--- type: "Bill" title: "Educator Preparation and Certification" description: "Educator Preparation and Certification; Authorizing an educator preparation institute to allow certain program participants to enroll in introductory coursework; revising the criteria for the award of a temporary educator certification to include certain persons with expired professional certificates; requiring that subject area coverages and endorsements for a certificateholder be reinstated with the certificateholder's professional certificate; revising requirements for reinstatement of a professional certificate; providing that certain requirements for reinstatement of a professional certificate may not be satisfied using specific inservice points; requiring the Florida Center for Teaching Excellence to collaborate with the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching for specified purposes; requiring, rather than authorizing, the center to submit a specified professional learning system for approval by the department; requiring the center to allow certain certified educators to use such professional learning system for specified purposes at no cost to the educator; requiring the center to submit inservice points for such educators to the department; requiring the center to provide information on certain school district professional learning systems to certain certified educators, etc." jurisdiction: "us/states/fl" legislature: "Florida Legislature" session: "2026" identifier: "HB 561" citation: "Florida HB 561 (2026)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: [] status: "enacted" chapter_law: "2026-106" primary_sponsors: ["Gerwig"] version_count: 3 action_count: 41 vote_count: 5 first_action: "2025-12-01" last_action: "2026-05-26" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/d6064efe-8287-4982-b197-e19a70ef3f15" source_url: "https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/561/ByCategory" source_hash: "5deb3753770f6194ff5a93d24792ff7481258202e429813a6c718bec4cdae990" vintage: "2026-07-01" source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump" retrieved_at: "2026-07-06" confidence: "reported" tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-fl"] --- # Florida HB 561 (2026) — Educator Preparation and Certification Educator Preparation and Certification; Authorizing an educator preparation institute to allow certain program participants to enroll in introductory coursework; revising the criteria for the award of a temporary educator certification to include certain persons with expired professional certificates; requiring that subject area coverages and endorsements for a certificateholder be reinstated with the certificateholder's professional certificate; revising requirements for reinstatement of a professional certificate; providing that certain requirements for reinstatement of a professional certificate may not be satisfied using specific inservice points; requiring the Florida Center for Teaching Excellence to collaborate with the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching for specified purposes; requiring, rather than authorizing, the center to submit a specified professional learning system for approval by the department; requiring the center to allow certain certified educators to use such professional learning system for specified purposes at no cost to the educator; requiring the center to submit inservice points for such educators to the department; requiring the center to provide information on certain school district professional learning systems to certain certified educators, etc. **Enacted** — Laws of Florida, Chapter 2026-106. ## Version chain The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment. 1. **H 561 Filed** (filed) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/561/BillText/Filed/PDF) 2. **H 561 c1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/561/BillText/c1/PDF) 3. **H 561 er** (enrolled) — [source](https://flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/561/BillText/er/PDF) ## Votes - Favorable (Education & Employment Committee) — **20–0** (pass) · lower - Favorable (Careers & Workforce Subcommittee) — **15–0** (pass) · lower - Passage, Third Reading — **112–0** (pass) · lower - Third Reading — **37–0** (pass) · upper - Favorable (PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee) — **13–0** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - Education & Employment Committee — primary (organization) - Gerwig — primary (person) - Daniels — cosponsor (person) - López, J. — cosponsor (person) - Rizo — cosponsor (person) - Salzman — cosponsor (person) - Valdés — cosponsor (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2025-12-01** Filed `filing` - **2025-12-12** Referred to Careers & Workforce Subcommittee `referral-committee` - **2025-12-12** Referred to PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee `referral-committee` - **2025-12-12** Referred to Education & Employment Committee `referral-committee` - **2025-12-12** Now in Careers & Workforce Subcommittee - **2026-01-12** Added to Careers & Workforce Subcommittee agenda - **2026-01-13** 1st Reading (Original Filed Version) `filing, reading-1` - **2026-01-14** Favorable by Careers & Workforce Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable` - **2026-01-14** Reported out of Careers & Workforce Subcommittee - **2026-01-14** Now in PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee - **2026-02-02** Added to PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee agenda - **2026-02-04** Favorable by PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee `committee-passage-favorable` - **2026-02-04** Reported out of PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee - **2026-02-04** Now in Education & Employment Committee - **2026-02-06** PCS added to Education & Employment Committee agenda - **2026-02-10** Favorable with CS by Education & Employment Committee `committee-passage-favorable` - **2026-02-10** Reported out of Education & Employment Committee - **2026-02-10** Laid on Table under Rule 7.18(a) `deferral` - **2026-02-10** CS Filed `filing` - **2026-02-10** 1st Reading (Committee Substitute 1) `reading-1` - **2026-02-11** Bill referred to House Calendar - **2026-02-11** Added to Second Reading Calendar - **2026-02-19** Bill added to Special Order Calendar (2/25/2026) - **2026-02-25** Read 2nd time `reading-2` - **2026-02-25** Added to Third Reading Calendar - **2026-02-25** Read 3rd time `reading-3` - **2026-02-25** CS passed; YEAS 112, NAYS 0 `passage` - **2026-02-25** In Messages - **2026-02-26** Referred to Rules `referral-committee` - **2026-02-26** Received `enrolled` - **2026-03-05** Withdrawn from Rules `withdrawal` - **2026-03-05** Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading - **2026-03-05** Substituted for SB 1718 - **2026-03-05** Read 2nd time `reading-2` - **2026-03-05** Read 3rd time `reading-3` - **2026-03-05** CS passed; YEAS 37 NAYS 0 `passage` - **2026-03-05** In Messages - **2026-03-05** Ordered enrolled `enrolled` - **2026-05-21** Signed by Officers and presented to Governor `executive-receipt` - **2026-05-22** Approved by Governor `executive-signature` - **2026-05-26** Chapter No. 2026-106 ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/d6064efe-8287-4982-b197-e19a70ef3f15`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Florida legislature records).