Quality Teacher Incentive Act
1. State Tuition Tax Credit
A teacher may apply for a state income tax credit of up to $1,500 for tuition for graduate level courses required to maintain certification. The teacher must complete courses with grade B or better, be employed by a local board of education, teaching in a public school, and must receive a satisfactory performance evaluation for that teaching. The teacher must not have been reimbursed by the county for the tuition. A teacher who receives partial reimbursement from the local board may claim the tax credit for the balance of the $1,500. This provision is effective July 1, 2000 and is applicable to all taxable years beginning after December 31, 1999.
2. Stipend for Veteran Teacher in At-Risk Schools
A stipend of $2,000 will be paid from the state to a classroom teacher who holds an Advanced Professional Certificate and teaches in a public school identified by the state board of education as a reconstitution school, a reconstitution-eligible school, or a challenge school. The teacher is eligible to receive the stipend for each year the teacher performs satisfactorily in the classroom.
3. Stipend for Teacher Achieving National Certification
The state will match a county grant of up to $2,000 paid to a teacher who holds the certification issued by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The teacher must hold a Standard Professional Certificate or an Advanced Professional Certificate and must be employed by a local board of education. To earn national certification, a teacher must participate in a year-long process preparing a work-related portfolio and must successfully complete rigorous content assessment center exercises.
4. Signing Premium for a New Teacher
A salary signing bonus of $1,000 will be paid by the state to an individual who graduates from an accredited institution of higher education in the top 10% of the class, becomes employed by a local board of education, and remains employed as a classroom teacher in the public school system for a minimum of three consecutive years.
5. Mentoring Program
The state is providing competitive grants to encourage local boards of education to expand and to develop mentoring programs. The grants will enable school systems to pair a new teacher with an experienced teacher to provide assistance and support. Priority for the grants will be given to plans submitted to the state superintendent of schools by school systems that target schools with high rates of students receiving free or reduced price meals and where at least half of the teachers have five or less years of teaching experience or student achievement scores are at or below a satisfactory level.
6. Probationary Extension Option
The probationary period for a certificated employee in a public school system may be extended for a third year from the date of employment if the certificated employee does not qualify for tenure at the end of the second year based on established performance evaluation criteria and the employee demonstrates a strong potential for improvement. If the probationary period is extended, a mentor will be assigned to the employee, and the employee will be evaluated at the end of the third year based on established performance evaluation criteria. This provision applies to all certificated employees in a public school system hired on or after July 1, 1999. |