Esta ley enmienda la Ley Núm. 94 de 21 de junio de 1955, conocida como la "Ley de Certificación de Maestros", para extender la vigencia de los certificados provisionales de maestros de uno a tres años. El propósito es reducir la carga administrativa para las escuelas privadas y el Departamento de Educación, agilizando el proceso de certificación de personal docente que ya ha sido evaluado.
(Approved December 28, 2003)
To amend el Section 11 of Act No. 94 of June 21, 1955, as amended, known as the "Certification of Teachers Act," to increase the effectiveness of provisional teacher's certificates from one (1) to three (3) years.
The Secretary of Education is empowered by law to issue temporary and transitory certificates to any person who teaches for a period not to exceed one (1) year if the same does not meet the qualifications as to experience, academic, or professional training, or any of the above, as required by law and regulations in effect for the granting of a teacher's certificate.
At present, the Department of Education issues about one thousand $(1,000)$ provisional teacher's certificates to the private schools, which doubles administrative work year after year, both in private schools and in the Certification Division of the Department of Education, due to evaluating teaching personnel that has already been evaluated.
For decades, private schools have requested from the Department of Education by means of its Secretary, and from this Honorable Legislature, legislation to extend this term of effectiveness to expedite the current bureaucracy in the Department of Education, bearing in mind that the educational reality in Puerto Rico has changed significantly in the last 30 years.
Moreover, this eliminates the nightmare of repeating the whole
process of certifying teachers that affects the certification and/or license of many private educational institutions at the beginning of each school year.
The Legislature of Puerto Rico deems it necessary to amend Act No. 94 of June 21, 1955, Section 11, known as the la Certification of Teachers Act, to do justice to the private schools of Puerto Rico in the aforementioned statement.
Section 1.- Section 11 of Act No. 94 of June 21, 1955, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows: "Section 11. - Provisional Teacher's Certificate The Secretary of Education shall issue provisional teacher's certificates for a period not exceeding three (3) years for any of the categories set by the regulations, to such persons who do not meet the qualifications as to experience or academic or professional training, prescribed in Section 1 of this Act and in the regulations, whenever persons holding teacher's certificates are not available to fill vacancies occurring in the public education system or in accredited private schools, pursuant to the regulations promulgated to such effects and while the applicant demonstrates continued academic progress towards the achievement of qualifications."
Section 2.- This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval.
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 320 (S.B. 1773) of the $1^{ ext {st }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend el Section 11 of Act No. 94 of June 21, 1955, as amended, known as the "Certification of Teachers Act," to increase the effectiveness of provisional teacher's certificates from one (1) to three (3) years, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $30^{ ext {th }}$ of September of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director