and no compensation may be recovered by a teacher who is not properly licensed. [Iowa Code, Section 294.1 (1999).] This statutory provision would clearly provide a defense for a district against a claim from a teacher who accepted a contract for which he or she was not eligible and subsequently sought payment for services rendered under the contract."

There are also financial consequences to the school district. The employment of a teacher who does not hold a valid license or endorsement for the subject matter they are teaching may result in the loss of both state and federal funding. One would think this would be of some concern to the school district.

In addition to the loss of pay, the teacher could face even more severe long-term consequences:

A licensed teacher who accepts a position beyond the scope of his or her license and endorsements, or continues to teach after the term of the license expires, could face disciplinary sanction from the Board. We believe that an administrator who fails to verify that an applicant or teacher is appropriately licensed before recommending employment or offering a contract to the teacher is also in violation of the provisions of the Board's rules and could also be disciplined by the Board.

Due to an inability to find a qualified applicant, some administrators will insist that a teacher teach a class for which they are unlicensed "to help out the school." This will very often make the teacher extremely uncomfortable because the teacher faces the choice of teaching a class they should not teach or incurring the wrath of the administrator.

The good news is that this clearly stated opinion from the Assistant Attorney General should prove helpful in demonstrating to the administration that a more appropriate alternative should be pursued, and provide a basis for the teacher to refuse the assignment. In any event, accepting a position for which you are not properly licensed and endorsed is a practice that must be discouraged because you may find yourself without any license at all.

If you have questions or need assistance, contact your UniServ director.

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