Georgia Professional Standards Commission Meeting Report - March 2025

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) met virtually March 12 and 13.

Important Update to Teacher Certification

Beginning July 1, 2025, Georgia educators must pass literacy assessments as a prerequisite to adding fields to a certificate. More information on these changes includes:

In-State: Initial Teacher Preparation

•  Candidates beginning a GaPSC-approved initial teacher certification program on or after June 1, 2025, must attempt the appropriate literacy assessment before completing their program and pass it for certification.

Out-of-State: Initial Teacher Preparation

• Candidates starting an out-of-state educator preparation program in an initial teaching field(s) on or after June 1, 2025, completing field and clinical experiences in Georgia, must attempt the appropriate literacy assessment before program completion and pass it for Georgia certification.

Adding a Teaching Field to a Georgia Teaching Certificate

• Georgia educators seeking to add a new teaching field to a five-year Induction or Professional teaching certificate must pass the appropriate content assessment and, effective July 1, 2025, the appropriate literacy assessment.

Reciprocity

• Effective July 1, 2026, all out-of-state educators applying for Georgia teaching certification must pass the Georgia state-approved literacy assessment or a GaPSC-accepted literacy assessment from another state.



Executive Secretary Update

GaPSC Executive Secretary Jody Barrow provided the commission with a legislative update based on 2025 legislative session action. Barrow explained that with the exception of funding for two additional investigators in the Ethics Division to speed up investigations and help prevent case backlog, the FY 2026 budget is a carryover from FY 2025.

Barrow also reported on bills that impact GaPSC, including those addressing literacy. These include SB 93 by Sen. RaShaun Kemp (D-Atlanta) and HB 307 by Rep. Bethany Ballard (R-Warner Robins). He concluded his report by describing GaPSC's ongoing progress in standards and guidance for educator use of artificial intelligence (AI). Barrow encouraged commissioners to attend the Teacher Pipeline Summit April 23 at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville.

Rules

The commission adopted two rules that recently completed the open comment period.

Certification

Rule 505-2-.46, which describes the Military Support Certificate offered by GaPSC, was amended to include a professional certificate option based on the revised Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) approved by Congress.

Educator Preparation

Rule 505-3-.06, which governs the Pedagogy-Only Program, was amended to clarify eligible fields and to exclude middle grades reading.

Ethics

The commission approved all recommendations for cases on the agenda. Steven Walters, a representative from the Attorney General's office, explained that his office, which is currently training new staff, did not have a detailed March report. David Pumphrey with GaPSC told commission members that the Ethics Division is working closely with the Attorney General's office to develop measures to speed up the ethics hearing process.



Educator Preparation & Certification

The Educator Preparation & Certification Committee approved requests for Continuing Approval of Educator Preparation Programs (EPP) from Clayton State University and Savannah State University. The committee also approved requests for Developmental Approval of EPPs at Covenant College and Kennesaw State University. Since both categories were approved outright, the EPP approvals did not require a review by the Evaluation Review Panel (ERP).

Next Meeting The next committee meetings are virtual on April 9. The next commission meeting is virtual on April 10.  The full calendar of 2024-2025 GaPSC meetings can be found HERE.The next committee meetings are virtual on Dec. 11.