---
title: SB 484. Certificated Professional Personnel; pathway to certification by the Professional Standards Commission for experienced teachers; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb484
cite_as: SB 484, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb484
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb484.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb484/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73052
date: 2026-02-11
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb484.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 484
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-10
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Ed Setzler
- Kay Kirkpatrick
- Chuck Hufstetler
- Ben Watson
- Mike Hodges
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB484/2025
upstream_id: 2113667
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- teacher certification
- education policy
- teacher shortages
- Professional Standards Commission
- school hiring
---
# SB 484. Certificated Professional Personnel; pathway to certification by the Professional Standards Commission for experienced teachers; provide
## Text
Senate Bill 484
By: Senators Setzler of the 37th, Kirkpatrick of the 32nd, Hufstetler of the 52nd, Watson of
the 1st and Hodges of the 3rd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Subpart 1 of Part 6 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20, relating to certificated
professional personnel, so as to provide a pathway to certification by the Professional
Standards Commission for experienced teachers; to provide requirements for such
certification; to prohibit discriminatory or disparate treatment of teachers and candidates for
such certification; to provide a definition; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting
laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Subpart 1 of Part 6 of Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20, relating to certificated professional
personnel, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"20-2-206.1.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Experience based teacher preparation program' means a program of study approved
by the commission that consists of:
(A) Six semester hours of coursework, which shall include:
(i) A course of three semester hours that includes information on pedagogy, the
science of reading, evaluation, ethics, classroom management, and professional
practice; and
(ii) A course of three semester hours that includes information on child, adolescent,
and young adult development and psychology, and special education; or
(B) Eighty hours of professional development that includes instruction on the
information included in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
(b) Upon an offer of employment by a local school system or public school, the
commission shall issue a professional certificate to a teacher candidate who meets the
following requirements:
(1) Holds a bachelor's degree or higher from a postsecondary educational institution
accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department
of Education or its successor;
(2) Has:
(A) Not less than four years of verifiable teaching experience in kindergarten through
grade five in a public or private school for an elementary school teacher candidate; or
(B) Not less than four years of verifiable teaching experience in grades six through 12
in a public or private school or not less than 72 semester hours, or the equivalent quarter
hours, of verifiable teaching experience at a postsecondary educational institution
accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department
of Education or its successor for a secondary school teacher candidate;
(3) Completes an experience based teacher preparation program;
(4) Attains a passing score on the Georgia educator ethics assessment portion of the
Georgia Assessments for Certification of Educators (GACE); and
(5) Attains a passing score on the content assessment portion of the GACE for the
teaching field for which such candidate seeks certification.
(c) The commission shall not impose requirements in addition to or in lieu of the
requirements provided for in this Code section for a teacher candidate to receive a
professional certificate pursuant to this Code section.
(d) A local school system or public school shall not discriminate or treat differently in any
manner a teacher possessing a professional certificate pursuant to this Code section,
including, but not limited to, refusal to admit such teacher to a job fair or other teacher
recruitment activity."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia Senate bill would create a new certification path letting experienced classroom teachers earn a professional teaching certificate through a shorter training program instead of a traditional education degree.
### Plain-language summary
Currently, teachers in Georgia typically earn certification through college teacher preparation programs. This bill adds a new option to Georgia law (O.C.G.A. Title 20) for people who already have years of teaching experience but lack a formal education credential.
Under the bill, someone with a bachelor's degree and at least four years of verifiable teaching experience (in kindergarten through 5th grade for elementary candidates, or grades 6-12 or relevant college teaching for secondary candidates) could qualify for a professional certificate. They would need to complete a shorter 'experience based teacher preparation program' of either six semester hours of coursework or 80 hours of professional development covering pedagogy, reading instruction, child development, special education, and related topics. They would also need to pass the ethics and content portions of the Georgia Assessments for Certification of Educators (GACE). The Professional Standards Commission could not add extra requirements beyond these, and schools could not treat teachers certified this way differently, including barring them from job fairs or recruitment events.
### What it does
- Creates a new certification pathway allowing teachers with at least four years of verifiable experience and a bachelor's degree to become certified without a traditional teacher preparation degree.
- Defines an 'experience based teacher preparation program' as either six semester hours of specific coursework or 80 hours of professional development on the same topics.
- Requires candidates to pass the ethics assessment and the content assessment portions of the GACE for their teaching field.
- Bars the Professional Standards Commission from adding requirements beyond those listed in the bill for this certification pathway.
- Prohibits local school systems and public schools from discriminating against or treating differently teachers certified through this new pathway, including denying them access to job fairs or recruitment events.
### Who it affects
Experienced teachers who lack a traditional education degree, local school systems and public schools that hire and recruit teachers, the Professional Standards Commission which issues certificates, and postsecondary institutions that may offer the new preparation programs.
### Why it matters
Teachers with years of classroom experience but no formal education degree could become certified faster, potentially easing staffing shortages. Schools would have to treat these certificate holders the same as traditionally certified teachers, which could change hiring and recruitment practices statewide.
### Key provisions
- New Code section 20-2-206.1(a) defines an 'experience based teacher preparation program' as six semester hours of coursework or 80 hours of professional development covering pedagogy, reading science, evaluation, ethics, classroom management, child and adolescent development, and special education.
- Subsection (b) requires a bachelor's degree, at least four years of verifiable teaching experience (specific grade ranges for elementary versus secondary candidates), completion of the preparation program, and passing scores on the GACE ethics and content assessments.
- Subsection (c) prohibits the Professional Standards Commission from imposing additional or substitute requirements for this certification pathway.
- Subsection (d) prohibits local school systems and public schools from discriminating against or treating differently teachers certified under this pathway, including denying access to job fairs or recruitment activities.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-10)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-02-11)
- Sponsors: Ed Setzler, Kay Kirkpatrick, Chuck Hufstetler, Ben Watson, Mike Hodges
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73052
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb484.md?full=1