• A school may hire a PSERS retiree as a day-to-day substitute if no other appropriate certified teachers or other personnel are available within the required subject or work area. 

• The school employer is expected to make a “good faith” effort to secure non-retired personnel first before hiring a PSERS retiree. 

• Employment may continue throughout the school year so long as the emergency or shortage of personnel exists.

• LEAs must receive pre-approval using the PSERS School Year Approval Process. (June 30, 2023) 

• Visit Working after Retirement on the PSERS website for more information. 

The PA Department of Education (PDE) CAN issue a comparable certificate to a teacher from another state or U.S. territory if the educator: 

• Has a valid and current instructional certificate issued by another state.

• Has completed a college or university educator preparation program approved by the state that issued the certificate. 

• Satisfied the testing requirements of the certifying state, demonstrating subject matter competency in the applicable area of Pennsylvania certification.  

• Passed the related content tests required by the certifying state.

• Has taught with the out-of-state certificate.

• Presents to PDE evidence of satisfactory professional educator experience for the candidate’s two most recent years of classroom teaching .

• Visit Out-of-State Educators on the PDE website for more information. 

• A school can issue a temporary substitute teacher certificate for day-to-day substitute teaching to an individual who presents a letter from a college verifying that they have completed an approved teacher preparation program and has successfully completed the certification testing requirements or scheduled to take the tests and met all requirements for the earning of a bachelor's degree. 

• For the 2022-2023 school year, this locally issued temporary certificate may be used for assignments of more than 20 consecutive days to fill a position due to the absence of professional certified personnel. 

• Until June 20, 2023, a school can request a classroom monitor permit from PDE for qualified individuals to deliver student assignments preplanned by a professional employee or temporary professional. 

• Monitors may not plan or create lessons or grade work. 

• Visit Classroom Monitor on the PDE website for more information.

• The Exceptional Case Permit allows PDE to issue a permit at the request of a public school entity upon receiving evidence of exceptional conditions requiring resolution of the staffing problem. 

• Visit Emergency Permits on the PDE website for more information 

• A school can hire individuals currently enrolled in an educator preparation program to serve as a substitute on locally issued permits if they have completed 60 college credits and satisfied all clearances. 

• Visit Substitute Teaching on the PDE website for more information.