The Louisiana Department of Education on a vendor webinar demonstrated a newly launched Louisiana Educator Portal certification module and said fully completed applications must be submitted to TeachLA Live by Aug. 11; beginning Aug. 12, applicants must use the new portal.

The portal centralizes certification and evaluation tools into a single interface. Lana Hutchinson, deputy director, said the portal integrates certification features directly into the Louisiana Educator Portal so HR and educators can begin and track applications from one site. "We are here to discuss the Louisiana educator portal. We're excited to share how it's working, how you will interact with it as HR personnel," Hutchinson said.

The portal replaces TeachLA Live for certification submissions after Aug. 11 and introduces several workflow changes intended to reduce manual steps for HR offices and applicants. Rachel Norman, director of the certification office, told attendees that during a two‑week transition agencies may submit PDFs but warned that after Aug. 11 "any completed fully completed application" submitted to TeachLA Live will be returned unprocessed and the applicant "will be required to go through" the new portal.

Major changes described in the demonstration include automatic background‑check (CBC) and credential‑clearance checks before applicants can begin most packets, digital signatures for applicant and HR attestations, daily digest notifications for HR offices, and the ability to export a submitted application (including attachments and receipts) as a single PDF. The portal also pulls certificate and degree records from the certification database into relevant forms to avoid redundant uploads when the department already has the documents on file.

Hutchinson highlighted a new option for applicants who lack a matching record in the certification database: they can upload a Social Security card and ID before fingerprinting so staff can create a matching record and avoid mismatches when the background check arrives. "That way when we receive the background check, we can actually issue the clear credential under the correct social and the correct spelling of their name," she said.

Access and account requirements described for HR staff include a MyLA account and permission requests routed to each district's local data administrator. Hutchinson warned of a recent eScholar rollover from the 2425 to the 2526 school year that may temporarily prevent permission selection until local data administrators upload 2526 records: "apparently, eScholar rolled over, Monday night into Tuesday morning from the 2425 school year to the 2526 school year. So if your local data administrators have not yet uploaded the 2526 records, you may have some trouble with the permission requests," she said.

The portal separates many former PDF packets into smaller, more specific online application packets to make it easier for applicants and HR to choose the correct request. HR reviewers can edit and verify experience lines; the system can import employment years and school/system data from LDOE reporting but does not import job titles or evaluation methods, so the HR office is responsible for completing and verifying those fields before signing. Hutchinson cautioned that imports may contain duplicate or messy records and advised local administrators to review and clean imported entries.

Mentor attestations and a few other supporting forms will remain as standalone PDFs that HR will upload to the application. Hutchinson said the department is not scheduling statewide training sessions for teachers at this time but has posted applicant and authorized‑user guides on TeachLouisiana.net and in the chat associated with the webinar.

The department said the application process requires the applicant to start the request; HR cannot initiate a certification application on an educator's behalf but can send a requested application link prompting the educator to start. After HR signs and the educator pays the processing fee, the submission moves to LDOE’s queue for assignment to a specialist.

Help and administrative details shared during the demonstration included: staff ID requests are submitted via the EdLink ops portal; HR representatives must be listed on an authorized‑signature form to digitally sign applications; messages and receipt records are stored with the application; and certificates can still be verified and printed via TeachLouisiana.net. Hutchinson also noted a daily digest email will alert HR staff when action is required.

No formal votes or policy changes were taken during the webinar. The demonstration concluded with department staff offering the applicant and HR guides, links to TeachLouisiana.net, and the teacher certification help center for additional questions.