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Standards Certification Salary Supplement for Teachers

ADMINISTRATIVE LETTER: 13
POLICY CODE: GCFC

TO: Superintendents of Schools and Directors of CTE Regions
FROM: Susan A. Gendron, Commissioner
DATE: September 12, 2008
RE: National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification Salary Supplement for Teachers – deadline October 15, 2008

State law, 20-A MRSA Section 13013-A and Section 15689-A, subsection 12, provides that a public school teacher who has attained certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards as of July 1, 2006 or thereafter shall receive an annual salary supplement of $3,000 for the life of the certificate. The salary supplement must be added to the calculation for contributions to the Maine State Retirement System. The Department of Education is required to provide the salary supplement to eligible teachers no later than February 15th of each year and the Maine State Retirement System (MSRS) shall provide the required contribution to MSRS.

If a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certified teacher is no longer employed as a classroom teacher in the field of that teacher’s National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification, the supplement ceases.

Eligibility for National Board Certification Salary Supplement:

Any public school teacher who has attained certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards no later than July 1, 2008 and is a classroom teacher in the field of their certification in the 2008-09 school year is eligible to receive the annual supplement for the 2008-09 school year. Teachers who receive their certification after July 1, 2008 will become eligible for the annual supplement during the 2009-10 school year if they are classroom teachers in the field of the certification. As long as the eligibility requirements are met and the certificate is valid, the annual salary supplement must be provided.

Method of application by a school administrative unit employing a classroom teacher who has attained National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification:

The statute provides that by October 15th of each year, the superintendent of schools of a school administrative unit (SAU) or the Director of a CTE Region must file with the commissioner a certified list of national board-certified teachers employed by the SAU or CTE Region that are eligible to receive the salary supplement.
The list must include the following for each teacher:

  1. Teacher name
  2. MEDMS I.D. number
  3. Classroom field of teaching (this will be verified against the 2008-09 information in the MEDMS Staff Information System)
  4. Copy of each teacher’s National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certificate (Certificate must include Certificate Number, Date of Issue, Expiration Date, Field of Certification). Note: If a copy of the certificate was filed with the Department of Education in 2007-08, it is not necessary to file another copy – please indicate next to the teacher’s name that a copy has already been filed.

Please send this information to:
Karla Miller, School Finance Consultant
School Finance and Operations
Department of Education
23 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0023

Method of payment to a qualifying school administrative unit:

Once the eligibility has been verified for each teacher and the total calculated for each school administrative unit (SAU) or CTE Region, a separate payment will be issued to the eligible SAU or CTE Region. The annual salary supplement must be paid to eligible teachers before February 15th of each year. A provision in the law, 20-A MRSA Section 13013-A subsection 4, allows for receipt of these additional state funds and payment of the funds to eligible teachers without a special meeting of the local governing body.

Method of payment to eligible National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certified teachers:

The amount of the annual salary supplement required for each National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certified teacher should be added to the locally established salary and must be distributed to teachers by February 15th of each year of eligibility. It is subject to all normal withholding requirements for tax and retirement purposes.

If you have any questions regarding the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification Salary Supplement, please contact Karla Miller, Tel. (207) 624-6790 or karla.miller@maine.gov