Office of Teaching Initiatives

Expedited Service Requests by Employers

School districts, charter schools, nonpublic schools, and agencies that require certified personnel may request expedited service for priority processing of certificate applications. After the request has been received and noted on the applicant’s account, the application should be evaluated within 5-10 business days. The applicant should monitor their account to see the results of the evaluation and any correspondence that was generated in their account (Account Information page, Correspondence section).

To be eligible for expedited service, the application must be in "Ready for Review" status (e.g., paid application, college recommendation or transcripts in TEACH). Teaching Assistant and "Certificate Progression" applications are not eligible for expedited service. "Certificate Progression" refers to applications where the applicant is advancing from the Provisional to Permanent certificate or from the Initial to Professional certificate.

Please note that applications are active for three years or two manual evaluations, whichever comes first. As such, any applications that are expedited twice and are not approved (e.g., certificate issued) may be disapproved and the applicant would need to reapply, including paying the application fee.

Individuals on active US military duty, or dependents of active military who have been issued a DD Form 1173 (not to be confused with a DD Form 1173-1) may request expedited review of their application by emailing OTIexpedite@nysed.gov, provided that the application status in their TEACH account is “ready for review”. Dependents will need to include in their email a copy of their valid DD Form 1173 having the same name as listed in their TEACH account. A DD Form 1173-1 is not acceptable for this benefit.

Click on the Appropriate Expedited Service Procedure

• Procedure for Schools and Districts Served by a Regional Certification Office (RCO)
  
  
  • A Superintendent may request their BOCES RCO to expedite a certificate application.
    1. The district must check TEACH to determine if the application is in "Ready for Review" status and is not a Teaching Assistant or “Certificate Progression” application. "Certificate Progression" refers to applications where the applicant is advancing from the Provisional to Permanent certificate or from the Initial to Professional certificate.
       
       
    2. If the application is not in "Ready for Review" status, the applicant must pay the application fee, receieve a college recommendation, and/or have transcripts submitted to the Office of Teaching Initiatives to place the application in this status.
       
       
    3. The Regional Certification Office will determine if the application can be expedited based on the information in TEACH. If the application can be expedited, the BOCES RCO would send the Expedited Service Request Form to OTIexpedite@nysed.gov with “Expedited Service Request” in the subject line.
       
• Procedure for Districts, Charter Schools, Nonpublic Schools, and Agencies Not Served by a BOCES Regional Certification Office, including NYC DOE schools
  
  
  • To submit an expedited service request for a certificate application:
    1. Requests can only be made by districts, schools, and agencies that have access to TEACH. If your organization does not have access to TEACH, you may request access by completing the Designation Of Authorized Representatives For TEACH System Form.

       Note for all NYC DOE schools - personnel: All requests for expedited service are subject to a review by the NYC – Certification or Supervisory Units. Expedited service requests submitted from anyone other than the NYC – Certification or Supervisory Units will not be accepted.

    2. The indivdual making the request must confirm that the application is in "Ready for Review" status and is not a Teaching Assistant or “Certificate Progression” application. "Certificate Progression" refers to applications where the applicant is advancing from the Provisional to Permanent certificate or from the Initial to Professional certificate.
       
       
    3. If the application is not in "Ready for Review" status, the applicant must pay the application fee, receive a college recommendation, and/or have transcripts submitted to the Office of Teaching Initiatives to place the application in this status.
       
       
    4. If the application can be expedited based on the information in TEACH, the Expedited Service Request Form can be sent to OTIexpedite@nysed.gov with “Expedited Service Request” in the subject line.