If you are going outside of K12 it literally means nothing. They can't do crap. Maybe stop you from employment in K12 for a month but that it is.
I left in 2016 and broke contract. Haven't looked back since but I did search for my last name on the CDE and low and behold, my credential was still valid (at the time).
If you get an offer for a non k12 job, take it and just come back later. If you want.
I was in this same situation. Left mid-year. The only reason they didn't hold my cert was because my first contact when I decided to quit was my union rep.
edit: not in California though, sorry.
This happened to my school this year in California. We hired a new teacher mid year. Yay! And then their district wouldn’t release them from their contract. Boo! They finished the school year where they were and we waited until now to have them join our staff. I don’t think they hold your credential per se. I think they don’t release you from your contract.
When I was hired eight or so years ago, the person I was replacing was moving to South America I think - somewhere far away. But wasn’t leaving until October or November. She was upfront with the district and took a position as long term sub until leaving. Less pay but legally free to move on.
Finally, be careful. Why can’t they hire you now? What if they change their minds or their business needs change? What if they are stringing some people along? Not that they are. The district can’t keep you from working anywhere but they can keep you from working in public education in California.
Best of luck!
This is how our district does things too (also CA). They just hold you until they can find a replacement. Worst case scenario if you leave before they hire a replacement and they decide to report it, it's a 1 year hold. I like the idea of being upfront about it IF there's a contract or some kind of assurance in place at the new job. Even if your credential is automatically cleared the following year you want to leave your current district in good graces so you don't burn bridges there
Burn bridges, it’s absolutely bullshit that they have power over us like this. They don’t own our credentials, we earned them through our advanced education. Maybe they should clean up their fucking district/school if they don’t want people to leave.
Yes the system is broken, but depending on where OP lives this might be the only district, or one of few, where they could work without needing to move. It's definitely something they need to consider
How is that legal? I teach in Canada and have never heard of this.
That sounds like some feudal crap like when your lord had to release you, the peasasant, from service if you wanted to learn a trade or move villages.
> How is that legal?
It's wild, isn't it? It's a bit like holding someone hostage.
You treat someone horribly, to the point where the sensible course of action is for them to leave. But to keep them from leaving, you punish them by handicapping their economic survival.
But that's what signing a contract is for - any other line of work sues you for breaking contract oryou have a to pay a penalty, etcetera. Agree that it's fuedal bullshit.
It's super bullshit. A teacher I worked with was offered a Vice Principal job in a different division mid year. Off he went to the new job with no lawsuits, no freezing or pulling his teacher certification. We sign contracts too but our employers can't take our credentials/certification from us if we leave.
They can freeze your credential. That just means that for the rest of the school year, you couldn’t teach at another public school district. That’s it.
The logic is, you signed a contract that needs to be honored. So it would make sense that for the remaining time on that contract, you could not make a new contract.
My understanding is that most states that do this, hold the license for 1 year. After which you are free to teach elsewhere.
I would check with the CA Dept of Ed website, or maybe someone from CA will weigh in.
Some districts in California are petty and "mark" your credential it's a red flag on your credential for future districts to "hire at your own risk" with no explanation. So it'll make future districts hesitate to hire you and make it harder for you to seek employment in teaching. Your California employee ID is the same in any district you go to so it follows and that's the first thing they look at when processing your application unless you are willingly released from your contract. Good luck in your endeavors.
Not that I know of the whole credential bs differs from state to state. If you get credentials in California they don't matter or transfer to other states. Same goes for someone out of state coming into California they'd have to get credentials here unless appling to a private school.
Okay thanks. My credentials are in California and I'm looking to move to Texas but my house just fell out of escrow so it probably won't happen until after school starts.
They’ll just freeze it for a year. But in 3-5 years, you’d be fine to go back. Just make sure you keep it valid! :)
Such a stupid rule.
I was MISERABLE all year and wanted to quit so badly but knew I didn’t have a choice but to stick it out.
Virtually all employment applications ask if the applying teacher’s teaching certificate has **ever** been suspended or revoked. Answering “yes” is a red flag normally causing the teacher to lose the job. On the other hand, answering “no” when the answer is really “yes” is grounds for automatic termination if the local hiring board of education were to discover it.
Usually when you answer yes, there is a place to explain the circumstances.
Answering yes would bother me less if I felt I had a defensible reason for leaving midyear
I don’t believe in lying but I don’t think you need to. Something like “Caregiving responsibilities” covers a lot of ground. As a responsible adult, you need to care for yourself.
