OK my advice is move to the east coast because it is going to be harder when you graduate from college there because that is following the guidelines for your state and every state is different. For Example I live In Pennsylvania and I was going to go to college in North Carolina I would have to take the PRAXIS I, II, III when ever I wanted to get ready to teach back in Pennsylvania. My best advice for you is to consult your future college in the state you are going to and you current college. Because like I said each state is different on their education policies. If you need anymore help or advice feel free to email me.

Some states do offer reciprocity (Florida does)— which means, if you finish your education in CA and get your teaching license there, you can be eligible for a teaching license in the new state. Even if you do not get your teaching license in CA (just finish your teaching degree), there are states (like FL) that will accept your degree and allow you to apply for a teaching certificate.

I would suggest staying in CA and finishing your degree there…. because if you move now, there may be some other courses that are required in your new school that you might not have taken yet which will set you back time-wise.

I also suggest checking out the Dept. of Education website of whatever state you are planning on moving to.

Seconding everything I’ve read here — also wanted to add my two cents . . .

If you can get your credits to transfer, it may be to your benefit to move east now. If you can go to school near the area where you’d eventually like to teach, it could be really beneficial, mostly because student teaching can often open up doors to getting a job (having a reference within the district is often of HUGE help when trying to obtain a job!)

I can’t speak for every school but my school often set up student teaching placements in other states if necessary. One of my colleagues actually went to Puerto Rico for her student teaching and it REALLY helped her find a job there upon graduation.

But the whole licensure thing can be a pain, like everyone else here said — check into reciprocity, how hard it is to transfer an initial license, etc.

This website should show you which states share reciprocity with CA: http://www.nasdtec.org/agreement.tpl

Good luck!

I would suggest contacting the Department of Education in whichever state you would like to teach in and see what they recommend. I don’t know if you will get a straight answer or not from them, but it is worth a shot. Not all states will accept your California teaching certificate, so whatever tests you would go through there would not be worth your time. If you have a district in mind that you would like to work at call their central office and see what they say too.

Find out if the degree from the university where you live is acceptable in the state to which you want to move. If it is, then stay where you are. If it’s not, then move. Each state has different requirements, and so you need to find out if what you will be learning will be acceptable in the east.

Good luck!

If you can stay where you are that would probably be better. Not all your credits will be transferred to a new school but check into it and ask the school you’re looking at about your credits. Good luck!