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HB-5957, As Passed House, June 18, 2026
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SUBSTITUTE FOR
HOUSE BILL NO. 5957
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
by amending section 1531 (MCL 380.1531), as amended by 2023 PA 110.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1531. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the 1
superintendent of public instruction shall determine the 2
requirements for and issue all licenses, certificates, and 3
endorsements for teachers, including preprimary teachers and 4
teachers as counselors, in the public schools of this state. 5
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the 6
superintendent of public instruction shall only issue a teaching 7
certificate or additional endorsement to an individual who has 8
passed appropriate available examinations. 9
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The superintendent of public instruction may accept passage of 1
an equivalent examination approved by the superintendent of public 2
instruction to meet this requirement for an individual holding a 3
teaching certificate from another state, country, or federally 4
recognized Indian tribe. 5
(3) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the 6
superintendent of public instruction shall only issue a teaching 7
certificate to an individual who has met the elementary or 8
secondary, as applicable, reading credit requirements established 9
under superintendent of public instruction rule. If an individual 10
holds a teaching certificate, notwithstanding any rule to the 11
contrary, the superintendent of public instruction shall not 12
advance the individual's certification to professional 13
certification unless the individual has successfully completed at 14
least a 3-credit course of study with appropriate field experiences 15
in the diagnosis and remediation of reading disabilities and 16
differentiated instruction. To meet this requirement, the course of 17
study should include the following elements, as determined by the 18
department to be appropriate for the individual's certification 19
level and endorsements: interest inventories, English language 20
learning screening, visual and auditory discrimination tools, 21
language expression and processing screening, phonemics, phonics, 22
vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, spelling and writing assessment 23
tools, and instructional strategies. An individual may complete the 24
course of study as part of his or her the individual's teacher 25
preparation program. 26
(4) Any revisions to existing reading standards must include 27
the recognition of reading disorders and enable teachers to make 28
referrals for instruction and support for pupils with reading 29
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disorders. 1
(5) Subject to subsection (8), if an individual holding a 2
teaching certificate from another state, country, or federally 3
recognized Indian tribe applies to the superintendent of public 4
instruction for a Michigan teaching certificate and meets the 5
requirements of this subsection, the superintendent of public 6
instruction shall issue to the individual a Michigan teaching 7
certificate and endorsements comparable to those the individual 8
holds in the other state or country or with the federally 9
recognized Indian tribe without requiring the individual to pass 10
the appropriate examinations otherwise required under subsection 11
(2) or to complete the reading credit requirement established under 12
superintendent of public instruction rule as described in 13
subsection (3). To be eligible to receive a Michigan teaching 14
certificate under this subsection, an individual shall provide 15
evidence satisfactory to the department that he or she the 16
individual has taught successfully for at least 3 years in a 17
position for which the individual's teaching certification from the 18
other state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe was 19
valid. 20
(6) Subject to subsection (8), an individual holding a 21
teaching certificate from another state, country, or federally 22
recognized Indian tribe is eligible for a Michigan professional 23
education certificate if the individual meets both of the 24
following: 25
(a) The individual has taught successfully for at least 3 26
years in a position for which the individual's teaching 27
certification from the other state, country, or federally 28
recognized Indian tribe was valid. 29
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(b) The individual meets the elementary or secondary, as 1
applicable, reading credit requirement established under 2
superintendent of public instruction rule as described in 3
subsection (3). 4
(7) Subject to subsection (8), if an individual holding a 5
teaching certificate from another state, country, or federally 6
recognized Indian tribe applies to the superintendent of public 7
instruction for an additional endorsement on a valid Michigan 8
teaching certificate and meets the requirements of this subsection, 9
the superintendent of public instruction shall issue the individual 10
an endorsement comparable to that which the individual holds in the 11
other state or country or with the federally recognized Indian 12
tribe without requiring that the individual pass the appropriate 13
available examinations otherwise required under subsection (2). To 14
be eligible to receive an additional endorsement under this 15
subsection, an individual shall provide evidence satisfactory to 16
the department that he or she the individual has taught 17
successfully for at least 3 years in a position for which the 18
individual's teaching endorsement from the other state, country, or 19
federally recognized Indian tribe is valid. 20
(8) The superintendent of public instruction shall deny a 21
Michigan teaching certificate or endorsement to an individual 22
