Educators Certified in Pennsylvania Have One Year to Complete Continuing Education Requirements

   Pennsylvania teachers and administrators who received certification before July 1, 2000, now have less than a year to complete a required amount of continuing education in order to remain in the classroom.

   There are a total of 179, 138 educators who were certified prior to July 1, 2000, and 97,852 have the required number of hours needed to retain their certification, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education data.

   Of the approximately 13,000 teachers currently employed in Pennsylvania's public schools, more than 77,000 have the required 180 hours of continuing education; more than 15,000 have attained at least 144 hours; and about 32,000 have less than 144 hours.

Educators must maintain teaching certificates by earning six college credits or six PDE-approved, in-service credits or 180 continuing education hours or any combination of the above every five years. The first five-year period began on July 1, 2000, and included more than 600,000 educators who were issued their initial certificates prior to and including July 1, 2000. That five-year period will end on June 30, 2005.

   In November 1999, the Pennsylvania legislature passed Act 48 related to continuing professional education for individuals holding educator certification issued by the Department of Education. This statute requires all persons holding a Pennsylvania certificate to complete continuing education requirements every five years in order to maintain their Level I and Level II certificate in active status.

   Act 48 information and status notification may be accessed at www.pde.state.pa.us under the Act 48 Reporting System.