Committee waives fee and permits in‑service credits for voluntarily inactive teacher certificates

The House Education Committee adopted a technical amendment requested by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and passed House Bill 14‑03, which waives the Department’s fee for placing a teacher certificate into voluntary inactive status and allows voluntary inactive educators to satisfy the required 30 continuing professional education hours through in‑service days provided by the employing school entity.

Representative Borowski, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure was prompted by a school board member in his district and described the change as a simple step to make it easier and less expensive for previously certified teachers to return to the classroom. “This is really geared at bringing teachers who were in the profession, who have gone in inactive status, back into the classroom,” Borowski said.

Representative Kozak recounted a personal experience in which lack of recognition for inactive status caused a multi‑week scramble to meet certification requirements, and said the bill would have eased that hiring transition. Representative Schlegel reiterated the committee’s earlier comments about three pillars of effective teaching — relationships, content knowledge and instructional skill — and said reduced barriers can help recruit people who meet those requirements.

The committee adopted amendment A000660 (technical) and approved the bill as amended on a unanimous roll call vote, 26–0. The bill will be reported out of committee.