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Recommending new rules for schools

The Office of Public Instruction is conducting a routine review of its teacher licensing regulations. Changes could help the many Montana schools that are struggling to keep teachers in classrooms.

Over the past six weeks, two review committees convened by the Montana Office of Public Instruction have begun discussing potential revisions to state regulations governing educator licensure. So far their deliberations have focused on bolstering recruitment and retention in the midst of a teacher shortage and providing a clearer pathway for school counselors to become administrators — all in hopes of removing roadblocks to certifying the people charged with educating Montana’s youth.

For OPI and the Board of Public Education, the process is a matter of routine, a revisitation of agency...