(a) Notwithstanding AS 14.20.020, a person may be issued a subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate, valid only in the subject-matter in which the person has expertise, upon compliance with the requirements of this section. A subject-matter expert teacher may only be employed to teach subjects in which the person has satisfied the education or experience requirements set out in (b)(1) of this section.

(b) To be eligible for a subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate, a person shall

(1) hold at least a baccalaureate degree from an institution of higher education accredited by a recognized regional or national accrediting association or approved by the commissioner and

(A) have majored or minored in the subject that the person will be teaching; or

(B) have at least five years experience in the subject matter that the person will be teaching;

(2) have submitted fingerprints and the fees required by the Department of Public Safety under AS 12.62.160 for criminal justice information and a national criminal history record check to the department; the department must have submitted the fingerprints and fees to the Department of Public Safety for a report of criminal justice information under AS 12.62 and a national criminal history record check under AS 12.62.400 and the person must have been found by the department to be suitable for employment as a teacher under AS 14.20.020(f); and

(3) be currently enrolled in an approved post-baccalaureate teacher education program at a regionally accredited institution meeting the requirements of AS 14.20.020(b) that provides for completion of the regular teacher certificate education requirements within two years after receipt of a subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate under this section.

(c) Before a school district or regional educational attendance area determines whether to hire a person as a subject-matter expert teacher under this section, the school district or regional educational attendance area shall administer a competency examination.

(d) A subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate is valid for one school year and may be renewed for one additional school year upon a showing of substantial progress towards completion of the teacher education program required under (b)(3) of this section.

(e) A school district or regional educational attendance area that employs a subject-matter expert teacher shall provide a mentor who is an experienced teacher for the subject-matter expert teacher for at least the first year of the subject-matter expert teacher's employment in the school district or regional educational attendance area.

(f) A person employed as a subject-matter expert teacher under this section is considered a certificated employee for purposes of AS 14.25 (teachers' retirement system). Employment as a subject-matter expert teacher under this section counts as employment for purposes of acquiring tenure under AS 14.20.150; however, a person holding a subject-matter expert limited teacher certificate under this section is not entitled to tenure until the person receives a teacher certificate under AS 14.20.020.

(g) The department shall adopt regulations necessary to implement this section.

(h) In this section, “subject-matter expert teacher” is a teacher qualified to teach under (b) of this section.