Out-of-state teachers set to have easier path to licensure in Kansas

Kansas will be one of the inaugural members of the Interstate Teaching Mobility Compact — if the agreement can get more traction in at least six other states.

Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday signed Senate Bill 66, which commits Kansas to recognizing the out-of-state teacher licenses from other state signatories of the potential compact.

“Teacher shortages have been a challenge across the country, but it has been particularly tough on our rural communities,” Kelly said in a statement on her signature. “This bill addresses the teacher shortage here in Kansas by helping to fill vacancies with qualified educators who want to move to our state. That’s good for our students, for our rural communities, and for our growing economy.”

The compact was a creation of the Council of State Governments, with heavy backing from the U.S. Department of Defense, which wanted to create an easier pathway to teacher licensure for military personnel and their spouses as they move around the country. Schools have also championed the compact as a way to help with teacher shortages felt keenly but unevenly across the U.S.

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The measure had met some controversy on the Kansas State Board of Education, which sets licensing regulations and criteria for the state's educator workforce, before the bill was even introduced into the Kansas Legislature. The Kansas chapter of the National Education Association teachers' union had also opposed the bill, which they said had the potential to allow underqualified educators become the teachers of record in Kansas classrooms.

The board had initially declined to take any action on joining the interstate compact. It ultimately passed a resolution in support of SB 66 after it became clear that the bill had gained bipartisan traction in the Legislature and after legal staff concluded that only the Legislature could take any action to join an interstate compact.

Sen. Pat Pettey, a Kansas City Democrat and retired educator who had sponsored the bill, said she was proud to play a part in creating an alternative licensure path for teachers moving into Kansas.

"Not only does this create an agreed-upon regulatory framework for teacher reciprocity, it also speeds up the application process for relocating licensees, reduces time and resources spent by licensing agencies, and adds one more tool to the State Board of Education Licensure tool box," Pettey said in a statement.

Despite Thursday's signature, the compact might not take effect for a year or two, if at all — 10 states are required to formally enact the compact, and only Utah, Colorado and Kentucky have signed the compact into law. Legislation is pending in about a dozen other states, though.

Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at ‪785-289-5325. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas joins Interstate Teacher Mobility license compact