DoDEA recently announced the Agency has modified its licensure policy by allowing full reciprocity for current DoDEA educators and applicants. During the policy formation process, FEA successfully negotiated with the Agency to ensure that the process of adding certifications will be educator-driven.
On Monday, August 12th, DoDEA management sent an email message to all educators. The message included the following:
“DoDEA will now accept current, valid, unencumbered professional state teaching licenses issued by a State Board of Education of the United States and its U.S. territories, as well as the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in comparable content areas. Licenses that are verified and deemed equivalent to DoDEA’s certification content areas will fulfill the requirements for initial licensing with DoDEA and be granted full reciprocity. Provisional or emergency licenses are not eligible and will not be granted full reciprocity. Eligible military spouses with encumbered license will also be granted a DoDEA license equivalent in the certification areas.
“Educators wishing to add additional certification areas or an Advanced Placement (AP) specialty area to a current DoDEA license must initiate the process by submitting a request to add endorsements. Instructions and the form to add additional certification areas to a current DoDEA license can be found on our website: http://dodea.edu.”
DoDEA’s reciprocity change is a positive shift and a move that may alleviate the educator shortage across the system. Many educators have reported shortages of certificated educators in their schools, and some have pointed to the Agency’s bureaucratic hiring process as an impediment to new educators being placed. Allowing reciprocity for state and U.S. territory teaching licenses may help more educators in getting hired and placed in schools, and may allow some educators to fill vacancies in their schools in which they hold a certification.
However, DoDEA initially attempted to implement this change only for EAS applications, but not for other educators, without proper notification to the Association. After filing an Association Grievance (AG) over the issue, the Association met with management, discussed the issue, and eventually the parties reached an agreement. The Agency agreed to notify all educators of the policy change, and that educators should drive the process in requesting additional certifications be added to their DoDEA license.
This change demonstrates how DoDEA and FEA can work together to craft a policy that works for both management and educators. The change also shows that the Agency recognizes the severity of the certified educator shortage issue and can work with the Association to take steps to address it.
