The Maine Department of Education has been notified of the requirement to submit Maine teacher shortage areas by Dec. 14, 2012 for designation by the U.S. Department of Education for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.
The U.S. DOE annually designates teacher shortage areas for purposes of deferment of loan repayments or reductions of teaching obligation under the following student loan programs.
- Targeted teacher deferment for borrowers under the Family Federal Education Loan Program and the Federal Supplemental Loans for Students (SLS) programs [34 CFR 682.210(q)];
- Cancellation of up to 100 percent of their debt under the Federal Perkins Loan Program [34 CFR 674.53(c)] for full-time teachers in field of expertise;
- Reduction of the teaching obligation for scholars under the Paul Douglas Teacher Scholarship Program [34 CFR 653.50(a)]; and
- Reduction of teaching obligation for recipients under the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program (34 CFR 686)
The Department intends to propose to the U.S. DOE that the following be designated as K-12 teacher shortage areas during the 2012-13 and/or 2013-14 school years for the entire state of Maine:
- Special education (birth to five years and K-12 teachers, speech/hearing clinicians)
- School librarian
- World languages (French, German, Russian, Spanish, Latin, Chinese, Japanese)
- Science
- Mathematics
- Technology Education/Industrial Arts
- English as a Second Language
- Gifted and Talented
Should you have any additional shortage areas to suggest or if you have any input that might contribute to this required identification beyond the data related to teaching positions already on file in the Department, you are invited to share this information, before Friday, Dec. 7, 2012, by contacting:
Harry Osgood
Maine DOE Higher Education Specialist
624-6846
harry.osgood@maine.gov