Montana Code 20-4-134. Professional stipends for teachers certified by national board for professional teaching standards
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:
Terms Used In Montana Code 20-4-134
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- district: means the territory, regardless of county boundaries, organized under the provisions of this title to provide public educational services under the jurisdiction of the trustees prescribed by this title. See Montana Code 20-6-101
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
- school: means an institution for the teaching of children that is established and maintained under the laws of the state of Montana at public expense. See Montana Code 20-6-501
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Superintendent of public instruction: means that state government official designated as a member of the executive branch by the Montana constitution. See Montana Code 20-1-101
- Teacher: means a person, except a district superintendent, who holds a valid Montana teacher certificate that has been issued by the superintendent of public instruction under the provisions of this title and the policies adopted by the board of public education and who is employed by a district as a member of its instructional, supervisory, or administrative staff. See Montana Code 20-1-101
(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 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.