AN ACT to provide for lifetime licensure for professional educators.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑270.20 reads as rewritten:

§ 115C‑270.20.  Licensure requirements.

(a)        Teacher Licenses. – The State Board shall adopt rules for the issuance of the following classes of teacher licenses, including required levels of preparation for each classification:

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(4)        Lifetime license. – A license issued to a teacher after 30 or more years of teaching as a licensed teacher that requires no renewal. For the purposes of this subdivision, a teacher shall be determined to have completed 30 or more years of teaching as a licensed teacher when the teacher holds a current North Carolina teaching license and has completed 30 or more years of creditable service with the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System.

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(d)       Lifetime License for Professional Educators. – The State Board of Education shall issue a lifetime license, which shall require no renewal, to an individual currently licensed as a professional educator who has met at least one of the following criteria:

(1)        Completed 30 or more years of creditable service with the Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System.

(2)        Completed a combined total of 30 or more years of employment as a licensed teacher, administrator, or student services personnel in one or more public school units in North Carolina.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with applications for licensure submitted on or after that date.