AZ SB1420

Amends charter school teacher certification requirements to mandate that all persons employed as teachers or administrators at charter schools must meet the same certification and fingerprinting requirements as school district employees, effective three years after the law's enactment for existing staff.

Modifies state board of education rules for teacher certification to allow more flexible alternative teacher preparation programs with less restrictive approval processes and to allow various entities including school districts, charter schools, and nonprofit organizations to provide teacher training programs.

Creates a specialized teaching certificate for classroom teachers with expertise in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) who meet specific experience requirements, exempting them from certain subject knowledge and professional knowledge proficiency examinations.

Establishes reciprocity provisions allowing educators with valid out-of-state teaching certificates to receive comparable Arizona teaching certificates without additional examination requirements if they are in good standing in their previous state.

Simplifies and standardizes teacher proficiency examination requirements, allowing exemptions for individuals with master's degrees in subject areas and streamlining alternatives for demonstrating subject matter expertise through work experience or advanced degrees.