Teacher Cert Pathfinder

270 facts · 125 sources · read 9–11 Sep 2026

All 15 corridors we cover turn on a question the destination agency’s published rules leave open

What a teacher moving states must do, quoted from the agency and dated. For every move we name the question and who can answer it. We have not yet put the questions to the agencies.

At stake on Texas → Coloradoread 9 Sep 2026

“State statute prohibits the refunding of any application evaluation fee.”
Colorado Department of Education, Teachers from Out-of-State/Out-of-Country — on the $110 application fee, paid before the open question is answered.Words in this typeface are an agency’s, a rule’s or a statute’s — never ours.

Figure 1 · n = 15 corridors · 15 of 15 questions open

On 10 of the 15 corridors, the agency says the application fee is not refundable

Each move, the question it turns on, the application fee as the destination agency publishes it, and who can answer the question. Teacher numbers are estimates with the survey’s margin of error, about 7,700 a year in all.

Corridor and its open questionTeachers a yearApplication feeWho can answer
New York → New JerseyWill NJDOE accept the two-effective-years evidence as an original letter the applicant supplies, or only on the electronic Record of Professional Experience form it sends to the former employer? ≈730 ±15% $170
not refundable		 NJDOE (609) 376-3500
California → TexasDoes TEA accept a California Preliminary Single Subject Teaching Credential as a “standard certificate” under 19 TAC §230.111? ≈690 ±12% $160
not refundable		 TEA (512) 936-8400
New York → FloridaIs a New York Initial Certificate a “valid professional standard teaching certificate issued by another state” under s. 1012.56(3)(b), (5)(e) and (6)(c), F.S.? ≈650 ±13% $75 per subject
not refundable		 FLDOE (800) 445-6739
Texas → CaliforniaDoes CTC treat the Texas certificate Mathematics: Grades 7–12 as a “comparable” departmentalized authorization, or as middle school instruction only? ≈640 ±15% Not published by the agency CTC (888) 921-2682
Texas → FloridaIs a Texas Standard Certificate a “valid professional standard teaching certificate issued by another state” under s. 1012.56(3)(b), (5)(e) and (6)(c), F.S.? ≈640 ±27% $75 per subject
not refundable		 FLDOE (800) 445-6739
New Jersey → PennsylvaniaDoes PDE treat New Jersey’s “middle school with subject-matter specialization” (grades 5-8) as comparable to Pennsylvania’s Grades 4-8 certificate, which authorises 4-6 generally plus one subject in 7-8? ≈550 ±13% $150
refund not stated		 PDE (717) 728-3224
New Jersey → New YorkDoes NYSED read “three years of certified PUBLIC school teaching experience … exclusively in the subject area/grade level range of your application” strictly enough to exclude a teacher who covered a second subject or an out-of-band grade during those years? ≈510 ±16% $100 per certificate title
refund not stated		 NYSED (518) 474-3901
California → NevadaDoes NDE treat a California Preliminary credential as “non-conditional, non-provisional” licensure for reciprocity? ≈470 ±13% $210
not refundable		 NDE (775) 687-9115
Florida → GeorgiaIs any literacy or reading assessment a Florida teacher has already passed a “GaPSC-accepted literacy assessment approved by another state”? ≈460 ±16% $20
refund not stated		 GaPSC (404) 232-2500
Florida → TexasWill TEA accept a Florida Temporary Certificate for a Review of Credentials, or only a Florida Professional Certificate? ≈460 ±16% $160
not refundable		 TEA (512) 936-8400
Pennsylvania → FloridaDoes the Florida Bureau of Educator Certification treat Pennsylvania’s Grades PK-4 certificate as satisfying Elementary Education (K-6), given PK-4 stops two grades short? ≈390 ±19% $75 per subject
not refundable		 FLDOE (800) 445-6739
California → WashingtonWhich of your California exam passes will OSPI accept in place of Washington’s basic skills test and the content test for your endorsement? ≈390 ±12% $93
refund not stated		 OSPI (360) 725-6400
Texas → ColoradoDoes CDE treat the Texas certificate Mathematics: Grades 7–12 as “identical” to Colorado’s Mathematics – Secondary (grades 6–12)? ≈390 ±17% $110
not refundable		 CDE (720) 739-3304
Virginia → FloridaIs a Virginia Provisional License — nonrenewable, issued with “allowable deficiencies for full licensure” — a “valid professional standard teaching certificate issued by another state” under s. 1012.56, F.S.? ≈360 ±23% $75 per subject
not refundable		 FLDOE (800) 445-6739
Virginia → North CarolinaWill NCDPI accept your Virginia summative evaluation as the “effectiveness data” that decides between the Continuing and the Initial Professional License? ≈350 ±20% $30 to $100
not refundable · which amount applies is to confirm		 NCDPI (919) 716-1800

the agency says the fee is not refundablerefund not statednot published by the agency

