Bill Text: CA SB453 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended


Bill Title: School employees: teachers: evaluation: termination.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 10-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-03 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB453 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SB453-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 453	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 17, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Huff
    (   Coauthors:   Senators  
Anderson,   Berryhill,   Emmerson, 
Fuller,   Gaines,   Knight,   Nielsen,
  Walters,   and Wyland   ) 

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2013

   An act to amend Sections 14501, 44662, 44955, and 44956 of, to
amend and repeal Section 44660 of, and to add Sections 44660.5,
44955.1, and 44955.2 to, the Education Code, relating to school
employees.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 453, as amended, Huff. School employees: teachers: evaluation:
termination.
   (1) Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature that
governing boards of school districts establish a uniform system of
evaluation and assessment of the performance of all certificated
personnel of a school district, including schools conducted or
maintained by county superintendents of education.  Existing
law prohibits the evaluation and assessment of certificated employee
performance from including the use of publishers' norms established
by standardized tests. 
   This bill would instead require the governing board of a school
district to establish an evaluation and assessment system for
certificated employees that uses a multiple-measures evaluation
system with multiple research-validated approaches to measuring
effectiveness, as specified. The governing board would be required to
establish the system by the 2015-16 school year  , 
and to fully implement the system by the 2016-17 school year
 , and would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to institute fiscal penalties for noncompliance  . 
The bill would delete the provisions prohibiting the use of
publishers' norms established by standardized tests in evaluating and
assessing certificated employees.  The bill would require a
compliance audit to include the verification of the development and
implementation of the evaluation system. Because the bill would
increase the duties of school districts, it would impose a
state-mandated local program.
   (2) Existing law provides that, when employees are terminated
pursuant to a reduction in workforce, a school district is required
to terminate the employees in order of seniority. Existing law
further provides those employees with preferred right to
reappointment and opportunity for substitute service in order of
seniority. Existing law authorizes a school district to deviate from
the order of seniority for those purposes for specified reasons,
including compliance with constitutional requirements related to
equal protection of the laws.
   This bill would provide additional reasons for which a school
district may deviate from terminating employees in order of
seniority, including authorizing school districts to terminate
employees on the basis of performance evaluations and on the basis
that the employee is assigned to a schoolsite that has been selected
by the governing board for exemption from certificated reductions in
force, based upon the needs of the educational program. The bill
would provide an exception to this authorization for an employee who
has 18 months or less from his or her date of retirement, or is on
medical leave. The bill would specify that the equal protection
exception to the general requirement that terminations and
reappointments occur in order of seniority applies to equal
protection as it relates to pupils.
   (3) Existing law generally requires school districts to adhere to
certain requirements with respect to teacher and administrator
employment, and requires charter school petitions to contain certain
information relating to employment.
   This bill would authorize school districts, county offices of
education, and charter schools to assign, reassign, and transfer
teachers and administrators based on effectiveness and subject matter
needs, without regard to years of service.
   (4) This bill would make various nonsubstantive and clarifying
changes.
   (5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 14501 of the Education Code is amended to read:

