Bill Text: CA AB2122 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: California Classified School Employee Teacher
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From Senate committee without further action. [AB2122 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB2122-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2122 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member McCarty
FEBRUARY 17, 2016
An act to amend Sections 44391, 44392, and 44393 of, and to repeal
and add Section 44390 of, the Education Code, relating to teacher
credentialing.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2122, as amended, McCarty. California Classified School
Employee Teacher Credentialing Program.
The Wildman-Keeley-Solis Exemplary Teacher Training Act of 1997
establishes the California School Paraprofessional Teacher Training
Program for the purpose of recruiting paraprofessionals to
participate in a program designed to encourage them to enroll in
teacher training programs and to provide instructional service as
teachers in the public schools. The act requires, among other things,
that the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, in consultation with
certain other educational entities, to select,
pursuant to specified criteria, 24 or more school districts or county
offices of education representing rural, urban, and suburban areas
that apply to participate in the program. The act requires a school
district or county office of education to require a person
participating in the program to commit to fulfilling certain
specified obligations relating to obtaining a teaching credential and
employment as a teacher in the school district or county office of
education. The act requires a school district or county office of
education to require a program participant to obtain a certificate of
clearance from the commission and provide verification of a
specified level of academic achievement prior to participating in the
program. The act expresses the intent of the Legislature
that that, in each fiscal year, funding for the
California School Paraprofessional Teacher Training Program be
allocated to the commission for grants to school districts and county
offices of education, limits grants to $3,500 per program
participant per year, and makes funding for the grants contingent
upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act.
This bill would substantially revise those provisions to instead
establish the California Classified School Employee Teacher
Credentialing Program for the purposes
purpose of recruiting classified school employees to
participate in a program designed to encourage them to enroll in
teacher training programs and to provide instructional service as
teachers in the public schools. Subject to an appropriation for these
purposes in the annual Budget Act, the bill would require the
commission to issue a request for proposals to all school districts
and county offices of education in the state in order to solicit
applications for funding. The bill would require the criteria adopted
by the commission for the selection of school districts or county
offices of education to participate in the program to include, among
other things, the extent to which the applicant's plan for
recruitment attempts to meet the demand of teacher shortages in
shortage areas in kindergarten transitional
kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. The
bill would require an applicant that is selected to participate to
provide information about the program to all eligible classified
school employees in the school district or county office of education
and to provide assistance to each classified school employee it
recruits under the program regarding admission to a teacher training
program. The bill would also require an applicant to require
participants to satisfy specified requirements before participating
in the program, including passing a background check, and to certify
that it has received a commitment from each participant that he or
she will accomplish certain things, including completing all of the
requirements for, and obtain, a multiple subject, single subject, or
education specialist teaching credential. The bill would require the
commission to contract with an independent evaluator with a proven
record of experience in assessing teacher training programs to
conduct an evaluation to determine the success of the program and
would require the evaluation to be conducted once every 5 years, with
the first evaluation being completed on or before July 1, 2021. The
bill would also require the commission, on or before January 1 of
each year, to report to the Legislature regarding the status of the
program, as specified. The bill would state the Legislature's intent
that that, each fiscal year, funding
for the program be allocated to the commission for grants for up to
1,000 new participants per year and would prohibit a grant to an
applicant from exceeding $4,000 per participant per year. The bill
would make funding for grants to applicants contingent upon an
appropriation in the annual Budget Act.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 44390 of the Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 44390 is added to the Education Code, to read:
44390. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) All children deserve a highly qualified teacher.
(b) California faces a severe teacher shortage.
(c) The demand for new teachers is growing due to the inability to
attract new teachers into the profession, the high attrition rate of
new teachers, and the retirement of existing teachers.
(d) California has a 50-percent higher pupil-to-teacher ratio than
any other state in the country at 24 to 1.
(e) It is estimated that California will need 60,000 additional
teachers to maintain the current pupil-to-teacher ratio.
bring pupil-to-teacher ratios back to prerecession
levels.
