Becoming certified to teach in Georgia is a relatively simple process. You will need to either have graduated from an accredited college or university with at least a Bachelor’s degree. If you earned your degree outside of Georgia, you will just need to ensure your qualifications match with Georgia’s standards through their reciprocity program.

With a Georgia degree from an approved teacher preparation program, all that is left for you to receive your certification is to complete the appropriate content assessment. Upon completion of these two steps, you will have a Clear Renewable Certificate that is good for five years. If you are coming from another state, you may have to complete some requirements that are included in the Georgia teacher preparation programs. You have five years to complete any missing requirements.

Teaching in Georgia offers a range of experiences. Atlanta Public Schools offers an eclectic mix of magnet schools, single gender campuses, and non-traditional programs as well as the more typical classrooms. Student to teacher ratios are low, ranging from 1:15 in Kindergarten to 1:23 in high school. Augusta offers two award-winning magnet schools and three award-winning elementary schools. Both Columbus and Savannah schools offer high academic achievement in desirable family-friendly communities.

After your five years of teaching with a Clear Renewable Certificate in Georgia schools, you will need to renew your certificate. In order to do this, you must have completed 6 semester hours of college credit or 10 credits of Georgia Professional Learning Units or 10 credits of Continuing Education Units. Additionally, you must undergo a criminal background check during the year that your certificate expires.