Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0689 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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10	10	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
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14	14	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15	An act relating to educator certifications; amending 2
16	16	s. 1012.55, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes 3
17	17	made by the act; amending s. 1012.56, F.S.; providing 4
18	18	that individuals who meet specified requirements have 5
19	19	met certain educator certification requirements; 6
20	20	revising the number of years for which certain 7
21	21	temporary educator certificates are valid; providing 8
22	22	an effective date. 9
23	23	10
24	24	Be It Enacted by the Legislat ure of the State of Florida: 11
25	25	12
26	26	Section 1. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section 13
27	27	1012.55, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 14
28	28	1012.55 Positions for which certificates required. — 15
29	29	(1) 16
30	30	(e)1. The department shall issue a 5-year 3-year temporary 17
31	31	certificate in educational leadership under s. 1012.56(7) to an 18
32	32	individual who: 19
33	33	a. Earned a passing score on the Florida Educational 20
34	34	Leadership Examination. 21
35	35	b. Served as a commissioned or noncommissioned military 22
36	36	officer in the United States Armed Force s for at least 3 years. 23
37	37	c. Was honorably discharged or has retired from the United 24
38	38	States Armed Forces. 25
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47	47	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
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51	51	d. Is employed full time in a position for which an 26
52	52	educator certificate is required in a Florida public school, 27
53	53	state-supported school, or nonpubli c school that has a Level II 28
54	54	program under s. 1012.562. 29
55	55	2. A Level II program under s. 1012.562 must accept an 30
56	56	applicant who holds a temporary certificate under subparagraph 31
57	57	1. The department shall issue a permanent certification as a 32
58	58	school principal to an individual who holds a temporary 33
59	59	certificate under subparagraph 1. and successfully completes the 34
60	60	Level II program. 35
61	61	Section 2. Subsections (3) and (5) and paragraphs (c) and 36
62	62	(e) of subsection (7) of section 1012.56, Florida Statutes, are 37
63	63	amended to read: 38
64	64	1012.56 Educator certification requirements. — 39
65	65	(3) MASTERY OF GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. —Acceptable means of 40
66	66	demonstrating mastery of general knowledge are: 41
67	67	(a) Achievement of passing scores on the general knowledge 42
68	68	examination required by state board rule; 43
69	69	(b) Documentation of a valid professional standard 44
70	70	teaching certificate issued by another state; 45
71	71	(c) Documentation of a valid certificate issued by the 46
72	72	National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or a national 47
73	73	educator credentialing board approved by the State Board of 48
74	74	Education; 49
75	75	(d) Documentation of two semesters of successful, full -50
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84	84	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
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88	88	time or part-time teaching in a Florida College System 51
89	89	institution, state university, or private college or university 52
90	90	that awards an associate or higher deg ree and is an accredited 53
91	91	institution or an institution of higher education identified by 54
92	92	the Department of Education as having a quality program; 55
93	93	(e) Achievement of passing scores, identified in state 56
94	94	board rule, on national or international examinations that test 57
95	95	comparable content and relevant standards in verbal, analytical 58
96	96	writing, and quantitative reasoning skills, including, but not 59
97	97	limited to, the verbal, analytical writing, and quantitative 60
98	98	reasoning portions of the Graduate Record Examination. Pa ssing 61
99	99	scores identified in state board rule must be at approximately 62
100	100	the same level of rigor as is required to pass the general 63
101	101	knowledge examinations; or 64
102	102	(f) Documentation of receipt of a master's or higher 65
103	103	degree from an accredited postsecondary educat ional institution 66
104	104	that the Department of Education has identified as having a 67
105	105	quality program resulting in a baccalaureate degree or higher. 68
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107	107	An individual who holds a certificate pursuant to this section; 70
108	108	has served as a classroom teacher, as defined in s . 71
109	109	1012.01(2)(a), for the immediately preceding 3 school years; has 72
110	110	earned an effective or highly effective rating on his or her 73
111	111	evaluation under s. 1012.34 for the immediately preceding 3 74
112	112	school years; and has met the requirements of subsection (6) has 75
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121	121	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
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125	125	met the requirements of this subsection. A school district that 76
126	126	employs an individual who does not achieve passing scores on any 77
127	127	subtest of the general knowledge examination must provide 78
128	128	information regarding the availability of state -level and 79
129	129	district-level supports and instruction to assist him or her in 80
130	130	achieving a passing score. Such information must include, but 81
131	131	need not be limited to, state -level test information guides, 82
132	132	school district test preparation resources, and preparation 83
133	133	courses offered by stat e universities and Florida College System 84
134	134	institutions. 85
135	135	(5) MASTERY OF SUBJECT AREA KNOWLEDGE. —Acceptable means of 86