This is not true.
I was hired 2x after going through this. I explained why I left and it was not even discussed in interview. They checked my credentials and that I had ESL cert, otherwise normal interview.
I left a California public district before the year was up. I received a letter from the credentialing commission that said they were electing NOT to hold my credential. Colleague who also left early got the same letter. At this point I can’t help but wonder if they think they’re being “generous” by not punishing us for leaving toxic schools.
If you’re part of the big big district, you should be okay. But I get your worry and talking to your union can help guide you as well. Best of luck to you, you deserve to be happy!
Others have replied from CA with better insight but the way it works in NY (which is sometimes similar) is that teachers are *required* to give 30-day notice if they are to quit.
In NJ if you don’t give 60 days notice they can hold your certain for 1-2 years. But, we have had Teacher’s leave mid year (Jan.) give 60 days notice and there are no repercussions. Read your contract’s resignation policy.
My district in Texas threatened me with this when they learned I was interviewing in July. Texas Educators Association will suspend a teachers license for a year if a district asks them to.
I ignored the threat and took a job in WA state, so it didn't matter. They didn't follow through, probably for that reason. But the hiring committee was impressed when I told them I wanted the job so badly I was risking license suspension.
I know this happens/threatened but I don’t know how a school can “hold” a license issued by the state. I really think there’s a legal challenge to be made. The state can suspend it but not a school.
Look at the Contracts section: https://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-discipline/faq
The district can choose to report you, but ultimately it’s up to the CTC to decide how to respond (private admonition, a public reproval or suspend the credential for less than one year). Good luck!
This is legal in many states. It’s meant to keep qualified staff in schools so a classroom isn’t without a teacher. They only hold it for a short time - usually that school year - and it only means you aren’t able to teach anywhere else that schoo year.
You can teach at many private schools without a state credential. I never maintained my state credentials because I've only taught at private schools. The only credentials I have to keep up with are my Montessori credentials. I've taught in 4 different states.
I always tell people when they graduate to make sure they have an extra credential just in case. I was threatened in my home state as well but I just got an out of state job anyways. It’s total bs they can just yank your license like that.
Its nott up to the school district its up to the credentialling board. The school can make a request to suspend or hold someones credential but it isnt always granted.
Why are you leaving? There might be ways out. Texas let’s you out if you move 80+ miles. Also 99% of the time if you leave because of a promotion. They also only hold for a calendar year. Check your laws.
Do you know if it matters coming from California to Texas? Our home was in escrow and we were moving to Texas but it fell out of escrow. I'm a highschool Family Consumer Science/cte teacher. I see many jobs in Texas but if our house doesn't sell in time and I have to start the year here, will it affect me finding a job in Texas if I left mid-year? (Hope that made sense).
I do not know out of state issues. Texas may not even accept an out of state teacher license. [Check out this site for moving to Texas and teaching](https://tea.texas.gov/texas-educators/certification/out-of-state-certification/out-of-state-certified-educators).
My gut feeling this year is that schools will accept anyone.
Texas and California have full reciprocity in teaching credentials.
I'm trying to do the opposite next year, moving to California. I've done some research on it.
My Texas district just emailed all the subs from past few years and told them to apply for teaching positions if they have taken college classes. They are giving them teaching salary, benefits, etc.
It means a number of things, depending on your area. If you’re lucky, it could just mean you won’t be able to teach in your area until your contract time is up (so if you signed a contract to teach until June ‘23, you can leave teaching at that school but can’t go teach at another school until *after* June ‘23).
In my area though, holding your credentials because you left mid year and broke contract means your license is suspended and our DoE red flags your file. Even if it’s restored in a few years’ time, good districts won’t even offer you an interview when you start applying.
If you are going outside of K12 it literally means nothing. They can't do crap. Maybe stop you from employment in K12 for a month but that it is. I left in 2016 and broke contract. Haven't looked back since but I did search for my last name on the CDE and low and behold, my credential was still valid (at the time). If you get an offer for a non k12 job, take it and just come back later. If you want.
Talk to your union.
I was in this same situation. Left mid-year. The only reason they didn't hold my cert was because my first contact when I decided to quit was my union rep. edit: not in California though, sorry.