   14501.  (a) As used in this chapter, "financial and compliance
audit" shall be consistent with the definition provided in the
"Standards for Audits of Governmental Organizations, Programs,
Activities, and Functions" promulgated by the Comptroller General of
the United States. Financial and compliance audits conducted under
this chapter shall fulfill federal single audit requirements.
   (b) As used in this chapter, "compliance audit" means an audit
that ascertains and verifies whether or not funds provided through
apportionment, contract, or grant, either federal or state, have been
properly disbursed and expended as required by law or regulation or
both and includes the verification of each of the following:
   (1) The reporting requirements for the sufficiency of textbooks or
instructional materials, or both, as defined in Section 60119.
   (2) Teacher misassignments pursuant to Section 44258.9.
   (3) The accuracy of information reported on the School
Accountability Report Card required by Section 33126. The
requirements set forth in paragraphs (1) and (2) and this paragraph
shall be added to the audit guide requirements pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 14502.1.
   (4) The development and implementation of the teacher  and
principal  evaluation system required pursuant to Section
44660.5.
  SEC. 2.  Section 44660 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   44660.  (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that governing
boards establish a uniform system of evaluation and assessment of the
performance of all certificated personnel within each school
district of the state, including schools conducted or maintained by
county superintendents of education. The system shall involve the
development and adoption by each school district of objective
evaluation and assessment guidelines which may, at the discretion of
the governing board, be uniform throughout the district or, for
compelling reasons, be individually developed for territories or
schools within the district, provided that all certificated personnel
of the district shall be subject to a system of evaluation and
assessment adopted pursuant to this article.
   (b) This article does not apply to certificated personnel who are
employed on an hourly basis in adult education classes.
   (c) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2015, and, as
of January 1, 2016, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2016, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
  SEC. 3.  Section 44660.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   44660.5.  (a) (1) By the 2015-16 school year, the governing board
of a school district shall establish a uniform system of evaluation
and assessment of the performance of all certificated employees
within the school district, and shall fully implement the system by
the 2016-17 school year. The system shall clearly define a rigorous,
transparent, and fair multiple-measures evaluation system for
 both  teachers  and principals 
 ,  and shall involve the development and adoption by the
governing board of objective evaluation and assessment guidelines.
All certificated employees of the school district shall be subject to
a system of evaluation and assessment adopted pursuant to this
article, except that this article does not apply to certificated
employees who are employed on an hourly basis in adult education
classes.
   (2) This article applies to the county superintendent of schools
and the employees of schools conducted or maintained by the county
superintendent of schools.
   (b) For purposes of this section, a "multiple-measures evaluation
system" is a teacher  and principal  evaluation
system that uses multiple research-validated approaches to measuring
effectiveness, including the measures specified in Section 44662. A
school district evaluation system also shall include a quantitative
pupil academic achievement growth component that shall constitute at
least 30 percent of the overall teacher  and principal
 effectiveness measure.  A school district may use other
measures of student performance in subjects for which quantitative
measures of student growth are not available. 
   (c)  (1)    The requirement to
develop and implement the evaluation system shall be subject to the
annual audits, conducted pursuant to Section 14501, commencing with
the 2015-16 fiscal year. 
   (2) The Superintendent shall institute fiscal penalties for
noncompliance with this section. Fiscal penalties shall include, but
not be limited to, withholding 10 percent of the school district or
county office of education apportionments. This withholding shall be
returned to the school district or county office of education once
the evaluation system required by this section is implemented.

