School Districts Can Seek Flexibility on Teacher Licensing Requirements
The passage of the federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), means that school districts are no longer required to comply with the list of requirements for “Highly Qualified” teachers previously found under No Child Left Behind. Instead, the new law only requires school districts to comply with “applicable State certification and licensure requirements.” So, what does that mean for school districts in the state of Colorado? The answer is flexibility.
Prior to the passage of the ESSA, school districts were required to hire “Highly Qualified” teachers in core content areas. This basically included three elements, requirements that teachers 1) hold at least a bachelor’s degree; 2) be licensed under state law; and 3) demonstrate mastery in the content area they planned to teach (usually through a test, like the Praxis). There were very limited exceptions to these requirements. ESSA, effectively, only requires schools to hire teachers that meet the applicable requirements of the state. Therefore, if a school district obtains a waiver from the State Board of Education from licensure requirements, even though the requirements would still exist, they would not be applicable to that school district by virtue of the waiver.
In Colorado, there are two options for a school district to pursue a waiver from a state law requirement (like teacher licensure): 1) The school district can apply to the State Board of Education for Innovation status; or 2) The school district can apply to the State Board of Education for a waiver under the State Board’s authority to waive most Title 22 statutes (the education section of Colorado’s Revised Statutes) and associated rules. Please contact us to discuss and determine which option might be right for your school district. We have extensive experience working with the State Board of Education, and have helped multiple school districts through the process of receiving a waiver from teacher licensure, enabling them to hire from a broader pool of talented and competent individuals.