Amended  IN  Assembly  April 18, 2017
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 28, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill No. 1122

Introduced by Assembly Member Limón

February 17, 2017

An act to add Section 44320.6 to the Education Code, relating to teachers.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1122, as amended, Limón. Teachers: dual-language immersion programs.
Existing law requires professional preparation for teachers to be made available in the upper division course offerings at all California public institutions of higher learning, except for the California Maritime Academy and the Hastings College of the Law. Existing law also provides that the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall encourage postsecondary institutions that offer programs of professional preparation to collaborate with school districts, county offices of education, and professional organizations in the design and delivery of local programs to function as part of the California beginning teacher support and assessment program. Existing law also provides that an integrated program of professional preparation enables candidates for teaching credentials to engage in professional preparation, concurrently with subject matter preparation, while completing baccalaureate degrees at regionally accredited postsecondary educational institutions.
This bill would require the commission to encourage the establishment and expansion of partnerships between local educational agencies and institutions of higher education to offer integrated teacher preparation programs, as specified, that prepare educators to teach in dual-language immersion programs through integrated programs offering professional preparation concurrently with the completion of a baccalaureate degree.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 44320.6 is added to the Education Code, to read:

44320.6.
 (a) The commission shall encourage the establishment and expansion of partnerships between local educational agencies and institutions of higher education to offer integrated teacher preparation programs, as described in pursuant to Section 44259.1, that prepare educators to teach in dual-language immersion programs through integrated programs offering professional preparation concurrently with the completion of a baccalaureate degree.
(b) The partnerships established pursuant to this section may include either private or public institutions of higher education. These partnerships shall encourage the development of strategies to accomplish both of the following:
(1) Directly address, and be responsive to, the staffing needs of individual school districts with respect to the need for multilingual teachers.
(2) Establish or expand bilingual authorization programs in both of the following:
(A) Languages for which it is difficult to recruit bilingual teachers.
(B) Languages that are commonly spoken, but for which there is a shortage of bilingual authorizations.