State officials unveil $4M teacher apprenticeship plan and detail licensure trends amid staffing shortages

The Education Interim Committee received multiple briefings on the educator workforce, including OPI licensure data and a new teacher registered‑apprenticeship program announced by the Department of Labor & Industry.

Julie Murgel, OPI chief program officer, reviewed the OPI 2025 educator licensure annual report and highlighted continuing workforce pressures: as of the report OPI had issued 330 emergency authorizations (used by districts unable to find qualified candidates), with notable concentrations in some rural and tribal districts. Murgel said Montana's educator preparation programs produced 495 completers in 2023–24 and that roughly half of newly certified teachers historically leave the state after completing programs. She also described trends in internships, provisional licenses and renewal patterns and noted some unusual cases (including fingerprint processing challenges) that OPI is investigating with DOJ.

Kristi Mockstutz (OPI) briefed the committee on the Quality Educator Loan Assistance Program, a $500,000/year incentive that repays federal loans for early‑career teachers up to $3,000 in year 1, $4,000 in year 2 and $5,000 in year 3; the application window closes April 15.

Crystal Armstrong (Department of Labor & Industry) presented Montana's registered apprenticeship initiative for teachers. The program, seeded by a federal award of $4,000,000, will fund partnerships between local education agencies and educator‑preparation providers to create paid apprenticeships that lead to the same bachelor's degree and state licensure as traditional routes. Key features Armstrong described:

- Apprentices are employees who earn progressive wages while they receive on‑the‑job training and related instruction; programs are competency‑based and require mentor teachers (federal standard apprentice:mentor ratio no more than 2:1).
- Apprentices will earn a bachelor's degree, a Montana teaching license and a nationally recognized registered‑apprenticeship certificate on completion; the Department expects apprentices to graduate debt‑free under the program model.
- Mentor teachers will receive a $6,000 stipend (to be provided by districts), and the state award will support educator‑preparation providers and program start‑up costs; the Department said typical states have covered training costs to as little as $10,000 per apprentice using this approach.
- Goals: create or expand apprenticeship programs in at least 40 local education agencies (including 12 frontier counties) and enroll at least 60 apprentices across Montana; a fall 2026 cohort launch is planned after an RFP and contracting process in April–May 2026.

Committee members asked for details about mentor training and stipend funding; Armstrong said mentor training will be provided via the National Center for Grow Your Own and other partners and that the $6,000 mentor stipend is a district responsibility but can be offset in early years by the apprentice's entry‑level tiered wage. Chair and members welcomed the $4 million award as a tool to address rural staffing shortages.

No committee action was taken during the presentations, but members asked staff for follow‑up data (e.g., detailed EPP enrollment and completer trends) to inform longer‑term workforce policy work.