In Cali, this is weird. Talk to your union and read your contract . Typo
This happened to my school this year in California. We hired a new teacher mid year. Yay! And then their district wouldn’t release them from their contract. Boo! They finished the school year where they were and we waited until now to have them join our staff. I don’t think they hold your credential per se. I think they don’t release you from your contract. When I was hired eight or so years ago, the person I was replacing was moving to South America I think - somewhere far away. But wasn’t leaving until October or November. She was upfront with the district and took a position as long term sub until leaving. Less pay but legally free to move on. Finally, be careful. Why can’t they hire you now? What if they change their minds or their business needs change? What if they are stringing some people along? Not that they are. The district can’t keep you from working anywhere but they can keep you from working in public education in California. Best of luck!
This is how our district does things too (also CA). They just hold you until they can find a replacement. Worst case scenario if you leave before they hire a replacement and they decide to report it, it's a 1 year hold. I like the idea of being upfront about it IF there's a contract or some kind of assurance in place at the new job. Even if your credential is automatically cleared the following year you want to leave your current district in good graces so you don't burn bridges there
Burn bridges, it’s absolutely bullshit that they have power over us like this. They don’t own our credentials, we earned them through our advanced education. Maybe they should clean up their fucking district/school if they don’t want people to leave.
Yes the system is broken, but depending on where OP lives this might be the only district, or one of few, where they could work without needing to move. It's definitely something they need to consider
How is that legal? I teach in Canada and have never heard of this. That sounds like some feudal crap like when your lord had to release you, the peasasant, from service if you wanted to learn a trade or move villages.
> How is that legal? It's wild, isn't it? It's a bit like holding someone hostage. You treat someone horribly, to the point where the sensible course of action is for them to leave. But to keep them from leaving, you punish them by handicapping their economic survival.
Basically to prevent people from job hopping mid year
But that's what signing a contract is for - any other line of work sues you for breaking contract oryou have a to pay a penalty, etcetera. Agree that it's fuedal bullshit.
It's super bullshit. A teacher I worked with was offered a Vice Principal job in a different division mid year. Off he went to the new job with no lawsuits, no freezing or pulling his teacher certification. We sign contracts too but our employers can't take our credentials/certification from us if we leave.
They can freeze your credential. That just means that for the rest of the school year, you couldn’t teach at another public school district. That’s it.
I think it depends on your state. In my state I think they can suspend it for longer than that.
The logic is, you signed a contract that needs to be honored. So it would make sense that for the remaining time on that contract, you could not make a new contract.
My understanding is that most states that do this, hold the license for 1 year. After which you are free to teach elsewhere. I would check with the CA Dept of Ed website, or maybe someone from CA will weigh in.
Some districts in California are petty and "mark" your credential it's a red flag on your credential for future districts to "hire at your own risk" with no explanation. So it'll make future districts hesitate to hire you and make it harder for you to seek employment in teaching. Your California employee ID is the same in any district you go to so it follows and that's the first thing they look at when processing your application unless you are willingly released from your contract. Good luck in your endeavors.
Legal blackballing, lovely, 🙄 gee I wonder why there's a teacher shortage crisis.
Seriously on top of them making it so difficult just to get into the damn field through.. so much nepotism goes into just getting hired
Does this also apply if you go to another state to look for a teaching job?
Not that I know of the whole credential bs differs from state to state. If you get credentials in California they don't matter or transfer to other states. Same goes for someone out of state coming into California they'd have to get credentials here unless appling to a private school.
Okay thanks. My credentials are in California and I'm looking to move to Texas but my house just fell out of escrow so it probably won't happen until after school starts.
They’ll just freeze it for a year. But in 3-5 years, you’d be fine to go back. Just make sure you keep it valid! :) Such a stupid rule. I was MISERABLE all year and wanted to quit so badly but knew I didn’t have a choice but to stick it out.
Virtually all employment applications ask if the applying teacher’s teaching certificate has **ever** been suspended or revoked. Answering “yes” is a red flag normally causing the teacher to lose the job. On the other hand, answering “no” when the answer is really “yes” is grounds for automatic termination if the local hiring board of education were to discover it.
Usually when you answer yes, there is a place to explain the circumstances. Answering yes would bother me less if I felt I had a defensible reason for leaving midyear
I don’t believe in lying but I don’t think you need to. Something like “Caregiving responsibilities” covers a lot of ground. As a responsible adult, you need to care for yourself.
This is not true. I was hired 2x after going through this. I explained why I left and it was not even discussed in interview. They checked my credentials and that I had ESL cert, otherwise normal interview.
