Senate unanimously approves Sen. Rafferty bill to reduce Maine’s teacher shortage

AUGUSTA – On Thursday, the Maine Senate unanimously passed a bill from Sen. Joe Rafferty, D-Kennebunk. LD 335, “An Act to Improve Educator Certification Response Times,” aims to reduce Maine’s teacher shortage by improving the process for educators to receive their certifications. 

“Maine is facing a serious problem with not having enough teachers, and the problem has only gotten worse in recent years,” explained Sen. Rafferty. “One way to fix this issue is by speeding up the process for becoming a certified teacher. Many educators have said that the current certification process takes too long, which means we might lose good teachers to other states in New England and beyond. We cannot let Maine fall further behind in our efforts to attract and retain quality educators.” 

LD 335 would establish five Education Specialist III positions within the Department of Education in order to improve response times for educator certification and to provide oversight of the certification process starting on Oct. 1, 2023. These positions would speed up response times, which in turn would help attract and retain more qualified educators.

The bill faces further votes before the Senate and the House. 

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