AN ACT TO FUND national board for professional teaching standards certification for up to five hundred teachers over the 2021‑2023 fiscal biennium.

Whereas, the Developing a Representative and Inclusive Vision for Education (DRIVE) Task Force has recommended strategies and steps that the State needs to take to diversify the teacher workforce and ultimately improve outcomes of all students; and

Whereas, turnover rates among teachers who have National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification are lower than turnover rates among other teachers; and

Whereas, a diverse teacher workforce is academically and behaviorally beneficial to all students, especially students of color; and

Whereas, teachers of color comprise seven percent (7%) of the number of teachers with National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification in North Carolina and twenty‑one percent (21%) of the total number of public school teachers; Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Education Assistance Authority the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in nonrecurring funds for each year of the 2021‑2023 fiscal biennium to provide grants to a total of up to 500 licensed personnel of the public schools who are classified as teachers for the full participation fee for National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification, as follows:

(1)        The Authority shall distribute the grants in each year of the 2021‑2023 fiscal biennium to teachers who meet the minimum requirements to receive State financial assistance for the NBPTS participation fee under G.S. 115C‑296.2.

(2)        Grants shall be provided on a first‑come, first‑served basis, according to a procedure developed by the Authority, beginning no later than September 1 of each year of the 2021‑2023 fiscal biennium.

(3)        Teachers receiving grants shall also receive up to three days of approved paid leave in accordance with G.S. 115C‑296.2.

(4)        A teacher who receives a grant shall have no obligation to repay the grant to the State even in the event that the teacher does not receive NBPTS certification.

SECTION 1.(b)  Of the funds appropriated to the State Education Assistance Authority pursuant to this act, the Authority may retain up to twenty‑five thousand dollars ($25,000) in each year of the 2021‑2023 fiscal biennium for administrative costs associated with the distribution of grants for the NBPTS participation fee, as provided in this act.

SECTION 2.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2021.