Sources: each destination agency’s own pages and rules for fees, refund terms, questions and contacts, read 9–11 Sep 2026 — every fee links to its page; US Census Bureau ACS 2024 migration flows × BLS OEWS May 2025 for teacher numbers. How we verify · How the estimates are made · All 15 corridors

Claims we checked, and what the sources say

Each claim appeared, in these words or close to them, on guides we read on 9 September 2026. What the rule or agency says follows, with its source. The guides themselves, quoted and archived →

Said on guides, paraphrased

Eight states offer full teacher licence reciprocity.

Unsourced, and inconsistent between guides.

This claim appears on multiple independent guides with no source and an inconsistent list — one version names eight states and then lists seven. It is also contradicted by the destination states' own law: Florida’s s. 1012.56(2), F.S. requires an applicant to satisfy general-knowledge, subject-area and professional-preparation mastery, and FLDOE’s Route 1 additionally requires a comparability determination. That is not “without satisfying additional requirements”.
The Florida Senates. 1012.56, F.S. — Educator certification requirements (2026 edition)Florida Department of EducationCertified Teacher Or Administrator — Reciprocity for Out-of-state Teachers and Administrators

Said on guides, paraphrased

A valid licence in one state means you need not submit proof of it in another.

False.

Colorado requires copies of all educator licences, valid and expired, and states that experience not covered by a licence date range is not counted. Texas requires a copy of the out-of-state standard certificate uploaded to the applicant’s ECOS account.
Colorado Department of EducationTeachers from Out-of-State/Out-of-CountryTexas Education AgencyOut-of-State Certified Educators

Said on guides, paraphrased

Your three years of Colorado-qualifying experience must fall within the last seven years.

No longer true if the law is in effect · effective date to confirm

Colorado SB26-126, signed 21 April 2026, eliminates the requirement that the successful teaching experience fall within the previous seven years. Guides written before April 2026 still state the seven-year rule.
Colorado General AssemblySB26-126 — Licensure for Experienced Out-of-State Teachers

Said on guides, paraphrased

Because the destination state joined the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, your move is covered.

Misleading.

The compact governs movement between member states only, so a destination state’s membership is irrelevant if the sending state is not also a member. And membership does not mean the route is open: whether a member state actually operates the compact varies by state. Pennsylvania does, and says so on its own certification pages. Colorado publishes no compact guidance at all, and its 2026 legislation implies CDE was not yet issuing licences under it. Florida does not mention the compact in its certification statute or on its reciprocity page. Check the destination state’s own guidance, not the membership list.
Pennsylvania Department of EducationOut-of-State EducatorsColorado General AssemblySB26-126 — Licensure for Experienced Out-of-State TeachersThe Florida Senates. 1012.56, F.S. — Educator certification requirements (2026 edition)

More from the record

The Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact

What it would do, what it would not, who has enacted it, and which states have actually opened the route.

Moving on military orders

Federal law makes a spouse’s teaching certificate valid in a new state on three documents. What each state education agency’s pages say about it, read in September 2026, and the free help available.

Guides we checked

What the guides that rank for your move say, set beside the agency’s own page and the law — archived, dated, and quoted.

What changed, and when

Every dated change to what an agency requires, and every correction to this site.

State overviews

12 states, each fact cited to the rule or agency page and dated.

The NASDTEC Interstate Agreement

What it is and is not, in NASDTEC’s own words — and the 2025–2030 cycle turnover that makes older guides stale.

Teacher migration corridors

Our own computation: how many credentialed K–12 teachers move between each state pair a year.

How we verify

The archive, the quarterly re-check, and what we do when a rule is genuinely ambiguous.

Help that costs nothing, and the packs

Every corridor record names the agency office that can answer its question, with the number. Military spouses have the federal route and free help from their installation and SECO — set out here.

5 Pathway Packs are written, one route per corridor and licence class. None is on sale: each is held until the question its corridor turns on has been put to the agency and answered. $59 each once on sale. What is in a pack →

Last verified 11 September 2026. Every fact on this site names its source and the date we read it. Where a rule is unclear we say so and point you at the agency. Changes and corrections are logged on What changed.