Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is defending his call to direct the state’s Department of Education to allow veterans become mentor teachers for a minimum of two years and receive a temporary five-year teaching certificate while they earn a bachelor’s degree. Legislation making that possible passed Florida’s House and Senate unanimously in 2022.
Interested veterans must have served a minimum of four years of military service, have received an honorable or medical discharge, and earned a minimum of 60 college credits with a 2.5 grade point average, received a passing score on a Florida subject area exam and cleared a background check. They will not be required to have a master’s degree, but will not be able to teach subjects that would require one.
DE SANTIS: They would be able to get a temporary certificate, be able to teach and then obviously work to get their bachelor's degree and it was unanimously passed by the legislature. You know some in the media just recently started attacking us over this. They said you can't just put any old warm body in the classroom. And look as a veteran, I will tell you like the people that serve our country or not just some warm body. They are people that have a lot to offer. So we're proud of that. We think it makes a lot of sense and Manny will tell you we have, we have interest and people that are applying.
