Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires Maine public school districts to adopt teacher mentoring programs by July 1, 2026, including stipends for mentors, structured trainings, and mandatory mentorship for new or conditionally certified teachers in Maine.

Highlights:

• Requires the Department of Education to develop peer support and teacher mentoring programs to be adopted by school administrative units. A school administrative unit may develop its own peer support and teacher mentoring program and submit the program to the department for approval (Sec. 1-3).

• Requires that a peer support and teacher mentoring program must include a $5,000 stipend per school year for mentoring teachers for each teacher they mentor, plans to train mentoring teachers and to provide support for and regular engagement with teachers required to be mentored, and regular professional development for mentoring teachers to improve their mentoring abilities (Sec. 1-3).

• Requires that mentoring teachers must be selected from a list provided by or in consultation with a local teacher's association and must have held a teacher certificate in the State for at least 5 years. All peer support and teacher mentoring programs must be reviewed by the department every 7 years (Sec. 1-3).

• Authorizes the Commissioner of Education may waive the requirement for a teacher to be mentored for no more than one year if the school administrative unit has demonstrated that the requirements of the peer support and teacher mentoring program would result in the school administrative unit being unable to operate (Sec. 1-3).

• Specifies that school administrative units without a peer support and teacher mentoring program may not hire conditionally certified teachers or teachers holding emergency teacher certificates (Sec. 1-3).

• Specifies that the provisions of this bill shall take effect July 1, 2026 (Sec. 4).

Full Bill Text