— Scope and application of act. A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact Act”. The purpose of the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact shall be to facilitate the mobility of teachers through a collective regulatory framework amongst member states to expedite and enhance the ability of teachers to move across state lines. B. As used in this act: 1. “Active military member” means any person with full-time duty status in the armed forces of the United States including members of the National Guard and Reserve; 2. “Adverse action” means any limitation or restriction imposed by a member state’s licensing authority, such as revocation, suspension, reprimand, probation, or limitation on the licensee’s ability to work as a teacher; 3. “Bylaws” means those bylaws established by the Commission; 4. “Career and technical education license” means a current, valid authorization issued by a member state’s licensing authority allowing an individual to serve as a teacher in a pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade public educational setting in a specific career and technical education area; 5. “Charter member state” means a member state that has enacted legislation to adopt the compact and enactment predates the initial meeting of the Commission after the effective date of the compact; 6. “Commission” means the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact Commission, an interstate administrative body whose membership consists of delegates of all states that have enacted the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact; 7. “Commissioner” means the delegate of a member state that has adopted the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact; 8. “Eligible license” means a license or certification to engage in the teaching profession which requires at least a bachelor’s degree and the completion of a state-approved program for teacher certification; 9. “Eligible military spouse” means the spouse of any individual in full-time duty status in the active armed forces of the United States including members of the National Guard and Reserve moving as a result of a military mission or military career progression requirements or moving as a result of separation or retirement. Eligible military spouse includes surviving spouses of deceased military members; 10. “Executive committee” means a group of commissioners elected or appointed on behalf of and within the powers granted to them by the Commission as provided for herein; 11. “Licensing authority” means an official agency, board, or other entity of a state that is responsible for the licensing or certification and regulation of teachers authorized to teach in pre- kindergarten through twelfth grade public educational settings; 12. “Member state” means any state that has adopted the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact including all agencies and officials of the state; 13. “Receiving state” means any state in which a teacher has applied for certification pursuant to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact; 14. “Rule” means any regulation promulgated by the Commission under the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, which shall have the force of law in each member state; 15. “State practice laws” means a member state’s laws, rules, and regulations that govern the teaching profession, define the scope of the teaching profession, and create methods and grounds for imposing discipline; 16. “State specific requirements” means a requirement for teacher certification covered in coursework or examination that includes the content of unique interest to the state; 17. “Teacher” means an individual who currently holds an authorization from a member state that forms the basis for employment in the pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade public educational settings of the state to provide instruction in a specific subject area, grade level, or student population; and 18. “Unencumbered license” means a current, valid authorization issued by a member state’s licensing authority allowing an individual to serve as a teacher in a pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade public educational setting. An unencumbered license is not a restricted, probationary, provisional, substitute, emergency, or temporary credential. C. 1. Licensure pursuant to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact shall pertain only to the initial grant of a license or certificate by the receiving state. Nothing herein shall apply to any subsequent or ongoing compliance requirements that a receiving state may require for teachers. 2. Each member state shall, in accordance with the rules of the Commission, define, compile, and update as necessary a list of eligible licenses and career and technical education licenses that the member state is willing to consider for equivalency pursuant to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact and provide a list to the Commission. The list shall include those licenses that a receiving state is willing to grant to teachers from other member states, pending a determination of equivalency by the receiving state’s licensing authority. 3. Upon receipt of an application for licensure or certification by a teacher holding an unencumbered eligible license, the receiving state shall determine which of the receiving state’s eligible licenses the teacher is qualified to hold and shall grant the license(s) or certification(s) to the applicant. The determination shall be made in the sole discretion of the receiving state’s licensing authority and may include a determination that the applicant is not eligible for any of the receiving state’s eligible licenses. For all teachers who hold an unencumbered license, the receiving state shall grant one or more unencumbered licenses that, in the receiving state’s sole discretion, are equivalent to the license(s) held by the teacher in any other member state. 4. For active military members and eligible military spouses who hold a license or certification that is not unencumbered, the receiving state shall grant an equivalent license or licenses that, in the receiving state’s sole discretion, are equivalent to the license or licenses held by the teacher in any other member state, except where the receiving state does not have an equivalent license or certification. 5. For a teacher holding an unencumbered career and technical education license, the receiving state shall grant an unencumbered license equivalent to the career and technical education license held by the applying teacher and issued by another member state, as determined by the receiving state in its sole discretion, except where a career and technical education teacher does not hold a bachelor’s degree and the receiving state requires a bachelor’s degree for licenses to teach career and technical education. A receiving state may require career and technical education teachers to meet state industry recognized requirements, if required by law in the receiving state. D. 1. Except as provided for in subsection C of this section, nothing in the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact shall be construed to limit or inhibit the authority of a member state to regulate licensure or endorsements overseen by a member state’s licensing authority. 2. When a teacher is required to renew a license or certification pursuant to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, the state granting the license or certification may require the teacher to complete state specific requirements as a condition of license or certification renewal or advancement in that state. 3. For the purposes of determining compensation, a receiving state may require additional information from teachers receiving a license or certification pursuant to the provisions of the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact. 4. Nothing in the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact shall be construed to limit the power of a member state to control and maintain ownership of its information pertaining to teachers or limit the application of a member state’s laws or regulations governing the ownership, use, or dissemination of information pertaining to teachers. 5. Nothing in the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact shall be construed to invalidate or alter any existing agreement or another cooperative arrangement of which a member state may already be a party or limit the ability of a member state to participate in any future agreement or other cooperative arrangement to: a. award teaching licenses, certification, or other benefits based on additional professional credentials including but not limited to a National Board Certification, b. participate in the exchange of names of teachers whose license or certification has been subject to an adverse action by a member state, or c. participate in any agreement or cooperative arrangement with a non-member state. E. 1. Except as provided for active military members or eligible military spouses in paragraph 4 of subsection C of this section, a teacher may only be eligible to receive a license or certification pursuant to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact where that teacher holds an unencumbered license or certification in a member state. 2. A teacher eligible to receive a license or certification pursuant to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact shall, unless otherwise provided for herein: a. upon his or her application to receive a license or certification pursuant to the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, undergo a criminal background check in the receiving state in accordance with the laws and regulations of the receiving state, and b. provide the receiving state with information in addition to the information required for licensure or certification for the purposes of determining compensation, if applicable. F. 1. Nothing in the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact shall be deemed or construed to limit the authority of a member state to investigate or impose disciplinary measures on teachers according to the state’s practice laws. 2. Member states shall be authorized to receive and shall provide files and information regarding the investigation and discipline, if any, of teachers in other member states upon request. Any member state receiving information or files shall protect and maintain the security and confidentiality thereof in at least the same manner that it maintains its own investigatory or disciplinary files and information. Prior to disclosing any disciplinary or investigatory information received from another member state, the disclosing state shall communicate its intention and purpose for disclosure to the member state which originally provided the information.
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