  SEC. 4.  Section 44662 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   44662.  (a) The governing board of each school district shall
establish standards of expected pupil achievement at each grade level
in each area of study.
   (b) The governing board of each school district shall evaluate and
assess certificated employee performance as it reasonably relates
to:
   (1) The progress of pupils toward the standards established
pursuant to subdivision (a) and, if applicable, the state adopted
academic content standards as measured by state adopted criterion
referenced assessments.
   (2) The instructional techniques and strategies used by the
employee.
   (3) The employee's adherence to curricular objectives.
   (4) The establishment and maintenance of a suitable learning
environment, within the scope of the employee's responsibilities.
   (c) The governing board of each school district shall establish
and define job responsibilities for certificated noninstructional
personnel, including, but not limited to, supervisory and
administrative personnel, whose responsibilities cannot be evaluated
appropriately under the provisions of subdivision (b) and shall
evaluate and assess the performance of those noninstructional
certificated employees as it reasonably relates to the fulfillment of
those responsibilities.
   (d) Results of an employee's participation in the Peer Assistance
and Review Program for Teachers established by Article 4.5
(commencing with Section 44500) shall be made available as part of
the evaluation conducted pursuant to this section. 
   (e) The evaluation and assessment of certificated employee
performance pursuant to this section shall not include the use of
publishers' norms established by standardized tests.  
   (e) 
    (f)  This section does not limit the authority of the
governing board of a school district to develop and adopt additional
evaluation and assessment guidelines or criteria.
  SEC. 5.  Section 44955 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   44955.  (a) A permanent employee shall not be deprived of his or
her position for causes other than those specified in Sections 44907
and 44923, and Sections 44932 to 44947, inclusive, and a probationary
employee shall not be deprived of his or her position for cause
other than as specified in Sections 44948 to 44949, inclusive.
   (b) (1) Whenever in any school year the average daily attendance
in all of the schools of a district for the first six months in which
school is in session has declined below the corresponding period of
either of the previous two school years, whenever the governing board
determines that attendance in a district will decline in the
following year as a result of the termination of an interdistrict
tuition agreement as described in Section 46304, whenever a
particular kind of service is to be reduced or discontinued not later
than the beginning of the following school year, or whenever the
amendment of state law requires the modification of curriculum, and
when in the opinion of the governing board of the district it has
become necessary by reason of any of these conditions to decrease the
number of permanent employees in the district, the governing board
may terminate the services of not more than a corresponding
percentage of the certificated employees of the district, permanent
as well as probationary, at the close of the school year. Except as
otherwise provided by statute, the services of a permanent employee
shall not be terminated under the provisions of this section while
any probationary employee, or any other employee with less seniority,
is retained to render a service that the permanent employee is
certificated and competent to render.
   (2) In computing a decline in average daily attendance for
purposes of this section for a newly formed or reorganized school
district, each school of the district shall be deemed to have been a
school of the newly formed or reorganized district for both of the
two previous school years.
   (3) As between employees who first rendered paid service to the
district on the same date, the governing board shall determine the
order of termination solely on the basis of needs of the district and
the pupils, including distinctions based upon performance
evaluations. Upon the request of any employee whose order of
termination is so determined, the governing board shall furnish in
writing no later than five days prior to the commencement of the
hearing held in accordance with Section 44949, a statement of the
specific criteria used in determining the order of termination and
the application of the criteria in ranking each employee relative to
the other employees in the group. This requirement that the governing
board provide, on request, a written statement of reasons for
determining the order of termination shall not be interpreted to give
affected employees any legal right or interest that would not exist
without such a requirement.
   (c) Notice of termination of services shall be given before the
May 15 in the manner prescribed in Section 44949, and services of
employees shall be terminated in the inverse of the order in which
they were employed, as determined by the board in accordance with
Sections 44844 and 44845. In the event that a permanent or
probationary employee is not given the notices and a right to a
hearing as provided for in Section 44949, he or she shall be deemed
reemployed for the ensuing school year.
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), and except as specified in
subdivision (e), a school district may deviate from terminating a
certificated employee in order of seniority for any of the following
reasons:
   (1) The district demonstrates a specific need for personnel to
teach a specific course or course of study, or to provide services
authorized by a services credential with a specialization in either
pupil personnel services or health for a school nurse, and that the
certificated employee has special training and experience necessary
to teach that course or course of study or to provide those services,
which others with more seniority do not possess.
   (2) For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws
as it applies to pupils.
   (3) On the basis of performance evaluations, if pursuant to a
process whereby employees with superior evaluations are retained over
those with inferior evaluations. The governing board may exercise
its discretion in developing the process, which shall be applied
uniformly to the entire class that is subject to the reduction in
force.
   (4) On the basis that the employee is assigned to a schoolsite
that has been selected by the governing board for exemption from
certificated reductions in force, based upon the needs of the
educational program.
   (e) A school district shall not deviate from terminating a
certificated employee in order of seniority if the employee has 18
months or less from his or her date of retirement, or is on medical
leave.
  SEC. 6.  Section 44955.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   44955.1.  Notwithstanding any other law, a school district, county
office of education, or charter school may assign, reassign, and
