MOUNT VERNON — At its February meeting, the Ohio State Board of Education voted to modify the fee structure for all educator licenses in Ohio, effective today.
For a five-year license, the increase goes from $60 to $200. This is in addition to the new requirements for both a BCI and FBI background check. It will now cost a teacher as much as $252 dollars to renew a teaching certificate, and it could cost over $300 to renew a license with multiple areas such as teacher, principal and superintendent.
According to James Miller, director of the Ohio Department of Education Offices of Educator Licensure and Professional Conduct, Ohio law requires those offices to be self-supporting through licensure fees; they are not supported by taxpayer dollars.
New laws and regulations concerning oversight of educator conduct, as well as new technology used for collecting, storing and processing licensure and professional conduct information, have increased costs.
“Except for a modest $2 increase in fees nearly eight years ago,” Miller wrote in a letter dated Feb. 15, “we have avoided increases in fees for more than 14 years. By comparison, the new schedule still places annual license fees for teachers below annual license fees of other professionals earning comparable salaries, including speech language pathologists, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians and social workers.
“Based on projected costs of operation, the new fee structure is set for most licenses at $40 per year for each year the license is valid. The fee schedule is posted on the ODE Web site.
“The $40 fee also will provide for the cost of an educator’s information being retained in the applicant fingerprint database, known as Rap Back. This service, which is already applicable to school transportation personnel, will be expanded to licensed educators.”
Karen Seward, president of the Mount Vernon Education Association, said her constituents understand the fiscal reason for the increased fees, but do have some concerns.
“Our biggest concern,” she said, “is that we were given only two weeks notice before the new fee schedule went into effect. Also, for a five-year teaching license this is a 333 percent increase in the cost to get a teaching license. We have to add background check costs on top of that.
“Some of our members were taken by surprise with how soon the fee changes were implemented. The usual license renewal date is July 1, and this fee change has made it difficult financially for some people who are in the process of finishing up their certification requirements.”
The educator licensure fees effective today are as follows: One-year educational aide permit, adult education permit, student monitor permit and substitute license, $25; alternative principal license, $40; one-year temporary, out-of-state educator, supplemental, interim license, or conditional permit, $40; three-year pupil activity supervisor permit, $45; alternative educator license, $80; alternative administrative specialist or alternative superintendent license, $80; two-year provisional teaching, pupil services, or administrator license, $80; four-year educational aide or adult education permit, $100; three-year visiting international teacher license, $120; five-year substitute license, $125; five-year associate or professional teaching, pupil services, or administrator license (First five-year professional teaching license when advancing from the two-year provisional to the five-year professional teaching license following successful completion of the Entry Year program), $200; five-year school business manager or school treasurer license, $200; permanent non-tax certificate, $200; addition of teaching area, $20; reprint (duplicate copy of credential), $20; multiple license discount for professional and provisional licenses with the same effective year excluding school treasurer license, $20; nonrefundable processing fee for application requests that do not meet approval requirements, $25; evaluation request for alternative license, $25; evaluation request for supplemental license, $25; Evaluation service for out-of-state application, $50.
