HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5590        FILED ON: 1/23/2026

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Joshua Tarsky

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
 Court assembled:

 The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act establishing the Teacher Education, Acceleration, and Certification for Massachusetts Program.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5590        FILED ON: 1/23/2026

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No.         

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

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An Act establishing the Teacher Education, Acceleration, and Certification for Massachusetts Program.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

 Chapter 15A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 19G the following section:-

 Section 19H. (a) There shall be established a program, subject to appropriation, to support teacher certification and training and bolster the educator workforce in the commonwealth, to be administered by the department of elementary and secondary education and known as the Teacher Education, Acceleration, and Certification for Massachusetts (TEACH-MA). The purpose of the program shall be to create a structured pipeline to train, certify and retain high-quality educators for public schools in the commonwealth.

 (b) The department shall promulgate regulations for the effective implementation of the program. The regulations shall include the following provisions:

 (1) program participation shall be for 3 years;

 (2) eligibility for the program shall be any person eligible to obtain an educator certificate pursuant to section 38G of chapter 71;

 (3) the program shall include at least 50 participants during the first year, with yearly participant number increases, as determined by the department;

 (4) for each program year, which shall begin in the summer, the applications shall open in the preceding fall and the department shall notify applicants of their acceptance or rejection in the preceding spring;

 (5) program participants shall commit to 3 years of teaching in a public school in the commonwealth;

 (6) the program shall begin with a 5-week training program in the summer preceding the participant’s first teaching year, which shall support participants in obtaining teacher certification and job placement in a public school in the commonwealth;

 (7) notwithstanding section 38G of chapter 71, a participant who successfully completes the initial 5-week training program shall be issued a provisional educator certificate with advance standing;

 (8) the program shall prioritize placing newly licensed teachers in teaching positions in districts with high needs, to help address staffing shortages where they are most acute;

 (9) the program shall include 5-week summer camps during the summers preceding the participant’s second and third teaching years, which shall focus on strengthening core teaching competencies;

 (10) the program shall also include year-round mentorship and professional development support for participants;

 (11) participants shall receive yearly stipends for program participation, which shall be $10,000 for the first year, $15,000 for the second year and $20,000 for the third year;

 (12) any participant that stops teaching in a public school in the commonwealth during the program shall be disenrolled from the program;

 (13) program participants who complete the full 3-year program shall be eligible for a reduced-rate master’s degree at the University of Massachusetts;

 (14) the department shall appoint a program director, whose duties shall include coordinating and convening an admissions team, ensuring that each participant is paired with a mentor, overseeing the overall operations of the program and facilitating placement of teachers into school districts upon attainment of licensure; the director shall be compensated at a rate standard to other comparable positions within the department; and

 (15) the department shall hire or appoint trainers to facilitate the summer programming and year-round mentorship duties, for which they shall be compensated in an amount to be determined by the department.

 (c) Annually, the department shall submit to the joint committee on education, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate a report including: (i) the number of participants in the program, by program year; (ii) the number of participants who secured job placements; (iii) the geographic distribution of participant placements and efforts to encourage placement in high-need districts; (iv) subject area priorities for placement, such as certification for STEM or special education instruction; (v) the number of participants who withdrew from the program the previous year, and the amount of money paid to them through the program; (vi) the number of participants who completed the program during the preceding year, and whether they intend to continue teaching in public schools in the commonwealth; (vii) any recommendations for changes to the program; and (viii) any other relevant information as determined by the department.