A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO FUND national board for professional teaching standards certification for CERTAIN teachers at low‑performing schools.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Department of Public Instruction shall establish a program to support National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification for certain teachers at low‑performing schools. The Department shall select up to 75 teachers from low‑performing schools, as defined in G.S. 115C‑105.37(a), to receive a grant covering the full application fee for NBPTS certification. Criteria for receipt of the grant shall include a provision that teachers selected must agree to remain at their current school or continue teaching at another low‑performing school located in the State of North Carolina for at least three years from the date of receipt of the grant. 
The Department shall also recruit experienced teachers who are already certified by NBPTS to mentor and provide quality provisional development services to the selected teachers.
SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Instruction the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) for the 2016‑2017 fiscal year to provide the cost of the application fees and to compensate the experienced teachers serving as mentors to NBPTS applicants.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2016.