A bill promising to streamline the licensing process for out-of-state educators has been signed into law, removing longstanding barriers for rural districts to hire teachers for vacant positions.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 126 on April 20, along with several other bipartisan bills, after it passed the House in early April.

The bill eases requirements and speeds up the process for out-of-state educators to acquire their Colorado teaching license through the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact. Enacted in 2023, the compact is an existing agreement among 13 states that allows Colorado to recognize and transfer professional teaching licenses held in other states without the need for additional exams or coursework.

Under existing law, licensed educators from other compact states must have at least three years of successful teaching experience within the last seven years to be eligible for a professional teaching license in Colorado. Senate Bill 126 removes the requirement that the experience must be within the previous seven years, expanding eligibility for qualified educators who have taken a break from the workforce for a variety of reasons.

“The seven-year requirement does create barriers for our Colorado workforce, especially in rural areas, where we’re trying to recruit from out of state,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, a Fort Morgan Republican and bill sponsor, said during a March hearing of the bill. “They could be nine years out, but they still have all the credentials and everything else our teachers need, and we would love to have them in our schools.”

The bill also requires the Colorado Department of Education to issue an initial teacher license to an educator licensed by a compact state within 30 days of receiving a complete application. Both provisions are especially beneficial to rural mountain districts, which face significant challenges to hiring like geography, cost of living and limited housing availability amid ongoing educator shortages.

“Our schools are struggling to fill teaching positions. The reasons our workforce challenges are many include low pay, heavy workloads and competition from neighboring states,” Johnson said during the hearing. “While there is no silver bullet to solve these problems, this bill is a small step to helping fill that void by expediting licensure for experienced out-of-state teachers.”

Although the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact was enacted three years ago, states are still working to finalize the rules, meaning school districts have yet to feel the benefits.

Senate Bill 126 will go into effect in August 2026.