An Act To Facilitate the Certification of Teachers
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1298
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: O'BRIEN
Amends: 20-A MRSA §13012, 20-A MRSA §13039

Legislative Document 
No. 1298 
H.P. 953 
House of Representatives, March 24, 2011 
An Act To Facilitate the Certification of Teachers 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative O'BRIEN of Lincolnville. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §13012, sub-§2-A, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 534, §2 and 
amended by PL 2005, c. 397, Pt. D, §3, is amended to read: 
2-A.  Qualifications.  State board rules governing the qualifications for a provisional 
teacher certificate must require that a certificate may only be issued to an applicant who 
meets the requirements of subsection 2-B and: 
A.  For elementary school, has met academic and preprofessional requirements 
established by the state board for teaching at the elementary school level and has 
graduated from an accredited, degree-granting educational institution upon 
completion of: 
(1)  A bachelor's degree from a 4-year accredited college or university; 
(2)  A 4-year program in liberal arts and sciences; or 
(3)  An approved 4-year teacher preparation program and has majored in the 
subject area to be taught or an interdisciplinary program in liberal arts; 
B.  For secondary school, has met academic and preprofessional requirements 
established by the state board for teaching at the secondary school level and has 
graduated from an accredited, degree-granting educational institution upon 
completion of: 
(1)  A bachelor's degree from a 4-year accredited college or university; 
(2)  A 4-year program in liberal arts and sciences; or 
(3)  An approved 4-year teacher preparation program and has majored in the 
subject area to be taught; 
C.  Is otherwise qualified by having met separate educational criteria for specialized 
teaching areas, including, but not limited to, special education, home economics, 
agriculture, career and technical education, art, music, business education, physical 
education and industrial arts, as established by the state board for teaching in these 
specialized areas; or 
D.  Has completed 6 credit hours of approved study within 5 years prior to 
application, has met entry-level standards and has held either a professional teacher 
certificate that expired more than 5 years prior to the application date or a provisional 
teacher certificate issued prior to July 1, 1988 that expired more than 5 years prior to 
the application date. 
In accordance with rules adopted by the state board, semester hours of academic study 
that are required for certification pursuant to this subsection may be earned at a 2-year 
accredited college or institution of higher learning. 
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §13039 is enacted to read: 
§13039.  Nonrenewable transitional teacher certificate 
An individual who has 3 months left in a 4-year teacher preparation program 
approved by the state board may be issued a nonrenewable transitional teacher certificate 
as long as other criteria as required by the state board have been met.  The transitional 
teacher certificate expires when the individual completes the teacher preparation program 
and is issued a provisional teacher certificate pursuant to section 13012 by the state 
board. 
Sec. 3.  Rules.  The Department of Education shall amend its rules to implement the 
provisions of that section of this Act that amends the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, 
section 13012, subsection 2-A.  Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine 
technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
SUMMARY 
This bill allows an individual who has 3 months left in a 4-year teacher preparation 
program to be issued a nonrenewable transitional teacher certificate by the State Board of 
Education.  The certificate expires upon the individual’s completion of the program and 
the issuance of a provisional teaching certificate. 
The bill also provides that semester hours of study that are required for teacher 
certification may be earned at a 2-year accredited college or university.