Hi, I was wondering if teacher licenses ever expire. I'm currently working on my elementary education license but I'm not sure if I want to teach right away. Does anyone know what happens if I take a few years off and then want to teach? Will my license still be valid? Thanks, Ed
It depends on what state you're in. In NJ, the answer is "yes and/or no." When you graduate in NJ, you have a Certificate of Eligiblity. You do not get your Standard Certificate until you sucessfully complete one year of supervised teaching. In other words, you have to work for a year, and have a supervisor (usually the principal) sign off on you for you to get your permanent certificate. You can teach using your Certificate of Eligibilty forever, as far as I know. I taught using mine for years when I was still at daycare/private school. But once you get your Standard, you have to maintain training hours to keep it. Currently, in NJ you must have 100 hours for every 5 years. So, in NJ, you would be able to graduate and not teach at first, then use it later.
In CA, you have to keep doing 45 of proffessional development, and (I believe be teaching) in order for it not to expire. We have to renew the credential, by sumitting the proffessional development every 5 years.
In California the first problem would be that a Preliminary Credential will expire in 5 years if you don't get your Professional Clear Credential by then. And you would have to complete a teacher induction program which takes about a year to do that. Then you have to do a minimum 150 hours if professional development activities every and teach for at least one half school year every five years to keep the Professional Clear Credential active. If you don't do this you cannot teach. I believe there is a way to reactivate a lapsed Professional Clear Credential though.
In Louisiana your first certifcate (B? That's horrible...I can't remember!) is valid for, I believe 3 years while you go through your new teacher training. Once it upgrades to a C certificate, that's a lifetime certificate. I would look on mine to make sure the letters are correct, but it's hanging at school.
In Arkansas you get a non-renewable certificate that lasts for 3 years. You have to pass the PRAXIS III observation in those years in order to obtain a 5 year renewable certificate.
Yep. Here in MD, you must begin your masters or an amount of credits equivalent to a masters, plus have a certain number of successful years of teaching to renew your original certificate. And that original one expires in 5 (I think) years. Then, you have another 5 to complete the masters. Throughout your career, you must take continuing ed. credits in order to maintain your certificate. Kim
You must keep up your continuing education credits here too. You do not have to get your masters yet, although those hours will count toward your 60.
Thanks for all the input. I've emailed the CA Credential Commission since I figure it's best to find out from the source. My question was partially prompted by a women I recently met. She got her teaching certificate in New York about 30 years ago but never taught because she didn't feel adequately prepared. About 5 years ago, she decided she wanted to teach. She was now living in California and they accepted her NY teaching certificate and only made her take a couple of classes. Seems odd that CA would accept a teaching certificate that was 1) out-of-state, 2) very old, and 3) had never been used.
Most states have some reciprocal requirements. I graduated from MI and moved to IN, taking only a few classes for my IN licenses ( I have one for preschool and one for elementary). I have now been out of teaching for 10 years (we have 5 children and working and raising them was overwhelming) and my licenses have expired. I am in the process of renewing them and the requirement is 6 credit hours and then my licenses will be valid/renewed ( only because we are living back in IN). While living in SD I inquired about a SD license even though my IN expired, they send temporary, one year, licenses and the course requirements needed for licensing in their state. Yet while living in IL when I inquired, they do not give temporary licenses and require course work completed and two exams be taken if your license expired. Each state is different. IF you do not teach I suggest you take classes to keep your license valid, then it will be easier to obtain a job and receive your license if you move to a different state.
Kentucky is like this. . . When you graduate you get a provisional certificate. New teachers must complete a one year internship to get a teaching certificate. I subbed the first year after graduation, so I did my internship the second year. After you pass your internship, you get your Rank III teaching certificate. However, that expires in 10 years unless you get a masters or complete a Rank II certification program.
Thanks again for all the helpful replies. In case anyone's interested, here's the response that I received from the CA Credential Commission: "Your preliminary credential will be issued for a period of five years. At the end of the five years the document will expire. If you return to work after the preliminary credential has expired you will need to request an extension. The extension is available to those who require additional time to complete the requirements for the professional clear credential."
In Virginia you have to renew your certification every 5 years. In order to do this, you must have completed 90 hours of approved staff developement. You can have another job other then teaching and still be renewed in 5 years, but it is more difficult. The county school program offers the things you need in order to stay certified. Hope this helps!
In Alabama, we have to renew our license every five years with proof of our continuing education units. Thanks, Donna
