HB 689 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to educator certifications; amending 2
s. 1012.55, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes 3
made by the act; amending s. 1012.56, F.S.; providing 4
that individuals who meet specified requirements have 5
met certain educator certification requirements; 6
revising the number of years for which certain 7
temporary educator certificates are valid; providing 8
an effective date. 9
10
Be It Enacted by the Legislat ure of the State of Florida: 11
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Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section 13
1012.55, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 14
1012.55 Positions for which certificates required. — 15
(1) 16
(e)1. The department shall issue a 5-year 3-year temporary 17
certificate in educational leadership under s. 1012.56(7) to an 18
individual who: 19
a. Earned a passing score on the Florida Educational 20
Leadership Examination. 21
b. Served as a commissioned or noncommissioned military 22
officer in the United States Armed Force s for at least 3 years. 23
c. Was honorably discharged or has retired from the United 24
States Armed Forces. 25
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d. Is employed full time in a position for which an 26
educator certificate is required in a Florida public school, 27
state-supported school, or nonpubli c school that has a Level II 28
program under s. 1012.562. 29
2. A Level II program under s. 1012.562 must accept an 30
applicant who holds a temporary certificate under subparagraph 31
1. The department shall issue a permanent certification as a 32
school principal to an individual who holds a temporary 33
certificate under subparagraph 1. and successfully completes the 34
Level II program. 35
Section 2. Subsections (3) and (5) and paragraphs (c) and 36
(e) of subsection (7) of section 1012.56, Florida Statutes, are 37
amended to read: 38
1012.56 Educator certification requirements. — 39
(3) MASTERY OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. —Acceptable means of 40
demonstrating mastery of general knowledge are: 41
(a) Achievement of passing scores on the general knowledge 42
examination required by state board rule; 43
(b) Documentation of a valid professional standard 44
teaching certificate issued by another state; 45
(c) Documentation of a valid certificate issued by the 46
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or a national 47
educator credentialing board approved by the State Board of 48
Education; 49
(d) Documentation of two semesters of successful, full -50
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time or part-time teaching in a Florida College System 51
institution, state university, or private college or university 52
that awards an associate or higher deg ree and is an accredited 53
institution or an institution of higher education identified by 54
the Department of Education as having a quality program; 55
(e) Achievement of passing scores, identified in state 56
board rule, on national or international examinations that test 57
comparable content and relevant standards in verbal, analytical 58
writing, and quantitative reasoning skills, including, but not 59
limited to, the verbal, analytical writing, and quantitative 60
reasoning portions of the Graduate Record Examination. Pa ssing 61
scores identified in state board rule must be at approximately 62
the same level of rigor as is required to pass the general 63
knowledge examinations; or 64
(f) Documentation of receipt of a master's or higher 65
degree from an accredited postsecondary educat ional institution 66
that the Department of Education has identified as having a 67
quality program resulting in a baccalaureate degree or higher. 68
69
An individual who holds a certificate pursuant to this section; 70
has served as a classroom teacher, as defined in s . 71
1012.01(2)(a), for the immediately preceding 3 school years; has 72
earned an effective or highly effective rating on his or her 73
evaluation under s. 1012.34 for the immediately preceding 3 74
school years; and has met the requirements of subsection (6) has 75
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met the requirements of this subsection. A school district that 76
employs an individual who does not achieve passing scores on any 77
subtest of the general knowledge examination must provide 78
information regarding the availability of state -level and 79
district-level supports and instruction to assist him or her in 80
achieving a passing score. Such information must include, but 81
need not be limited to, state -level test information guides, 82
school district test preparation resources, and preparation 83
courses offered by stat e universities and Florida College System 84
institutions. 85
(5) MASTERY OF SUBJECT AREA KNOWLEDGE. —Acceptable means of 86
demonstrating mastery of subject area knowledge are: 87
(a) For a subject requiring only a baccalaureate degree 88
for which a Florida subject area examination has been developed, 89
achievement of a passing score on the Florida -developed subject 90
area examination specified in state board rule; 91
(b) For a subject for which a Florida subject area 92
examination has not been developed, achievement of a p assing 93
score on a standardized examination specified in state board 94
rule, including, but not limited to, passing scores on both the 95
oral proficiency and written proficiency examinations 96
administered by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign 97
Languages; 98
(c) For a subject for which a Florida subject area 99
examination has not been developed or a standardized examination 100
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has not been specified in state board rule, completion of the 101
subject area specialization requirements specified in state 102
board rule and verification of the attainment of the essential 103
subject matter competencies by the district school 104
superintendent of the employing school district or chief 105
administrative officer of the employing state -supported or 106
private school; 107
(d) For a subject r equiring a master's or higher degree, 108
completion of the subject area specialization requirements 109
specified in state board rule and achievement of a passing score 110
on the Florida-developed subject area examination or a 111
standardized examination specified in s tate board rule; 112
(e) Documentation of a valid professional standard 113
teaching certificate issued by another state; 114
(f) Documentation of a valid certificate issued by the 115
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or a national 116
educator credentialing board approved by the State Board of 117
Education; 118
(g) Documentation of successful completion of a United 119
States Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center 120
program; or 121
(h) Documentation of a passing score on the Defense 122
Language Proficiency T est (DLPT). 123
124
An individual who holds a certificate pursuant to this section; 125
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has served as a classroom teacher, as defined in s. 126
1012.01(2)(a), for the immediately preceding 3 school years; has 127
earned an effective or highly effective rating on his or her 128
evaluation under s. 1012.34 for the immediately preceding 3 129
school years; and has met the requirements of subsection (6) has 130
met the requirements of this subsection. School districts are 131
encouraged to provide mechanisms for middle grades teachers 132
holding only a K-6 teaching certificate to obtain a subject area 133
coverage for middle grades through postsecondary coursework or 134
district add-on certification. 135
(7) TYPES AND TERMS OF CERTIFICATION. — 136
(c) The department shall issue one nonrenewable 5-year 2-137
year temporary certificate and one nonrenewable 5 -year 138
professional certificate to a qualified applicant who holds a 139
bachelor's degree in the area of speech -language impairment to 140
allow for completion of a master's degree program in speech -141
language impairment. 142
(e)1. A temporary certificate issued under subparagraph 143
(b)1. is valid for 3 school fiscal years and is nonrenewable. 144
2. A temporary certificate issued under paragraph (b) 145
subparagraph (b)2. is valid for 5 school fiscal years, is 146
limited to a one-time issuance, and is nonrenewable. 147
148
At least 1 year before an individual's temporary certificate is 149
set to expire, the department shall electronically notify the 150
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individual of the date on which his or her certificate will 151
expire and provide a list of each method by which the 152
qualifications for a professional certificate can be completed. 153
The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to allow the 154
department to extend the validity period of a temporary 155
certificate for 2 years when the requirements for the 156
professional certificate were not completed due to the serious 157
illness or injury of the applicant, the military service of an 158
applicant's spouse, other extraordinary extenuating 159
circumstances, or if the certificateholder is rated highly 160
effective in the immediate prior year's performance evaluation 161
pursuant to s. 1012.34 or has completed a 2 -year mentorship 162
program pursuant to subsection (8). The department shall extend 163
the temporary certificate upon approval by the Commissioner of 164
Education. A written request for extension of the certificate 165
shall be submitted by the district school superintendent, the 166
governing authority of a university lab school, the governing 167
authority of a state -supported school, or the governing 168
authority of a private school. 169
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 170