Transferring a Texas teaching licence to Florida
Texas is not a compact member, so the compact route is unavailable whatever Florida’s membership suggests. Florida’s mechanism is statutory, under s. 1012.56, F.S., and a Texas Standard Certificate is a strong document to bring to it — stronger than most sending states’, for a reason worth understanding before you apply.
Which framework applies to you
| Texas | Not a compact member |
| Florida | Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact member (enacted 2023) |
The compact governs movement between member states. Because one end is not a member, the compact route does not exist for you at all — whatever the other state's membership is publicised as doing. Why that matters →
The question that decides this corridor
Is 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.?
That one document satisfies all three of Florida’s mastery requirements at once — no General Knowledge Test, no Mathematics (6-12) subject area test, no Professional Education Test. The argument here is stronger than on most corridors: the Standard Certificate is a Texas teacher’s highest current classroom credential, and FLDOE’s own Route 1 asks for "the valid standard educator’s certificate issued by that state", which is what it is called. But the statute says "professional standard", the word "professional" is not in the Texas certificate’s name, and comparability is FLDOE’s determination rather than ours. The exposure is one $75 nonrefundable fee and a phone call avoids it.
Who to ask: Florida Bureau of Educator Certification, 800-445-6739
ambiguous_confirm_with_state — this is a real gap in the
published record, not a gap in our reading of it. We checked on
9 September 2026. Anyone who gives you a confident answer to this is guessing;
the agency is the only place it can be settled.
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. Florida's education agency does not mention that route on the pages we read. What federal law and Florida publish →
What Florida requires
Each card carries the rule or agency page it comes from and the date we read it. Where a source states something verbatim, we quote it rather than paraphrase.
Documentation of a valid professional standard teaching certificate issued by another state
s. 1012.56(3)(b), (5)(e) and (6)(c), F.S. (2026 edition). The same phrase appears in all three subsections.
The Florida Senate, s. 1012.56, F.S. — Educator certification requirements (2026 edition) — read 9 September 2026This is the single question that decides whether an applicant sits no Florida examinations or three. Confirm with the Bureau of Educator Certification before paying the nonrefundable fee.
The Florida Senate, s. 1012.56, F.S. — Educator certification requirements (2026 edition) — read 9 September 2026A teacher who holds a valid provisional, professional, standard, or enhanced standard classroom teaching certificate ... may qualify for an additional teaching field or certification to teach at another level by passing the appropriate certification examination(s) for that subject.
19 TAC §230.105. This matters most when the receiving state’s rule asks for a "professional standard" certificate, as Florida’s does: a Texas Standard Certificate is its holder’s highest current classroom credential, which is a materially stronger position than a sending state whose full tier sits below a separately-named professional one.
State Board for Educator Certification (via Texas Education Agency), 19 TAC ch. 230 subch. G — Certificate Issuance Procedures (May 2024 Update) — read 9 September 2026the department shall issue within 90 calendar days after receipt of the completed application a professional certificate to a qualifying applicant
s. 1012.56(1)(a), F.S. This is a statutory duty rather than a service target.
The Florida Senate, s. 1012.56, F.S. — Educator certification requirements (2026 edition) — read 9 September 2026Only passing exam scores earned no more than ten (10) years prior to the date of application are acceptable.
A mid-career teacher whose subject-area examination predates that window has no usable scores for the examination route.
Florida Department of Education, Subject Area Examinations — read 9 September 2026If a U.S. citizen chooses to have his/her fingerprints processed prior to Florida employment for issuance of the Professional Certificate, it may be necessary to have the fingerprints reprocessed, and the individual may have to pay a second processing fee as a condition of employment in a Florida public school.Florida Department of Education, Certificate Types and Requirements — read 9 September 2026
Authorised by the State Board of Education under Certification Rule 6A-4.0012, F.A.C. Adding a subject is $75 per subject; removing one is $20 per subject; upgrading Temporary to Professional is $75; late renewal is $105.
Florida Department of Education, Certification Application Fee Schedule — read 9 September 2026The 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) — read 9 September 2026The endorsement, side by side
| Texas | Florida | |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate or endorsement | Mathematics: Grades 7–12 | Mathematics (6-12) |
| Grade band | 7–12 | 6–12 |
| Named examination | TExES Mathematics 7–12 (235) | Florida subject area test: Mathematics (6-12) |
Note the grade-band mismatch. Texas issues 7–12; Florida issues 6–12. 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
Texas has no separate "professional" tier issued above the Standard Certificate today, so a Texas teacher holding a Standard is holding their state’s full classroom credential — not an entry tier with something above it.
State Board for Educator Certification (via Texas Education Agency), 19 TAC ch. 230 subch. G — Certificate Issuance Procedures (May 2024 Update) — read 9 September 2026Florida’s 90-day issuance deadline is a statutory duty under s. 120.60, not a published service target.
The Florida Senate, s. 1012.56, F.S. — Educator certification requirements (2026 edition) — read 9 September 2026A currently valid National Board certificate satisfies the same three requirements independently, which makes the tier question moot.
The Florida Senate, s. 1012.56, F.S. — Educator certification requirements (2026 edition) — read 9 September 2026What it costs to get this corridor wrong
Every figure below is set by a rule or published by the agency, and cited on its row. These are not our estimates, and the largest single nonrefundable amount is $75.
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
The requirements above are the ones that apply whatever you teach. These are the classes whose subject-specific requirements we have researched for Florida.
| Licence class | Corridor | Pack |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary mathematics | Texas → Florida | Pack written · not yet on sale |
| Elementary | Texas → Florida | Facts on this page · pack not written yet |
| Middle grades | Texas → Florida | Facts on this page · pack not written yet |
| Secondary science | Texas → Florida | Facts on this page · pack not written yet |
| Secondary English language arts | Texas → Florida | Facts on this page · pack not written yet |
| Special education | Texas → Florida | Facts on this page · pack not written yet |
A class listed without a pack is not a gap in the research — its facts are on this page and on the state pages. It means we have not yet written the step-by-step pack for it.
Pathway Pack — Texas → Florida · Secondary Mathematics
$59
Every requirement with its citation and as-of date · the application sequence in the order that matters · fees · the timelines the agency itself publishes · the provisional options and their limits · and the questions the published record does not answer, stated plainly with the number to call.
Built 10 September 2026 · 12 months of updates included, through 10 September 2027 · 14-day refund, no questions.
Not available
Not yet on sale. Held from sale until the agency answers the question this corridor turns on. We will not sell a researched question as if it were an answer. The corridor page above is complete and free; the pack adds the full requirement list, the ordered sequence, the fee table and the provisional options.
Where these facts come from
This page cites 10 sources. Every one is named on the card 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.