Sen. Rafferty introduces legislation to reduce Maine’s teacher shortage

AUGUSTA – On Tuesday, March 28, Sen. Joe Rafferty, D-Kennebunk, introduced two bills to reduce Maine’s teacher shortage. The bills, LD 335, “An Act to Improve Educator Certification Response Times,” and LD 753, “An Act to Allow Retired Teachers and Educational Technicians to Be Recertified” were the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs. 

“Maine has a teacher shortage, and that problem has only been made worse over the last few years because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sen. Rafferty. “One way to correct this trend is to speed up teacher certification times. I still hear from educators that the certification process is slow which I feel may result in losing quality staff to other New England states. Another way we can address the shortage is to widen the scope of potential candidates for current teaching vacancies throughout our schools. That’s why one of my bills looks to tap into a pool of experienced candidates with a proven history in education. I believe that together, these bills can make a real difference in both the short and the long term to reduce Maine’s teacher shortage.” 

LD 335 establishes five Education Specialist III positions within the Department of Education in order to increase response times for educator certification and to provide oversight of the certification process effective Oct. 1, 2023. These positions should speed up response times, which in turn has the potential to attract and maintain more qualified educators. 

LD 753 would make it easier for former teachers and educational technicians who have retired to get their teaching or assistant teaching certification renewed under certain conditions. As currently written, this bill would allow teachers that have worked for at least 10 years in a public school and had an active teaching certification before they retired to get their old certification back with the same grades and subject areas they had before. This certification would last for the same amount of time and need to be renewed under the same standards as before. In other words, educational technicians would just need to have had an active certification before they retired to get it renewed, and it will also last for the same amount of time and need to be renewed under the same standards as before. 

On Tuesday, Rep. Art Bell, D-Yarmouth, also introduced legislation to address the current teacher shortage. LD 712 would allow the Commissioner of Education, in certain circumstances, to waive or grant an extension for teaching requirements. 

“Maine is currently experiencing a significant teacher shortage,” said Bell. “This workforce challenge is having a real impact on our families and the futures of our children. Allowing the Commissioner of Education to waive or grant an extension for teaching requirements under these circumstances would help alleviate this issue and allow us to fill current gaps in our educator workforce.” 

The bills face further action in committee. 

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