1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; establishing a grant program to promote professional 
1.3 	teaching standards; appropriating money;proposing coding for new law in 
1.4 	Minnesota Statutes, chapter 122A.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. [122A.73] GRANT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE PROFESSIONAL 
1.7 	TEACHING STANDARDS.
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Establishment. A grant program to promote professional teaching 
1.9 	standards through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards is established to 
1.10 	provide teachers with the opportunity to receive National Board for Professional Teaching 
1.11 	Standards certification and to reward teachers who have already received this certification.
1.12 		Subd. 2.Eligibility. An applicant for a grant must:
1.13 	(1) be a licensed teacher employed in a Minnesota public school;
1.14 	(2) have a minimum of five school years' classroom teaching experience; and 
1.15 	(3) demonstrate acceptance by the National Board for Professional Teaching 
1.16 	Standards as a candidate for board certification or as a recipient of board certification.
1.17 		Subd. 3.Application process. To obtain a grant to participate in the National Board 
1.18 	for Professional Teaching Standards certification process or to receive a reward for already 
1.19 	completing the board certification process, a teacher must submit an application to the 
1.20 	commissioner of education in the form and manner established by the commissioner. The 
1.21 	commissioner shall consult with the Board of Teaching when reviewing the applications. 
1.22 	The commissioner shall also provide program support to assist applicants during the 
1.23 	national board certification process.
2.1 		Subd. 4.Grant awards. The commissioner, in consultation with teachers who have 
2.2 	received National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification and school 
2.3 	administrators, shall develop criteria and a process to award grants and determine the 
2.4 	amount of each award and how recipients may use the awards.

2.5 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION.
 2.6 	The following sum is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of 
2.7 	education in the fiscal year designated for the grant program to promote professional 
2.8 	teaching standards under section 1:

2.9		$
	750,000
	.....
	2007
	
2.10 	This appropriation must be used for the grant awards to eligible teachers. The 
2.11 	commissioner of education may use this appropriation to pay facilitators for assistance 
2.12 	and support and other program costs.