Is my Texas teaching certificate valid in any other states?

Question

My husband and I will be moving to Maryland, Virginia or Washington, DC within the next year. I know that some state allow certificates to reciprocate one another, but how do I find this out? State Board of Education? Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

You may be able to get a temporary certificate, especially if you are certified to teach some specialty in high demand like one of the sciences,mathematics or a foreign language or if you have the credentials to work in special education.

In general Virginia does not reciprocate with anyone for anything, and you will need to gain local certification in some limited time period after arriving, using a temporary certificate in the interim. I cannot speak for MD or DC, but they are both a little more likely to reciprocate.

The State Board would answer your question, but you would be more likely to get a fast answer from a school district looking for new teachers. The biggest districts in Northern Virginia, where school districts are coterminous with counties and independent cities, are:

Fairfax County http://www.fcps.k12.va.us

Loudon County http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us

Arlington County http://www.arlington.k12.va.us

Alexandria City http://www.acps.k12.va.us

Prince William County http://www.pwcs.edu

Answer 2

Any school board office in Texas ought to be able to answer that for you.  I'd be more concerned about the state you are going to.  While some states have reciprocity, others do not, and some will not accept your education as valid causing you to retake classes.  

I taught in California and saw lots of teachers from out-of-state taking classes for years before they could clear their credentials here.