(Source: MIRS.news, Published 03/05/2025) The House Education and Workforce Committee took up an education package on Wednesday that waives teaching license renewal fees for teachers, requires teacher preparation programs in math and science to be approved by content-area experts and allows school districts to administer local teaching certificates. 

HB 4150, HB 4151, HB 4152 and HB 4153 were all moved out of the committee, with HB 4150 and HB 4152 being reported to the floor and the other two referred to the House Rules Committee. 

Rep. Regina Weiss (D-Oak Park) brought up that the House Fiscal Agency analysis for the bills shows that the Michigan Department of Education is expected to receive $8 million in revenue from the certification fees, and bill sponsor Rep. Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester) said he’s not intending to backfill that funding. 

HB 4151 would allow a teacher who passed a subject area on the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification (MTTC) to receive the endorsement to teach the subject without further testing. 

HB 4152 requires MDE to, by 2027, only approve teacher prep programs in math and science if they were developed in partnership with a professor that specializes in that specific content area. Rep. Matt Koleszar (D-Plymouth) said not including a definition of “content expert” would leave a lot of vagueness in the law. 

Last, under HB 4153, sponsored by Chair Nancy DeBoer (R-Holland), school districts would be able to issue local teaching certificates to individuals that have received at least a 3.0 GPA in their underlying degree for up to five years, at which point the individual would have to obtain a certificate through MDE. The bill has a sunset of July 1, 2035, and aims to address critical teacher shortages by making it easier to get teachers in the classroom.