Local Substitute Permit
A Local Substitute Permit can be issued for teaching 90 full-time days per school year for those who apply and meet the requirements listed below. Once issued, a Local Substitute Permit expires August 31st in the third year following the year of issuance.
The requirements for a Local Substitute Permit includes the following:
- An application and fee in the TEACH system (Please note that registration for TEACH is required before an application can be submitted.)
- Fingerprints (Only required if someone has lived outside of Nebraska in the past five years.)
- Transcript(s) showing at least 60 semester credit hours
- Human Relations Training
- A letter from the superintendent of the school district where the local substitute permit will be assigned. The letter can be sent directly to nde.tcertweb@nebraska.gov.
More information on how to send supporting documents can be found in the FAQ section of this website.
There is current guidance from the Commissioner of Education that allows for portability of the local substitute permit.
Create an account in TEACH
You will need to use your personal email address. This will be the address that your permit gets emailed to as a PDF.
Start a new application
- What type of Certificate or Permit are you applying for today? = Select Teaching
- Ever held a Nebraska Teaching Certificate? = No
- Ever held an educator license in another state? = Yes/No
- Then select “First Time Applicant” and “LOCAL SUBSTITUTE” from the dropdown box and complete the online application.
In the application
A checklist will appear on the left side of the application. As you complete each section, the red X will change to a green check mark. Each tab has instructions to complete each section.
Certificate Type Tab
Select “All School Certificate or Permit” or “Nonpublic School Certificate”. A “nonpublic” permit will only allow a person to substitute teach in private schools. Districts you add to the employment section will be able to monitor your application and status.
Personal Information Tab
Enter your information. On this tab you can select the option “I hereby give my consent to the Nebraska Department of Education to use SMS messaging to send me notifications via text message and email.”
Academic Record Tab
When an analyst processes your application they will review an official transcript for at least 60 credit hours and for a Human Relations course. Listing the college(s) you have attended lets the analyst know which schools to expect transcripts from.
To ADD a college or university follow these steps:
- Select the state where the college or university is located.
- Start to type the name of the college or university in the space provided. The name should appear in all capital letters and can be chosen from the list.
- Check the box if you completed an educator preparation program or added an endorsement at the college or university.
- Select the degree awarded from the list of choices. If you are more than one year away from graduation, choose “non degree” from the list OR make a selection and enter the date the degree was or will be conferred.
- Choose one of the two options for how you will send a transcript. If you are just updating the information, choose that you are going to send the transcript by mail in order to save the information.
- Click Save
Personal & Professional Fitness
Answer the questions listed. Any answer of “yes” will require explanation and documentation.
Testing
Nothing is required on this tab. If you are currently in the middle of a teacher preparation program, scores may appear on this tab.
Fingerprint
Select the option that accurately describes your residency for the last 5 years. Please note, that attending an out of state college would require you to select option “C”, as this means you were not continuously living in the state of Nebraska.
Declaration, Authorization and Signature
Your electronic signature will need to match the name on the application. If you previously had started the application, be sure to update your signature to reflect today’s date.
Fee and Payment
To move to the fee and payment, all of the tabs must be saved and have a green check mark next to them.
Other notes about applying for a Local Substitute Permit
A letter is required from the superintendent of the school district you hope to substitute teach in. Applicants will work with the school district to request this letter. Letters should be sent to nde.tcertweb@nebrasksa.gov.
At this point, there is current guidance from the Commissioner of Education stating that local substitutes may work in more than one district, provided each district provides a letter to the Nebraska Department of Education. Applicants will not receive a new permit listing additional districts.
The following documents must be submitted for renewal of the Local Substitute Teaching Permit:
- The Application form and non-refundable application fee through TEACH
- Written request from the Superintendent for the issuance of the permit. This request must be signed the the superintendent or the personnel director of the school system.