described in subsection (5), (6), or (7) for fraud, material 23
misrepresentation, or concealment in the individual's application 24
for a certificate or for a conviction for which an individual's 25
teaching certificate may be suspended or revoked under section 26
1535a. 27
(9) For the purposes of this section, the superintendent of 28
public instruction, based upon criteria recommended by a committee 29
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of teachers, representatives of approved teacher education 1
institutions, Michigan education organizations and associations, 2
and experts in measurement and assessment, shall develop, select, 3
or develop and select 1 or more subject area examinations. In 4
addition, the superintendent of public instruction, based upon 5
criteria recommended by the committee described in this subsection, 6
shall approve a reading subtest to be taken and passed by 7
individuals seeking pre-K to grade 3 or grade 3 to grade 6-level 8
endorsement. If the department develops for use under this 9
subsection an examination that had previously been contracted for 10
using a competitive bid process, then the department shall not 11
expend on the development of that examination an amount that 12
exceeds the amount that the department expended on procurement of 13
the most recent competitively-bid version of that examination. The 14
competitive bid process must address validity, reliability, and 15
other technical standards of the examinations and of the 16
appropriate administration and use of those examinations. 17
(10) Not later than November 30 of each year, the 18
superintendent of public instruction shall submit in writing a 19
report on the development or selection and use of the subject area 20
examinations to the house and senate education committees. The 21
report must also contain a financial statement regarding revenue 22
received from the assessment of fees levied under subsection (12) 23
and the amount of and any purposes for which that revenue was 24
expended. 25
(11) The examinations required by this section may be taken at 26
different times during an approved teacher preparation program, but 27
the examinations, as applicable, must be passed before an 28
individual is recommended for certification. 29
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(12) The department, or if approved by the superintendent of 1
public instruction, a private testing service, may assess fees for 2
taking the appropriate available examinations described in 3
subsection (2). The fees, which must be set by the superintendent 4
of public instruction, must not exceed the actual cost of the 5
examination and of administering the examination. Fees received by 6
the department must be expended solely for administrative expenses 7
that it incurs in implementing this section. If the superintendent 8
of public instruction increases a fee charged for an examination 9
under this subsection, at least 1 year before implementing the fee 10
increase, the department shall notify each approved teacher 11
education institution of the amount of the fee increase. An 12
approved teacher education institution shall notify each of its 13
affected students of the timing and amount of such a fee increase. 14
(13) If an individual holding a teaching certificate from 15
another state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe 16
applies for a Michigan teaching certificate and meets all 17
requirements for the Michigan teaching certificate except passage 18
of the appropriate available examinations under subsection (2) or 19
the reading credit requirement under subsection (3), the 20
superintendent of public instruction shall issue a nonrenewable 21
temporary teaching certificate, good for 1 year, 3 years, to the 22
individual. The superintendent of public instruction shall not 23
issue a Michigan teaching certificate to the individual after 24
expiration of the temporary teaching certificate unless the 25
individual has met the requirements of this section. 26
(14) As used in this section: 27
(a) "Additional endorsement" means an endorsement added to a 28
Michigan teaching certificate after initial issuance of the 29
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certificate. 1
(b) "An individual holding a teaching certificate from another 2
state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe" means an 3
individual with a valid teaching certificate or an individual who 4
is eligible for a teaching certificate in the state or country or 5
with the federally recognized Indian tribe in which or with which 6
the individual is certificated or eligible for certification. 7
(c) "Subject area examination" means an examination related to 8
an endorsement area for the purpose of demonstrating the 9
applicant's knowledge and understanding of the subject matter and 10
determining whether or not an applicant is eligible for a Michigan 11
teaching certificate or endorsement. 12
(15) The superintendent of public instruction shall promulgate 13
rules for the implementation of this section. 14
(16) Not later than January 1, 2019, the The superintendent of 15
public instruction, in consultation with the department of labor 16
and economic opportunity and groups or individuals representing 17
employers, economic development agencies, trade unions, secondary 18
school principals, middle and elementary school principals, 19
teachers, school district and intermediate school district 20
superintendents, and others as determined appropriate by the 21
department, shall promulgate rules to allow an individual to use 22
time spent engaging with local employers or technical centers 23
toward the renewal of a teaching certificate in the same manner as 24
state continuing education or professional development. 25
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect 26
unless House Bill No. 5697 of the 103rd Legislature is enacted into 27
law. 28