Last month, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards announced that District 97 was among 11 school districts across the country named National Board Accomplished Districts “for their investment of resources to support advancing quality teaching through National Board Certification,” according to a statement the district released Dec. 19.
National Board Certification is often considered the “gold standard” in teacher certification for its rigor and high standards.
During the last three years, the number of board-certified teachers at D97 has increased from nine to 46, district officials said. In 2018, 20 D97 teachers earned the certification, “representing the biggest class of newly-certified teachers from any district in the state of Illinois,” D97 officials said. In 2019, nine D97 teachers earned National Board Certification.
As Wednesday Journal previously reported, teachers get $10,000 added to their annual base salary if they earn the certification. The extra money, formally called an annual recognition, was introduced to the district in the teacher contract approved back in 2015.
“The National Board Resource Center has been a critical partner in our work to create a supportive cohort model for our National Board candidates,” said Carrie Kamm, D97’s senior director of equity. “We are grateful for their support as we have built our program.”
Correction: This article has been updated to correct an inaccurate term used in a previous version of this article. The annual recognition is technically not a stipend. Wednesday Journal regrets the error.
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