MT HB252

Revises teacher pay incentives by requiring base teacher salary to be at least 11 times the quality educator payment amount and phasing in a requirement that base pay reach 70% of average teacher pay by fiscal year 2030, with eligibility expanded beyond school districts to include special education cooperatives, Montana School for the Deaf and Blind, correctional facilities, and the Montana Youth Challenge Program

Creates a new "Future Ready Payment" beginning fiscal year 2028 that rewards high school and elementary districts based on graduates who earned postsecondary or career-technical education credits: 10% of per-ANB payment for 15+ credits (Level 1), 20% for 30+ credits (Level 2), and 30% for completing an associate degree (Level 3)

Establishes a resource-sharing incentive beginning fiscal year 2027 where districts that jointly employ a quality educator or qualified staff member (each district employing at least 0.33 FTE) can count that employee as 1.0 FTE for each participating district's quality educator payment calculation

Provides increased budget authority for school districts in high-housing-cost counties (where median residential property value exceeds 105% of statewide median) to spend additional funds on employee housing assistance including stipends, rental assistance, down payment assistance, and relocation costs

Restores full funding to the Advanced Opportunities Program by including it in the present law base calculation and appropriates an additional $100,000 per fiscal year for the 2025 biennium beyond HB 2 appropriations