Educator Preparation and Certification
Summary
Educator Preparation and Certification; Authorizing an educator preparation institute to allow certain program participants to enroll in introductory coursework; revising the criteria for the award of a temporary educator certification to include certain persons with expired professional certificates; requiring that subject area coverages and endorsements for a certificateholder be reinstated with the certificateholder's professional certificate; revising requirements for reinstatement of a professional certificate; providing that certain requirements for reinstatement of a professional certificate may not be satisfied using specific inservice points; requiring the Florida Center for Teaching Excellence to collaborate with the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching for specified purposes; requiring, rather than authorizing, the center to submit a specified professional learning system for approval by the department; requiring the center to allow certain certified educators to use such professional learning system for specified purposes at no cost to the educator; requiring the center to submit inservice points for such educators to the department; requiring the center to provide information on certain school district professional learning systems to certain certified educators, etc.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
May 2026
Introduced Dec 1, 2025
Signed May 22, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
H 561 c1
→
H 561 er
·
1 edit
MINOR
The bill has been updated from a Committee Substitute version to its final Enrolled version, indicating it has passed both the House and Senate and is ready for the Governor's signature. The substantive text of the legislation regarding educator preparation and certification remains unchanged, with the only modifications being the addition of the 'ENROLLED' status header and the update of the document identifier to reflect its final legislative status.
TECHNICAL
The document title was changed from 'CS/HB 561' (Committee Substitute) to 'ENROLLED CS/HB 561', and the footer identifier was updated from 'hb561-01-c1' to 'hb561 -01-er' to signify the bill's final passage.
Floor votes · Senate Mar 5, 2026 · House Feb 25, 2026
How they voted
38–0
Passed · 2 other
Total votes 40
Mar 5, 2026
D
Democratic11
90% Yea
I
Independent1
100% Yea
R
Republican28
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
41
Key actions
15
Committee
17
May 22, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor
legislature
Mar 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
CS passed; YEAS 37 NAYS 0
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
Referred to Rules
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Lower · Passed
CS passed; YEAS 112, NAYS 0
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Committee
Bill referred to House Calendar
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported out of Education & Employment Committee
lower
Feb 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Favorable with CS by Education & Employment Committee
lower
Feb 6, 2026
Lower · Passed
PCS added to Education & Employment Committee agenda
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Now in Education & Employment Committee
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported out of PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee
lower
Feb 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Favorable by PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
Added to PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee agenda
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Now in PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported out of Careers & Workforce Subcommittee
lower
Jan 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Favorable by Careers & Workforce Subcommittee
lower
Jan 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Added to Careers & Workforce Subcommittee agenda
lower
Dec 12, 2025
Lower · Passed
Now in Careers & Workforce Subcommittee
lower
Dec 12, 2025
Committee
Referred to Education & Employment Committee
lower
Dec 12, 2025
Committee
Referred to PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee
lower
Dec 12, 2025
Committee
Referred to Careers & Workforce Subcommittee
lower
1 primary · 5 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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