What Happens to California Teachers Who Start on Emergency Teaching Permits?

Emergency teaching permits are often seen as a warning sign: evidence that schools are filling classrooms with teachers who haven’t completed their credential requirements. But new research from Drs. Tom Smith and Yiwang Li complicates that picture. Five years after entering the classroom on emergency permits, 62% were still teaching in California public schools, and more than half had earned preliminary or clear credentials.

Smith and Li followed six cohorts of new California teachers across their first five years in the profession, examining how teacher credential pathways related to credential progress and retention. Their study suggests that emergency permits can be more than a short-term response to teacher vacancies. Although their growing use reflects persistent shortages, the permits also provide an expanding entry point into the profession.

“The way people enter teaching is changing,” Smith said. “Emergency permits are bringing a broader and more diverse group of educators into the classroom. The question is whether we can provide the preparation and support that will help them earn their credentials and stay in the field.”

Why More California Teachers Are Starting on Emergency Permits

Emergency permits are one of three primary pathways into teaching in California:

• Student teaching programs require graded coursework and 600 hours of student teaching before teachers can lead classrooms of their own.
• Intern programs allow candidates enrolled in a credential program to work as teachers of record while completing coursework. To qualify, they must have already completed 120 hours of preparation.
• One-year emergency permits require a bachelor’s degree and coursework in the subject the permit holder will teach. Districts can hire teachers with emergency permits when they are unable to fill vacant positions with fully credentialed candidates.

Student teaching programs have traditionally been the most common route into teaching in California. But Smith and Li found that, between the 2014–15 and 2019–20 school years, the percentage of new teachers entering through this pathway fell by 20 percentage points while the percentage entering with an emergency permit rose by about 20 percentage points.

Part of that shift reflects California’s need to rapidly fill classrooms, but Smith and Li point to several other pressures affecting the teacher pipeline. The number of teacher retirees and beneficiaries receiving CalSTRS benefits has increased by 17.7% and is expected to continue rising over the next decade. Meanwhile, the cost and time required to complete a preliminary credential through a student teaching program can influence how prospective educators enter the field. “Pathway options, certification requirements, and available financial supports are not always easy for prospective teachers to find or interpret,” write Smith, Li, and their colleagues. “Together, they make earning a credential more difficult and expensive.”

From the teacher perspective, emergency permits offer a simpler entry point. Instead of making the full financial commitment to a teacher preparation program before beginning their careers, permit holders can start working with students immediately and decide whether they want to pursue teaching long term. Their time in the classroom can also help them meet requirements for an internship or credential program. For prospective educators who can’t afford to stop working while attending graduate school, that flexibility can make teaching a more accessible career.

Who Enters Teaching Through Emergency Permits

The rise of emergency permits has coincided with another important shift in California’s teacher pipeline: a growing number of educators of color entering the profession. Among Black/African American teachers who entered the field between 2024 and 2025, 52.2% started on emergency permits—a larger share than their Hispanic/Latino, White, or Asian American peers. During the same period, Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino teachers were also more likely than their White or Asian American counterparts to begin their careers with intern credentials.

The disproportionate representation of teachers of color in these pathways reflects broader inequities in access to traditional teacher preparation. In addition to the time and expense required to complete a credential program, Smith and Li point to standardized testing as another potential barrier, noting that licensure exams have historically exhibited racial disparities in pass rates.

Against that backdrop, emergency permits and other alternative pathways carry new possibility. The Black and Latino teachers represented in Smith and Li’s 2024–2025 data have potential to diversify California’s teacher workforce and bring a wider range of experiences and perspectives into schools. Greater representation of Black teachers has also been linked to higher educational attainment among Black students. “A diverse, high-quality teacher workforce is foundational to the state’s capacity to equitably serve all students,” the research team writes.

These educators are also beginning their careers in the schools where teachers are often needed most. Smith and Li found that emergency-permit holders were more likely to teach in small or rural schools and in schools serving larger populations of English learners, students eligible for free or reduced-price meals, and foster youth. This pattern was particularly pronounced among Black and Hispanic emergency-permit holders. Although concerns about their lack of preparedness to teach are real, their presence can help schools fill critical vacancies while building a teacher workforce that more closely reflects California’s students.

How Entry Pathways Relate to Teacher Retention

To understand teacher retention in California, Smith and Li examined whether teachers entering through these pathways remained in the profession over time. Five years after entering the classroom, 62% of emergency-permit holders were still teaching in California. More than one-third had earned clear credentials, while others had moved into intern or student-teaching pathways to continue their preparation.

However, retention rates varied by entry pathway. Among teachers entering through traditional student teaching, 8.5% had left California public schools after one year and 22.3% had left after five. Emergency-permit holders consistently left at higher rates. “We see the turnover rates differ by pathway,” Smith said. “Teachers entering through student teaching had an approximately 8% chance of leaving after their first year. But if you enter on an emergency credential, you have more than twice the likelihood of leaving at the end of the first year, and about a third have left the profession by the third year.”

Turnover rates also differed by race and ethnicity. Black/African American teachers, who were the most likely to begin on emergency permits, had the highest rates of leaving: 18.7% left after their first year and 40.3% had left after five. Smith points to the conditions in which many emergency-permit holders begin teaching as one possible factor. These educators are often placed in high-need schools with fewer supports while learning to manage classrooms, design instruction, and build a support network. “This is a really challenging place for them to start their careers,” he said.

Smith and Li also suggest that district-level measures such as high-quality mentoring and greater accountability for supporting new teachers can help improve retention, particularly among teachers of color. The number of permit holders who remain in teaching and complete their credentials suggests that the pathway has long-term potential. Greater support could help more of these educators make that transition.

What Helps New Teachers Earn Credentials and Stay

While Smith and Li highlight the opportunities that emergency teaching permits offer, they maintain that a credential should still be an educator’s end goal because it fully prepares them for the classroom and sets them up for long-term success.

Their findings suggest that emergency permits can make the credential pathway accessible to a broader and more diverse group of educators. To ensure permit holders receive the resources and preparation they need, Smith and Li recommend that educational leaders and policymakers:

• Renew investments in student teaching and residency pathways by providing paid classroom experiences during the credential process.
• Create clearer routes for emergency-permit holders to enter teacher preparation programs and complete their credentials.
• Build district-level systems to support and retain teachers of color, including mentoring, induction, and stronger school leadership.

“Many emergency-permit holders stay in teaching and earn credentials,” Smith said. “With the right support, an emergency permit can be the start of a long-term career, not just a short-term fix.”