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An Act To Provide for the Certification of Teachers in a Critical Teacher Shortage Area
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §13011, sub-§11  is enacted to read:
 
11.  Critical teacher shortage need certificate; renewal.     The state board shall adopt rules that establish criteria under which a critical teacher shortage need certificate may be issued. This need certificate may be issued only to a person holding a bachelor's degree and teaching in a critical teacher shortage area. A critical teacher shortage need is determined by the superintendent when a shortage of teachers in the school administrative unit meets the critical teacher shortage criteria established in rules adopted by the state board. The superintendent may issue this certificate for a period not to exceed one year. If the superintendent determines that a critical teacher shortage need continues to exist in the school administrative unit after the expiration of the certificate, the superintendent may certify the teacher for an indefinite period of time based on a positive recommendation from a peer review team of teachers within the school administrative unit. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are major substantive rules in accordance with Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
 
SUMMARY
This bill provides that a superintendent may certify a teacher for a period not to exceed one year when there is a critical teacher shortage need in the school administrative unit that meets criteria established by rules adopted by the State Board of Education. The critical teacher shortage need certificate may be renewed by the superintendent if the superintendent determines that the critical teacher shortage need in the school administrative unit still exists after the expiration of the certificate and upon a positive recommendation of the teacher from a peer review team of teachers within the school administrative unit.