Transferring a California teaching licence to Texas
Open question · confirm with the agencyread 9 Sep 2026
Does TEA accept a California Preliminary Single Subject Teaching Credential as a “standard certificate” under 19 TAC §230.111?
Who can answer: TEA Educator Certification, 512-936-8400 option 2, Monday–Friday 08:00–12:00 Central
The Review of Credentials fee is $160 and expressly nonrefundable. A Preliminary credential is a full state-issued credential, not a permit — but it has induction outstanding, which §230.111(c) could read as a certificate “for which academic or other program deficiencies are indicated”.
The published rules do not settle this. We have not yet put the question to the agency; when it answers, the answer and its date go here.
Every entry is cited and dated. Where it is not settled:To confirm with the agencyNot published by the agencyNot in our record yetChanged on a date
Which framework applies to you
- California
- Not a compact member
- Texas
- Not a compact member
Route
Which regime applies
Which compact members actually operate the route →
Moving on military orders? Federal law gives a military spouse a separate route: a covered teaching certificate is valid in the new state on three documents. Texas’s education agency does not mention that route on the pages we read. What federal law and Texas publish →
What Texas requires
Route
Reciprocity
Texas does not have reciprocity with any other state, meaning it does not automatically recognize or accept out-of-state teaching certificates to move into immediate issuance of a standard certificate in Texas.Texas Education AgencyOut-of-State Certified Educators
ChangeChanged 2 Aug 2026
Rule change effective 2 August 2026
House Bill 1178, enacted by the 89th Texas Legislature, requires that any out-of-state certificate submitted for a Review of Credentials must be both valid and active at the time the complete application is received.
19 TAC §§230.111 and 230.113 amended to be effective 2 August 2026, 51 TexReg 4864, under TEC §21.0521 as added by HB 1178, 89th Leg. R.S. 2025.
Texas Education AgencyOut-of-State Certified EducatorsWho qualifies
Credentials Texas will not accept
The certificate or other credential issued by the authorized licensing agency in another state or territory of the United States may not be an expired certificate, a temporary permit, a credential issued by a city or school district, or a certificate for which academic or other program deficiencies are indicated.
19 TAC §230.111(c). A 'standard certificate' is defined at 19 TAC §230.1(22) as one issued to a person who has met all requirements for a class of certification.
State Board for Educator Certification (via Texas Education Agency)19 TAC ch. 230 subch. H — Texas Educator Certificates Based on Certification and College Credentials from Other States (July 2026 Update)How it goes wrong
If you do not pass the examinations inside the one-year certificate
An applicant issued a one-year certificate under this section who does not complete the appropriate examination requirements to establish eligibility for a standard certificate during the validity of the one-year certificate, is not eligible for any type of certificate or permit authorizing employment for the same certificate until he or she has satisfied the appropriate examination requirements.
19 TAC §230.113(d).
State Board for Educator Certification (via Texas Education Agency)19 TAC ch. 230 subch. H — Texas Educator Certificates Based on Certification and College Credentials from Other States (July 2026 Update)Exemption
Test exemption, Option 1 — test-based plus experience
Fee
Review of a credential issued outside Texas
19 TAC §230.101(a)(6)(B). Section last amended effective 19 May 2024, 49 TexReg 3551.
State Board for Educator Certification (via Texas Education Agency)19 TAC ch. 230 subch. G — Certificate Issuance Procedures (May 2024 Update)How long
Published queue depth
TEA republishes these two figures continuously. Treat as a snapshot.
Texas Education AgencyOut-of-State CertificationsYour California credential
What California calls the certificate you hold, and where it sits in California’s own tiers — the thing Texas will compare.
Credential tier
Preliminary Single Subject Teaching Credential
The preliminary credential is issued for a maximum of five years.
Leaflet CL-560C carries a printed revision date of May 2021.
California Commission on Teacher CredentialingSingle Subject Teaching Credential Requirements for Teachers Prepared in California (CL-560C)Credential tier
Moving from Preliminary to Clear
Credential tierTo confirm with the agency
California defines its elementary credential by setting, not by grade band
The Multiple Subject Teaching Credential authorizes the holder to teach all subjects in a self-contained classroom, such as the classrooms in most elementary schools, in grades preschool, K-12, or in classes organized primarily for adults.
What is unresolved: every receiving state we have researched asks whether the incoming certificate is “comparable” in subject and grade level. Texas’s Core Subjects is EC-6, Colorado’s Elementary Education is K-6, Florida’s is K-6. California’s is none of those — it is a setting authorisation. How a receiving state maps it is that state’s determination and no published text we have found resolves it.
California Commission on Teacher CredentialingMultiple Subject Teaching Credential (CL-561C)The endorsement, side by side
| California | Texas | |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate or endorsement | Single Subject Teaching Credential: Mathematics | Mathematics: Grades 7–12 |
| Grade band | single subject | 7–12 |
| Named examination | Not in our record yet | TExES Mathematics 7–12 (235) |
Note the grade-band mismatch. California issues single subject; Texas issues 7–12. Whether that matters depends on whether the destination applies an identity test or a comparability test — and those are different tests with different outcomes.
What works in your favour
The Science of Teaching Reading exam does not apply to secondary mathematics. If a source tells you otherwise, it is describing a different certificate.
Texas Education AgencyOut-of-State Certified EducatorsCalifornia requires subject-matter competence before the credential issues, so most Californian applicants have the examination evidence a Texas test exemption needs.
California Commission on Teacher CredentialingSingle Subject Teaching Credential Requirements for Teachers Prepared in California (CL-560C)What it costs to get this corridor wrong
Money, time and outcomes, each set by a rule or published by the agency and cited on its entry. None is our estimate.
Money
Review of Credentials fee
Time
6 to 8 weeks, twice
A school year
One year unable to teach the subject
Nothing here is a prediction about your file. It is what the published rules say happens, and what the agency charges, if a step is taken in the wrong order or on the wrong document.
Licence classes on this corridor
This corridor covers 7 licence classes: Secondary mathematics, Elementary, Middle grades, Secondary science, Secondary English language arts, Special education, Career and technical education. The requirements above apply to all of them. A pack is written for Secondary mathematics only, and it is not yet on sale. Subject-specific facts are on the Texas page where we have them.
Written · not yet on sale
Pathway Pack: California → Texas · Secondary Mathematics
Free, first: TEA Educator Certification, 512-936-8400 option 2, Monday–Friday 08:00–12:00 Central can answer the open question above. Military spouses: the federal route and free help.
The route for this move in the order that matters, every requirement cited and dated, the fees and the timelines the agency publishes, and the questions the published record leaves open, with the number to call.
Held from sale until the question this corridor turns on has been put to the agency and its answer is on the record. We will not sell a researched question as if it were an answer.
$59 once on sale.
Where these facts come from
This page cites 8 sources. Every one is named on the entry that uses it, with the date we read it. The full register, including what we archived and what we could not retrieve, is at every source we cite.
Everything we have verified about Texas → · About California →
Cite this page: Teacher Cert Pathfinder, “California to Texas,” record as of 9 September 2026. Changes and corrections are logged on What changed.