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Sponsor urges end to sunset on interim special‑education certificates
Summary
Representative Colazar told the House Education and Workforce Committee that House Bill 60‑16 would remove the sunset for interim special‑education certification, preserving a pathway for candidates with 32 credit hours to obtain interim certification while completing requirements for a full certificate.
Representative Colazar presented House Bill 60‑16 to the House Committee on Education and Workforce, asking lawmakers to remove the sunset that currently would end the interim special‑education certification pathway on July 27. Under the pathway described by the sponsor, individuals with at least 32 college credit hours in the study area (or equivalent clock hours) can receive an interim special‑education certificate. Schools that employ such teachers must provide intensive observation and coaching; after three years of satisfactory performance and meeting requirements, the teacher can earn a standard Michigan teaching certificate.
Colazar told the committee that school districts, public school academies, secondary principals and school boards support continuing the pathway, arguing the teacher shortage—particularly in special education—will persist beyond the current sunset date. "These individuals have served to plug in the gaps in our understaffed schools," he said, asking the committee to extend what he called a useful tool for both charter and traditional public schools.
Representative Boyse asked whether the alternate route applies only to special education; the sponsor clarified the bill concerns special‑education certification specifically and that separate alternative pathways exist for other certification areas.
The committee recorded multiple support cards for the bill from education organizations and officials, including the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals, Detroit Public Schools Community District, the Michigan Department of Education, the Michigan Association of School Boards and related administrator groups. No roll‑call vote on HB 60‑16 was recorded in the transcript.
