No, schools must meet the mandates for special education and ENL. Sometimes schools attempt to excess a person who is mandated in order for a school to be in compliance, but DOE reviews those excesses and often stops them from happening.

There could be an excessing condition at a given 3-K/pre-K site. In such a case, excessing would be done in reverse seniority order. Early childhood-licensed teachers are grouped with common branch teachers, so the least senior teachers with those two licenses would be excessed.

Your citywide seniority is used—the amount of time you have been working for the DOE. That is compared to the citywide seniority of the other teachers in your school who have the same license as you. In an excessing situation, the least senior person is excessed. Learn more about  how to read a seniority list. 

Excessing is based on budget and student enrollment. When the budget or student enrollment drops, that can result in an excessing condition. Principals have a discretion, subject to review and approval, in determining which programs or license areas might get dropped, but in all cases, the least senior person within that area will be excessed first. The DOE reviews and will either approve or rescind a principal's excessing decision. 

Yes, in May 2020, the DOE negotiated new rules for certification, licensing and/or probation for teachers who hold a library license, for teachers of performing arts/drama and for teachers assigned to a special education program who have a non-special education license. For more details about the regulations and provisions for these licensing and certification changes, see the DOE licensing letter which provides more detailed information.

As of April 27, 2022, candidates who apply for state certification will no longer need to complete the edTPA exam. Candidates who already have an application on file with the New York State Education Department but have not yet met that requirement will no longer be required to do so. If passing the edTPA exam is the only unmet requirement remaining to receive certification, the certificate will be issued by the state automatically and will be available in members' TEACH accounts as of April 28, 2022. This new change only applies to the edTPA exam and other exams that may be required for your certification and license area are still necessary to achieve certification.

See the NYSED website for more information as well as their FAQs about this change. 

For more information about certification, visit the NYSED website to search specific requirements for your area of specialization. UFT members with questions regarding this change may call 212-331-6311 and ask to speak with a certification specialist.

No. The NY State Education Department allows candidates who have not been able to complete at least three years of acceptable experience for a professional certificate to renew their initial certificate for an additional five years. As of April 27, 2022, NYSED is removing the requirement that these candidates complete 50 hours of CTLE and/or professional learning to obtain a reissuance of their initial certificate. 

Yes, NYSED created a new Literacy (All Grades) certificate which may be applied for through the individual evaluation pathway as of June 29, 2022. This new Literacy (All Grades) certificate replaced the Literacy (Birth-Grade 6) and Literacy (Grades 5-12) certificates. Teachers who currently hold a Literacy (Birth-Grade 6) or Literacy (Grades 5-12) certificate are not required to obtain the new certificate, since those grade-band certificates will continue to be recognized.

Candidates will continue to be able to apply for the Literacy (Birth-Grade 6) and/or Literacy (Grades 5-12) certificates through the individual evaluation pathway through August 31, 2023 and must meet all requirement(s) for the certificate prior to September 1, 2026. Teacher preparation programs must register their new programs leading to certification in Literacy (All Grades) by September 1, 2026.

Yes, to help alleviate persistent statewide shortage areas in the sciences, which include biology, chemistry, earth science, and physics, NYSED has revised the content core requirement from 30 credits to 18 credits for anyone already holding a science certificate in order to obtain additional science certificates, effective June 29, 2022.

Yes. The New York State Board of Regents voted to eliminate the general core in liberal arts and sciences (LAS) requirement for certification, which included coursework in the following areas: artistic expression, communication, information retrieval, concepts in history and social sciences, humanities, a world language other than English, scientific and mathematical processes, and written analysis and expression.

The general core in liberal arts and sciences will no longer be a certification requirement as of April 27, 2022. For more information, see the NYSED website.