Senate Bill 219 Summary

• Requires applicants for initial professional licenses (IPL) to achieve prescribed minimum scores on standard examinations, with elementary and special education teachers also passing subtests in reading and mathematics.

• Creates a three-year nonrenewable limited license for IPL holders who did not qualify for continuing professional licenses and out-of-state licensed teachers with at least three years of experience, requested by local school boards without requiring standardized exam scores.

• Allows local boards of education to determine experience credit for newly hired teachers in their first year based on verified prior employment, with protection from repayment of overpayments made in good faith.

• Reduces lifetime teaching license eligibility from 50 years to 30 or more years of credited service with the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System while holding a current North Carolina teaching license.

• Extends until June 30, 2020, the licenses for elementary and special education teachers whose initial professional licenses were set to expire June 30, 2019, due to unfulfilled examination requirements.