SB 555

Under current law, the Department of Public Instruction administers a grant

program for teachers who are certified by the National Board for Professional

Teaching Standards or licensed by DPI as a master educator (NBPTS/master

educator grant program). Under the NBPTS/master educator grant program, an

eligible teacher receives an initial grant, not to exceed $2,000, to reimburse the

teacher for the costs the teacher incurred to obtain the certification or licensure. In

each of the nine school years following the initial award, DPI awards the teacher a

grant in the amount of $2,500 or, if the individual is teaching in a high-poverty

school, $5,000 if the teacher maintains the certification or licensure, remains

licensed to teach in this state, remains employed as a teacher in this state, and is

placed in the effective or highly effective performance category under the applicable

educator effectiveness system.

This bill expands the NBPTS/master educator grant program to include a

teacher who is certified 1) at the fellow level by the Academy of Orton-Gillingham

Practitioners and Educators, 2) by the Center for Effective Reading Instruction as

a structured literacy interventionist or a structured literacy specialist, or 3) by the

Academic Language Therapy Association as an instructor of certified academic

language practitioner, certified academic language therapist, certified academic

language practitioner, or qualified instructor of certified academic language

therapists and practitioners. Under the bill, a teacher who satisfies one of these

requirements is eligible for the same grants as a teacher who is certified by the

NBPTS or is licensed as a master educator by DPI.