Substitute Teaching Permit

The easiest and fastest way to do this is to make an appointment with the Orange County Department of Education.*  Call to make an appointment and find out what documents you need to bring with you.

Website: https://ocde.us/Credentials/Pages/SubstituteTeaching.aspx

Phone: 714-966-4306 

Address:  Orange County Department of Education 200 Kalmus Drive Costa Mesa, CA 92626

The following documents are required to obtain an Emergency 30-Day Substitute Teaching Permit:

1. Official Transcripts Showing Your Bachelor's Degree:

The Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) does not accept electronic transcripts sent to the applicant. Transcripts must be from a regionally accredited college or university and must have your degree posted.  The transcripts can be open as long as they are on the original university water-colored paper. This will be returned to you. Diplomas, photocopies of transcripts, electronic transcripts sent to the student, and unofficial transcripts are NOT accepted. Your official transcripts can be sent directly to our office from the institution of higher education.  Please send the transcripts to etranscripts@ocde.us

2. Basic Skills Requirement:

This is​ explained in the Basic Skills Requirement leaflet found on the CTC website. The following  can be used to satisfy this requirement: Bachelor's (or higher) degree from a regionally accreditied college or university, official score report of CBEST, ACT, SAT, or all four of the CSET: Multiple Subject Exams, coursework in Reading, Writing, and Math (CL-130 form) or a 41-bsr letter from your teacher preparation program. 

3. Fingerprinting for the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and/or for employment purposes in any public school district in Orange County. Both forms may be required.

• Request for Live Scan- CTC​​​: These fingerprints are required by CTC in order to grant you the substitute permit.  Bring a copy of the completed OCDE fingerprint form

• Request for Live Scan- Clearing House​ 

A full teaching credential can take the place of an Emergency 30-Day Substitute Teaching Permit. You will only need to be fingerprinted for the OCDE Clearing House Consortium.

*If you hold a CTC Certificate of Clearance, you do not need to be fingerprinted for CTC again.

4. OCDE Recommendation Form  

CTC Recommendation:

To apply for the Emergency 30-Day Substitute Permit, please make an appointment to bring the above listed items to our office and one of our Credential Technicians will recommend you for the permit.  Once recommended you will receive an email from CTC prompting you to complete the application process and pay for the permit on the CTC website with a credit or debit card.  You will leave our office with a receipt showing that you have started the application process.

*You do not need to go through the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) to obtain this substitute teaching permit.  Contact your county office of education or you may apply directly through the CTC using the link above.

**CBEST or equivalent should apply.  For those of you who used the ACT scores in place of the CBEST, ACT no longer sends out official score reports.  A student called the OCDE and they said they will accept the printed page of the scores from the online ACT account.