Bill Text: CA AB1337 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 1337 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Teaching as a Priority Block Grant program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2020-02-03 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB1337 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB1337-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 26, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1337

Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein

February 22, 2019

An act ~~relating to pupil instruction.~~ to add Chapter 3.3 (commencing with Section 44735) to Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to teachers.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1337, as amended, Maienschein. ~~Pupil instruction: literacy.~~ Teaching as a Priority Block Grant program.

Existing law establishes the Teacher Residency Grant Program and the Local Solutions Grant Program as one-time competitive grant programs for the recruitment and retention of teachers, as specified.
This bill would establish the Teaching as a Priority Block Grant program as a competitive grant program administered by the State Department of Education with the approval of the State Board of Education. The bill would require the department to allocate funding on a per-pupil basis to schools identified for comprehensive or targeted support under federal law. The bill would require funding allocated under the program to be used for teacher recruitment and retention incentives with the goal of reducing the number of teachers on emergency permits, as provided. The bill would require the state board to submit an evaluation of the program to the Legislature by January 1, 2024.
~~Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to include instruction in various areas of study, including, among others, English.~~
~~This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would improve pupil literacy in schools.~~

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

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

SECTION 1.

Chapter 3.3 (commencing with Section 44735) is added to Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

CHAPTER 3.3. Teaching as a Priority Block Grant
44735.
(a) The Teaching as a Priority Block Grant program is hereby established as a competitive grant program administered by the department with the approval of the state board. The department shall award block grants to school districts on a competitive basis to provide incentives to attract credentialed teachers to be employed and retained in high-priority schools.
(b) (1) To be eligible to receive a full block grant in the third year of participation, a school district shall demonstrate a net decrease in the number of teachers holding an emergency permit or waiver at each school identified for comprehensive or targeted support pursuant to Section 1005 of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95), or any other federal law that effectively replaces that act.
(2) After two years of receiving a block grant, a school district that fails to demonstrate a net decrease in the number of teachers holding an emergency permit or waiver at any of its schools identified for comprehensive or targeted support pursuant to Section 1005 of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, or any other federal law that effectively replaces that act, shall have the amount of the school’s block grant reduced by the amount of funds generated by pupils enrolled in that school.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, “net decrease” shall be determined by comparing the number of teachers employed who hold an emergency permit or waiver at the end of the second year of implementation to the number of teachers employed who held an emergency permit or waiver before the implementation of the block grant.
(4) This subdivision does not apply to any school district with fewer than 2,501 units of average daily attendance that is in a county that is within classes four through eight as defined in Section 1205.
(5) This subdivision applies only when stable funding for the Teaching as a Priority Block Grant program is provided in the annual Budget Act. For purposes of this subdivision, stable funding means no more than a 5-percent variation in funding from one fiscal year to the next.
(c) (1) Block grant funds shall be used at the discretion of a school district for teacher recruitment and retention incentives with the goal of reducing the number of teachers on emergency permits. Incentives shall be used only to hire and retain credentialed teachers. Teacher recruitment and retention incentives may include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Signing bonuses.
(B) Improved work conditions.
(C) Teacher collaboration and mentoring time.
(D) Developing and supporting professional learning communities.
(E) Housing subsidies.
(F) Pupil load reductions for special education teachers.
(2) A school district receiving block grant funds pursuant to this section may offer incentives to recruit and retain credentialed teachers interested in attaining certification pursuant to Section 44253.3 or 44253.4. Incentives for those credentialed teachers may include, but are not limited to, both of the following:
(A) Reimbursements to cover the costs of examinations necessary to attain certification pursuant to Sections 44253.3 and 44253.4.
(B) Reimbursements to cover the costs of coursework necessary for programs of professional preparation offering emphasis in certification pursuant to Sections 44253.3 and 44253.4.
(d) Funding shall be allocated to school districts on a per-pupil basis for pupils enrolled in schools identified for comprehensive or targeted support pursuant to Section 1005 of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, or any other federal law that effectively replaces that act.
(e) A school district shall apply to the department on behalf of its schools. The school district application shall contain information that is specific to each school. An application shall contain baseline information on the number of teachers with waivers or emergency permits at each school.
(f) Funds appropriated for purposes of this chapter shall supplement, and not supplant, existing efforts to recruit and retain fully credentialed teachers in the school district.
(g) (1) The state board shall submit an evaluation of the program established by this chapter to the Legislature by January 1, 2024.
(2) The evaluation submitted to the Legislature pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(3) The requirement for submitting an evaluation imposed by this subdivision is inoperative on January 1, 2028, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.