transfer teachers and administrators based on effectiveness and
subject matter needs without regard to years of service.
  SEC. 7.  Section 44955.2 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   44955.2.  A school district that deviates from the order of
seniority for purposes of terminating a certificated employee under
any provision of this chapter shall do so on the basis of one or more
of the items specified in subdivision (d) of Section 44955  ,
 and shall not take into consideration whether an employee has
exercised any of the rights guaranteed under Chapter 10.7 (commencing
with Section 3540) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code.
  SEC. 8.  Section 44956 of the Education Code is amended to read:
   44956.  A permanent employee whose services have been terminated
as provided in Section 44955 shall have the following rights:
   (a) For the period of 39 months from the date of the termination,
any employee who in the meantime has not attained the age of 65 years
shall have the preferred right to reappointment, in the order of
original employment as determined by the board in accordance with
Sections 44831 to 44855, inclusive, if the number of employees is
increased or the discontinued service is reestablished, with no
requirements that were not imposed upon other employees who continued
in service; provided, that no probationary or other employee with
less seniority shall be employed to render a service that the
employee is certificated and competent to render. However, prior to
reappointing any employee to teach a subject which he or she has not
previously taught, and for which he or she does not have a teaching
credential or which is not within the employee's major area of
postsecondary study or the equivalent thereof, the governing board
shall require the employee to pass a subject matter competency test
in the appropriate subject.
   (b) The aforesaid right to reappointment may be waived by the
employee, without prejudice, for not more than one school year,
unless the board extends this right, but the waiver shall not deprive
the employee of his or her right to subsequent offers of
reappointment.
   (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school district may deviate
from reappointing a certificated employee in order of seniority for
either of the following reasons:
   (1) The district demonstrates a specific need for personnel to
teach a specific course or course of study, or to provide services
authorized by a services credential with a specialization in either
pupil personnel services or health for a school nurse, and that the
employee has special training and experience necessary to teach that
course or course of study, or to provide those services, which others
with more seniority do not possess.
   (2) For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws
as it applies to pupils.
   (d) For an employee who is reappointed, the period of his or her
absence shall be treated as a leave of absence and shall not be
considered as a break in the continuity of his or her service, he or
she shall retain the classification and order of employment he or she
had when his or her services were terminated, and credit for prior
service under any state or district retirement system shall not be
affected by the termination, but the period of his or her absence
shall not count as a part of the service required for retirement.
   (e) During the period of an employee's preferred right to
reappointment, the employee, in the order of original employment,
shall be offered prior opportunity for substitute service during the
absence of any other employee who has been granted a leave of absence
or who is temporarily absent from duty; provided, that his or her
services may be terminated upon the return to duty of the other
employee and that the substitute service shall not affect the
retention of his or her previous classification and rights. If, in
any school year the employee serves as a substitute in any position
requiring certification for 21 days or more within a period of 60
schooldays, the compensation the employee receives for substitute
service in that 60-day period, including his or her first 20 days of
substitute service, shall not be less than the amount the employee
would receive if he or she were being reappointed.
   (f) Notwithstanding subdivision (e), a school district may deviate
from the order of seniority in offering the opportunity for
substitute service for either of the following reasons:
   (1) The district demonstrates a specific need for personnel to
teach a specific course or course of study, or to provide services
authorized by a services credential with a specialization in either
pupil personnel services or health for a school nurse, and the
employee has special training and experience, and has demonstrated
the competency necessary to teach in a specified grade level or
course of study, or to provide those services, that others with more
seniority do not possess or are not able to provide.
   (2) For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws
as it applies to pupils.
   (g) (1) During the period of the employee's preferred right to
reappointment, the governing board of the district, if it is also the
governing board of one or more other districts, may assign the
employee to service that he or she is certificated and competent to
render, in one of the other districts. The compensation the employee
receives, in the discretion of the governing board, may be the same
as the employee would have received had he or she been serving in the
district from which the employee's services were terminated. The
employee's service in the other district or districts shall be
counted toward the period required for both state and local
retirement as though rendered in the district from which the employee'
s services were terminated. The employee shall not displace any other
permanent employee in the other district or districts.
   (2) It is the intent of this subdivision that the employees of a
school district, the governing board of which is also the governing
board of one or more other school districts, shall not be at a
disadvantage as compared with employees of a unified school district.

   (h) At any time prior to the completion of one year after the
employee's return to service, the employee may continue or make up,
with interest, his or her own contributions to any state or district
retirement system for the period of his or her absence, but it shall
not be obligatory on the state or district to match the
contributions.
   (i) If the employee becomes disabled or reaches retirement age at
any time before his or her return to service, the employee shall
receive, in any state or district retirement system of which the
employee was a member, all benefits to which he or she would have
been entitled if the disability or retirement occurred at the time of
his or her termination of service, plus any benefits the employee
may have qualified for thereafter, as though still employed.
  SEC. 9.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
                            
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