National Board Certification Salary Supplement

National Board Certification Salary Supplements

State law, 20-A MRSA Section 13013-A; as Amended by PL 2012 c. 702 and Section 15689-A, subsection 12, provides that a public school teacher or a teacher in a publicly supported secondary school who has attained certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, or its successor organization, shall receive an annual salary supplement for the life of the certificate.

The amount of the salary supplement for each fiscal year is appropriated by the Legislature per 20-A MRSA Section 15689-A, subsection 19, and may be prorated to a lesser amount if necessary. As outlined in statute, free and reduced poverty levels are determined by the annual free and reduced lunch data collection. The FY23 ED 534 report will be used to determine the 2023-2024 school year salary supplement award amounts.

For purposes of the retirement system, the salary supplement must be added to the teacher's base salary and must be considered in the calculation for contributions to the Maine Public Employees Retirement System. NOTE: The supplement should NOT be added to the base salary amount reported in the MEDMS Staff File, this is considered additional compensation and is taxable income, but is not part of the base salary reported in MEDMS.

The Department of Education is required to provide a salary supplement to school administrative units and publicly supported secondary schools for eligible teachers no later than February 15th of each year.

If a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certified teacher is no longer employed as a teacher, the supplement ceases.

*Note: The amount of the supplement is limited by the amount appropriated by the Legislature for these costs per 20-A MRSA Section 15689-A, subsection 19, and may be prorated to a lesser amount if necessary.

Eligibility for National Board Certification Salary Supplement

Any public school teacher or a teacher in a publicly supported secondary school who has attained certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, or its successor organization, no later than July 1,of the fiscal year is eligible to receive the annual supplement for the school year. Teachers who receive their certification after July 1 will become eligible for the annual supplement during the next school year. As long as the eligibility requirements are met and the certificate is valid, the annual salary supplement must be provided.

Eligible Position Titles:

• Classroom Teacher
• Special Education Teacher
• Literacy Specialist
• Long-term Substitute Teacher
• Library Media Specialist
• School Counselor*
• Teacher Leaders
• Teaching Principals (Stipend amount will be prorated and assessed only to the teaching portion of this position)

*Note: This supplement does not include School Counselors that have attained certification from the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc.

Method of application by a School Administrative Unit (SAU) currently employing an eligible staff member 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 publicly supported secondary school, Education Service Center (under Chapter 123), or CTE Region must file with the Commissioner a certified list of national board-certified teachers employed by the SAU, publicly supported secondary school, or CTE Region who are eligible to receive the salary supplement.

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), publicly supported secondary school, an employee of an education service center (under Chapter 123), or CTE Region, a separate payment will be issued to the eligible SAU, school, education service center, or CTE Region. The annual salary supplement must be paid to school administrative units and publicly supported secondary schools 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 for purposes of the retirement system but not for reporting on the MEDMS Staff system; and must be distributed to teachers each year of eligibility. It is subject to all normal withholding requirements for payroll tax and retirement purposes.