SB 500

With certain exceptions, this bill requires that, beginning on July 1, 2025,

teachers and administrators at private schools participating in a parental choice

program or in the Special Needs Scholarship Program must hold a license or permit

issued by the Department of Public Instruction. Under current law, teachers and

administrators at choice schools must have at least a bachelor's degree from a

nationally or regionally accredited institution of higher education, but they are not

required to be licensed by DPI. There are no current law requirements regarding who

may teach or be employed as an administrator at SNSP schools.

The bill provides an exception for a teacher who teaches only courses in

rabbinical studies and for an administrator at a private school that prepares and

trains pupils attending the private school in rabbinical studies. In addition, the bill

provides a grace period for a teacher or administrator who has been teaching or

employed as an administrator for at least the five consecutive years immediately

preceding July 1, 2025, which allows the teacher or administrator to apply for a

temporary, nonrenewable waiver of the licensure requirement. An applicant for a

waiver must submit a plan for becoming licensed as required under the bill.