20-4-134. Professional stipends for teachers certified by national board for professional teaching standards. (1) Pursuant to subsection (5), an annual stipend of up to $1,500 must be provided to each teacher who holds a current certificate from the national board for professional teaching standards if the teacher is:

(a) a full-time classroom teacher, librarian, or other full-time employee serving in an assignment covered by national board certification assessment;

(b) certified to teach in Montana under the provisions of 20-4-103; and

(c) a full-time employee of:

(i) a Montana public school district, as defined in 20-6-101;

(ii) an education cooperative, as described in 20-7-451;

(iii) the Montana school for the deaf and blind, as described in 20-8-101; or

(iv) a state youth correctional facility, as defined in 41-5-103.

(2) An annual stipend of up to $2,500 must be provided to each teacher who meets the criteria for the stipend in subsection (1) and who has an instructional assignment in a school identified as:

(a) a school in a high-poverty area eligible to participate in the community eligibility provision under Public Law 111-296; or

(b) an impacted school as defined in 20-4-502.

(3) A teacher becomes eligible for the stipend in subsection (1) in the school year beginning July 1 after the teacher obtains certification or recertification from the national board for professional teaching standards.

(4) By March 1, the superintendent of public instruction shall distribute stipend payments to any entity listed in subsections (1)(c)(i) through (1)(c)(iv) that employs an eligible teacher.

(5) The obligation for funding a portion of the professional stipends is an obligation of the state. This section may not be construed to require a school district to provide its matching portion of a stipend to a qualifying teacher without a payment from the state to the district. If the money appropriated for the stipends is not enough to provide the full amount for each eligible teacher, the superintendent of public instruction shall request the state budget director to submit a request for a supplemental appropriation in the second year of the biennium that is sufficient to complete the funding of the stipends.

(6) (a) For a stipend under subsection (1), the state shall pay $500 and another $1 for each $1 contributed by the teacher's school district, up to a maximum state contribution of $1,000.

(b) For a stipend under subsection (2), the state shall pay $1,000 and another $2 for each $1 contributed by the teacher's school district, up to a maximum state contribution of $2,000.

History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 555, L. 2001; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 150, L. 2017; amd. Sec. 2, Ch. 347, L. 2019.