State of Montana Newsroom
Superintendent Arntzen to Urge Board of Public Education to Lower Teacher Licensing Fees
HELENA – Superintendent Arntzen will urge the Board of Public Education (BPE) to lower licensing fees on Montana teachers during the November 21-22, 2024 board meeting. As discussed during the Education Interim Budget Committee today, revenues for current teacher licensing fees have produced over $112,000 in excess revenues, over expenses, due to system efficiencies. During the 2023 legislative session, Representative Dave Bedey sponsored HB 403, which amended teacher licensing fees from being set in law to allowing the Superintendent of Public Instruction to recommend the fee amounts to BPE. The purpose of this change was to ensure full self-funding, including personnel services, for TeachMT, OPI’s new digital teacher licensing system, which links to professional development and school accreditation.
“Teachers should not bear the burden of covering the cost of the licensing when they already struggle to make ends meet,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “The efficiencies of our new licensing system have clearly been met. It is beyond time that the Board of Public Education respect our teacher’s wallets and lower the licensing fees. I strongly recommend that the board implement a new fee structure that honors our Montana teachers. We need to remove any hurdle to recruiting and retaining quality educators.”
During the November 2023 BPE meeting, the board rejected Superintendent Arntzen’s recommended fee structure which did not raise fees for teachers but rather increased fees for administrators:
- Application Fee (New Licenses): $6 – remains the same
- Teacher License (5-Year License): $30 -remains the same $6/year
- Administrator License (5-Year License): $225 – $45/year, an increase of $31/year
- Emergency Authorization: $30 – annual fee remains the same
- Internships: $30 – annual fee remains the same
- Technology Fee: $25 – new, one-time fee every five years
The board implemented the following fee structure that raised fees for both teachers and administrators:
Class 1, 2, and 5 are Teaching Licenses, Class 3 are Administrative Licenses, Class 6 are School Counselor and Psychologist Licenses, Class 7 are American Indian Language and Culture Specialists Licenses, and Class 8 are Dual Credit Post-Secondary Faculty Licenses.
TMT offers educators:
- self-guided application submissions
- guided license approvals
- ability to immediately print a license
- a place to store all records necessary for licensing
- fast and secure licensing
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