CRESTVIEW HILLS — An education program that cost the state $1.2 million in 2001 is producing dozens of “master teachers” for Northern Kentucky classrooms.

        Northern Kentucky has 17 master teachers certified by the Na tional Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and 11 candidates — the largest concentration in the state — according to Kentucky Council on Postsecondary education.

        Kentucky Rep. Jon Draud, R-Crestview Hills, and the Northern Kentucky Council of Partners in Education gathered at Thomas More College on Monday to honor Northern Kentucky's most accomplished teachers, including Golden Apple Award recipients, the Ken tucky Teacher of the Year and the NBPTS certified teachers.

        Board-certified teachers spend one year in the voluntary program practicing rigorous self-reflection and demonstrating their abilities in the classroom.

        The certification process also tests a teacher's subject knowledge and how well they convey knowledge to students. Teacher peers and educational experts create the certification standards.

        “It doesn't improve me, it improves my product and what I get out of the students,” said Tom Stull, 17-year veteran math teacher at Ludlow High School, who received his certificate in 2000.

        “It goes back to this long list of standards that you reflect upon. Everything is student-based.”

        Mr. Draud sponsored House Bill 25, passed in 2000, that pro vided teachers with 75 percent of the now $2,300 certification application fees and gave teachers who completed the program a $2,000 raise for each year that the teacher remains in the classroom.

        The bill cost the general fund $800,000 in 2000, and $1.2 million in 2001, Mr. Draud said.

        When he was superintendent of Ludlow Schools from 1978-1997, he helped two Ludlow teachers, including current Ludlow curriculum director Barbara Martin, obtain the certificates.

        In 2000, there were 40 NBPTS-certified teachers in Kentucky, one of the 44 states to offer certification incentives. Certification lasts 10 years.

        Monday's recognition ceremony, which drew about 100 people, was a kickoff for Kentucky's Education Week.

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