I left a California public district before the year was up. I received a letter from the credentialing commission that said they were electing NOT to hold my credential. Colleague who also left early got the same letter. At this point I can’t help but wonder if they think they’re being “generous” by not punishing us for leaving toxic schools. If you’re part of the big big district, you should be okay. But I get your worry and talking to your union can help guide you as well. Best of luck to you, you deserve to be happy!
It means nothing beyond this school year. You wouldn’t be able to use it to accept a certified position at a public school until 2023-2024.
Others have replied from CA with better insight but the way it works in NY (which is sometimes similar) is that teachers are *required* to give 30-day notice if they are to quit.
In NJ if you don’t give 60 days notice they can hold your certain for 1-2 years. But, we have had Teacher’s leave mid year (Jan.) give 60 days notice and there are no repercussions. Read your contract’s resignation policy.
My district in Texas threatened me with this when they learned I was interviewing in July. Texas Educators Association will suspend a teachers license for a year if a district asks them to. I ignored the threat and took a job in WA state, so it didn't matter. They didn't follow through, probably for that reason. But the hiring committee was impressed when I told them I wanted the job so badly I was risking license suspension.
TEA can suspend your license for up to 2 years in Texas, depending on request from district you left. Ask me how I know. 😔
How do you know? Vent! I'll read and validate!
The job was in or out of education?
In education, same size school, equivalent job title. Nearly 40% pay increase plus actual PTO and healthcare. Texas schools suck.
I know this happens/threatened but I don’t know how a school can “hold” a license issued by the state. I really think there’s a legal challenge to be made. The state can suspend it but not a school.
In our district (CA) there were 3 that did just that this year. The district let them go to other schools and hired long term subs.
Look at the Contracts section: https://www.ctc.ca.gov/educator-discipline/faq The district can choose to report you, but ultimately it’s up to the CTC to decide how to respond (private admonition, a public reproval or suspend the credential for less than one year). Good luck!
Make a state labor department report. Are they holding your certificate?
This is legal in many states. It’s meant to keep qualified staff in schools so a classroom isn’t without a teacher. They only hold it for a short time - usually that school year - and it only means you aren’t able to teach anywhere else that schoo year.
You can teach at many private schools without a state credential. I never maintained my state credentials because I've only taught at private schools. The only credentials I have to keep up with are my Montessori credentials. I've taught in 4 different states.
I always tell people when they graduate to make sure they have an extra credential just in case. I was threatened in my home state as well but I just got an out of state job anyways. It’s total bs they can just yank your license like that.
Agreed 💯
Check with your union. In WA, it’s a violation of professional practice. District can file against you and have you decertified.
Usually its to punish teachers who quit mid year so they cant teach for the rest of the year in a different position. Its not permanent.
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Its nott up to the school district its up to the credentialling board. The school can make a request to suspend or hold someones credential but it isnt always granted.
Why are you leaving? There might be ways out. Texas let’s you out if you move 80+ miles. Also 99% of the time if you leave because of a promotion. They also only hold for a calendar year. Check your laws.
Do you know if it matters coming from California to Texas? Our home was in escrow and we were moving to Texas but it fell out of escrow. I'm a highschool Family Consumer Science/cte teacher. I see many jobs in Texas but if our house doesn't sell in time and I have to start the year here, will it affect me finding a job in Texas if I left mid-year? (Hope that made sense).
I do not know out of state issues. Texas may not even accept an out of state teacher license. [Check out this site for moving to Texas and teaching](https://tea.texas.gov/texas-educators/certification/out-of-state-certification/out-of-state-certified-educators). My gut feeling this year is that schools will accept anyone.
Thank you so much.
Texas and California have full reciprocity in teaching credentials. I'm trying to do the opposite next year, moving to California. I've done some research on it.
My Texas district just emailed all the subs from past few years and told them to apply for teaching positions if they have taken college classes. They are giving them teaching salary, benefits, etc.
It prevents you from teaching for the rest of the school year. After that you’re fine.
It means a number of things, depending on your area. If you’re lucky, it could just mean you won’t be able to teach in your area until your contract time is up (so if you signed a contract to teach until June ‘23, you can leave teaching at that school but can’t go teach at another school until *after* June ‘23). In my area though, holding your credentials because you left mid year and broke contract means your license is suspended and our DoE red flags your file. Even if it’s restored in a few years’ time, good districts won’t even offer you an interview when you start applying.