Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §6210 is enacted to read:

§6210.__Professional development for teachers

1.__Fund established. The Fund for the Professional Development of Maine Teachers, referred to in this section as the "fund," is established to encourage innovative local initiatives in the professional development of teachers and to share the costs of those initiatives with local school administrative units.__The fund is nonlapsing and consists of General Fund appropriations and any money available from other appropriate sources.

2.__Administration of fund.__The fund is administered by the department.__A school administrative unit is eligible to apply for a grant from the fund.

3.__Award of grants.__A grant of up to $100,000 per biennium may be awarded.__The amount of each grant must be matched by funds appropriated by the school administrative unit.__Grants must be awarded based on a ranking system that determines 50% of a school administrative unit's score based on the economic need of the unit and 50% on the degree that the unit's program is expected to meet the standards established in subsection 4.__The department shall adopt rules governing the application for and awarding of grants.__The rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.

4.__Standards for professional development of teachers.__Fifty percent of the weight for granting funds under this section must be based on the extent to which the proposed program:

A.__Encourages peer deliberations among teachers with adequate time set aside for networking on course content, pedagogy and assessment;

B.__Emphasizes currently accepted best practices;

C.__Involves teachers at different levels of professional development;

D.__Includes teachers as leaders in their own professional development;

E.__Will stimulate continuous, regular and nonsporadic, professional development activity;