The Utah State Licensure Process

I've been hanging out in Utah for the past week because it's spring break, and where else would you go for spring break except a city that's known for Mormons, a lack of public drunkeness and debauchery, and still-wintry weather? Miami be damned.

I've been slowly getting things in order for the likelihood of moving to Utah within the next several months. This means, at least partly, that I need to transfer my New York State-teacher certification to Utah, which is, at best, a hassle. 

I submitted to another background check last Friday, and which came back as "cleared" this morning. I've had them done many times before, and within the past 3 or so years in both NY and PA. Now I've been researched in three states! Cost to have this done: $69.

Yesterday I was fingerprinted again. I've been fingerprinted in New York - twice - as part of the initial teacher certification procedures, and again in Pennsylvania since I've moved back because I had applied for a job working with children. You'd think they'd look at the database and see that I've been fingerprinted, but I guess that's how these things work. Cost to be fingerprinted again: $20

I registered for the English Language, Literature, and Composition: Content Knowledge Praxis exam (a state certification exam not used in New York, which uses different exams, but used in a number of other states, including Utah and Pennsylvania). The test is  tomorrow morning at about 7:30 a.m. at the University of Utah and is 120 questions long; test takers are given two hours. Each state has a different score for "passing" (I need a score of 168 to "pass" in Utah; in Pennsylvania, that score is 160). Cost to take this exam: $130 ($80 test fee; $50 online registration fee).

Once all the results trickle in and I pass the various background checks and exam, I'll have to officially apply for Utah State Licensure. Cost of the application: $80.

These things all cost money, and if I want a job here this is my best chance of finding one. Fortunately, one can do this in stages, as I've been doing, and not necessarily all at once. Things do take a long time, though: The background check took a week; the results of the fingerprinting will take 4-6 weeks, as will getting the results of the Praxis exam.