136	136	demonstrating mastery of subject area knowledge are: 87
137	137	(a) For a subject requiring only a baccalaureate degree 88
138	138	for which a Florida subject area examination has been developed, 89
139	139	achievement of a passing score on the Florida -developed subject 90
140	140	area examination specified in state board rule; 91
141	141	(b) For a subject for which a Florida subject area 92
142	142	examination has not been developed, achievement of a p assing 93
143	143	score on a standardized examination specified in state board 94
144	144	rule, including, but not limited to, passing scores on both the 95
145	145	oral proficiency and written proficiency examinations 96
146	146	administered by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign 97
147	147	Languages; 98
148	148	(c) For a subject for which a Florida subject area 99
149	149	examination has not been developed or a standardized examination 100
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158	158	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
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162	162	has not been specified in state board rule, completion of the 101
163	163	subject area specialization requirements specified in state 102
164	164	board rule and verification of the attainment of the essential 103
165	165	subject matter competencies by the district school 104
166	166	superintendent of the employing school district or chief 105
167	167	administrative officer of the employing state -supported or 106
168	168	private school; 107
169	169	(d) For a subject r equiring a master's or higher degree, 108
170	170	completion of the subject area specialization requirements 109
171	171	specified in state board rule and achievement of a passing score 110
172	172	on the Florida-developed subject area examination or a 111
173	173	standardized examination specified in s tate board rule; 112
174	174	(e) Documentation of a valid professional standard 113
175	175	teaching certificate issued by another state; 114
176	176	(f) Documentation of a valid certificate issued by the 115
177	177	National Board for Professional Teaching Standards or a national 116
178	178	educator credentialing board approved by the State Board of 117
179	179	Education; 118
180	180	(g) Documentation of successful completion of a United 119
181	181	States Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center 120
182	182	program; or 121
183	183	(h) Documentation of a passing score on the Defense 122
184	184	Language Proficiency T est (DLPT). 123
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186	186	An individual who holds a certificate pursuant to this section; 125
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195	195	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
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197	197
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199	199	has served as a classroom teacher, as defined in s. 126
200	200	1012.01(2)(a), for the immediately preceding 3 school years; has 127
201	201	earned an effective or highly effective rating on his or her 128
202	202	evaluation under s. 1012.34 for the immediately preceding 3 129
203	203	school years; and has met the requirements of subsection (6) has 130
204	204	met the requirements of this subsection. School districts are 131
205	205	encouraged to provide mechanisms for middle grades teachers 132
206	206	holding only a K-6 teaching certificate to obtain a subject area 133
207	207	coverage for middle grades through postsecondary coursework or 134
208	208	district add-on certification. 135
209	209	(7) TYPES AND TERMS OF CERTIFICATION. — 136
210	210	(c) The department shall issue one nonrenewable 5-year 2-137
211	211	year temporary certificate and one nonrenewable 5 -year 138
212	212	professional certificate to a qualified applicant who holds a 139
213	213	bachelor's degree in the area of speech -language impairment to 140
214	214	allow for completion of a master's degree program in speech -141
215	215	language impairment. 142
216	216	(e)1. A temporary certificate issued under subparagraph 143
217	217	(b)1. is valid for 3 school fiscal years and is nonrenewable. 144
218	218	2. A temporary certificate issued under paragraph (b) 145
219	219	subparagraph (b)2. is valid for 5 school fiscal years, is 146
220	220	limited to a one-time issuance, and is nonrenewable. 147
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222	222	At least 1 year before an individual's temporary certificate is 149
223	223	set to expire, the department shall electronically notify the 150
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236	236	individual of the date on which his or her certificate will 151
237	237	expire and provide a list of each method by which the 152
238	238	qualifications for a professional certificate can be completed. 153
239	239	The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to allow the 154
240	240	department to extend the validity period of a temporary 155
241	241	certificate for 2 years when the requirements for the 156
242	242	professional certificate were not completed due to the serious 157
243	243	illness or injury of the applicant, the military service of an 158
244	244	applicant's spouse, other extraordinary extenuating 159
245	245	circumstances, or if the certificateholder is rated highly 160
246	246	effective in the immediate prior year's performance evaluation 161
247	247	pursuant to s. 1012.34 or has completed a 2 -year mentorship 162
248	248	program pursuant to subsection (8). The department shall extend 163
249	249	the temporary certificate upon approval by the Commissioner of 164
250	250	Education. A written request for extension of the certificate 165
251	251	shall be submitted by the district school superintendent, the 166
252	252	governing authority of a university lab school, the governing 167
253	253	authority of a state -supported school, or the governing 168
254	254	authority of a private school. 169
255	255	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 170