Maintaining your teaching certification after retirement is a personal decision. However, it’s much easier to maintain a certification—and if you’re already at the professional level, there is no cost—than to reapply for certification once it has lapsed.
If you’re thinking of keeping your certification current, here are some things you should know:
- If you have a professional educator certificate, you must apply online at http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2613&q=321230 or submit a completed paper ED 179 Application for Continuation at http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/Cert/certform/ed_179.pdf before the expiration date.
- You may submit the application up to six months before the expiration date.
- Currently, there is no fee to renew a professional educator certificate.
- You are no longer required to submit the form to a district for signature. However, if you worked for part of the period of the most recent certificate, you may be asked to provide an ED 126 Statement of Professional Experience. That form can be found at http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/Cert/certform/ed_126.pdf.
If you hold any other level certificate and are unsure how to maintain your certificate, you should apply online from your account on the Connecticut Educator Certification System (CECS) or submit an ED 170 General Application and a certified bank check or money order for $50 before the expiration date on the certificate. If you apply online, you may pay with a credit card (Visa or MasterCard only, no debit cards).
Holders of professional educator certificates are no longer required to complete CEUs to maintain their certificates.
CEAAdvisor.org 