HELENA — Last week, Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law House Bill 252 – known as the STARS Act – which makes additional state funding available to encourage school districts to boost starting teacher pay. Now, districts need to certify that they’ll meet the requirements in order to qualify for the funds.

(Watch the video for more on what school districts need to do to receive the funding.)

The Montana Office of Public Instruction is asking districts to certify by Thursday, May 15, that their base teacher pay is going to meet a minimum threshold. Superintendent of Public Instruction Susie Hedalen told MTN that, as of Monday afternoon, 193 out of 418 eligible entities had submitted an application.

“As soon as STARS was ready to roll out, we notified our partners in education so that they could see what we were informing districts of,” she said. “We've all been communicating to make sure we're sending the same message to the field and not creating any confusion.”

The STARS Act was one of the biggest school funding bills the Montana Legislature took up this year. It expands a state incentive initially created in the 2021 TEACH Act, providing more funding to school districts if they increase pay for beginning teachers.

In order to qualify for the new incentive, districts will have to provide a base teacher salary of at least $41,613 for the 2026 fiscal year – increasing year to year after that. They also need to ensure new teachers make at least 62% of the district’s average teacher salary – a percentage that will also increase in future years.

Some districts are already offering pay that fits the rules. East Helena Public Schools Superintendent Dan Rispens told MTN his district has been emphasizing paying starting teachers for years in order to compete with larger districts. That meant EHPS simply had to submit a statement that it was in compliance.

Other districts have had to work with their school boards and teachers’ unions in order to come to an agreement. Those districts have to submit paperwork stating all parties are committed to working toward the STARS Act goals in order to qualify.

“Most of the districts we talking to are working hard to make sure that they can meet the requirement,” Hedalen said. “There have been a few that had greater challenges, whether it was the 62% or just getting up to that base pay and getting everyone to agree to these terms.”

Hedalen said the current base pay varies a lot depending on where in the state you are.

“I know for our rural schools across Montana, this is likely to be a large increase in teacher pay, and that's why we were very supportive and thankful to the governor and the legislators for investing in public education and our teachers,” she said.

OPI has set up a section of their website with more details on what steps districts need to take to apply for the teacher incentive funding.

The STARS Act also creates additional financial incentives, like for districts to expand dual credit and career and technical education programs. All together, it could put another $55 million a year into schools from the state general fund.