(f) If California will were to
reduce pupil-to-teacher ratios to the national average of 16 to 1,
school districts would need to hire 135,000
additional teachers in order to return to the prerecession
pupil-to-teacher ratio of 16 to 1. teachers.
(g) Teacher shortages vary by subject and region.
(h) Enrollment in teacher credentialing programs dropped 76
percent between 2002 and 2014.
(i) In 2014 and 2015, 40 percent of credentials were awarded to
underprepared teachers.
(j) The diversity in the teacher workforce in California does not
match the diversity of the pupil population.
(k) Roughly 65 percent of teachers are white, 20 percent are
Hispanic, and 15 percent are a different race or ethnicity.
(l) Classified school employees currently working in public
schools represent a potential pool of future teachers.
(m) Classified school employees as a group make up the most
diverse segment of the professional school community.
(n) Providing incentives for classified school employees to obtain
a bachelor's degree and become fully credentialed teachers is a
proven strategy to increase the number of highly qualified teachers
in California's schools.
SEC. 3. Section 44391 of the Education Code is amended to read:
44391. This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program.
SEC. 4. Section 44392 of the Education Code is amended to read:
44392. For the purposes of this article, unless the context
clearly requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
(a) "Applicant" means a school district or county office of
education applying for program funds under the California Classified
School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program.
(b) "Institutions of higher education" means the California
Community Colleges, the California State University, the University
of California, and private not-for-profit institutions of higher
education that offer a commission-approved teacher preparation
program.
(c) "Participant" means a classified school employee who elects to
participate in the California Classified School Employee Teacher
Credentialing Program.
(d) "Program" means the California Classified School Employee
Teacher Credentialing Program.
(e) "Classified school employee" means a noncertificated school
employee currently working in a public school pursuant to this
chapter.
(f) "Teacher training program" means an undergraduate or graduate
program of instruction conducted by a campus of an
institution of higher education teacher preparation
program approved by the commission that includes a
developmentally sequenced career ladder to provide instruction,
coursework, and clearly defined tasks for each level of the ladder,
and that is designed to qualify students enrolled in the program for
a teaching credential authorizing instruction in kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
SEC. 5. Section 44393 of the Education Code is amended to read:
44393. (a) The California Classified School Employee Teacher
Credentialing Program is hereby established for the purpose of
recruiting classified school employees to participate in a program
designed to encourage them to enroll in teacher training programs and
to provide instructional service as teachers in the public schools.
(b) Subject to an appropriation for these purposes in the annual
Budget Act, the commission shall issue a request for proposals to all
school districts and county offices of education in the state in
order to solicit applications for funding. The criteria adopted by
the commission for the selection of school districts or county
offices of education to participate in the program shall include all
of the following:
(1) The extent to which the applicant demonstrates the capacity
and willingness to accommodate the participation of classified school
employees in teacher training programs conducted at institutions of
higher education.
(2) The extent to which the applicant's plan for the
implementation of its recruitment program involves the active
participation of one or more local campuses of the participating
institutions of higher education in the development of coursework and
teaching programs for participating classified school employees.
Each selected applicant shall be required to enter into a written
articulation agreement with the participating campuses of the
institutions of higher education.
(3) The extent to which the applicant's plan for recruitment
attempts to meet the demand of teacher shortages in shortage areas in
kindergarten transitional kindergarten,
kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Each classified
school employee selected to participate shall have successfully
completed at least two years of undergraduate college or
university coursework and shall have demonstrated an interest in
obtaining a multiple subject or single subject teaching credential.
(4) The extent to which a developmentally sequenced series of job
descriptions leads from an entry-level classified school employee
position to an entry-level teaching position in that school district
or county office of education.
(5) The extent to which the applicant's plan for recruitment
attempts to meet its own specific teacher needs.
(c) An applicant that is selected to participate pursuant to
subdivision (b) shall provide information about the program to all
eligible classified school employees in the school district or county
office of education and assistance to each classified school
employee it recruits under the program regarding admission to a
teacher training program.
(d) (1) An applicant shall require participants to satisfy
all both of the following requirements
before participating in the program:
(A) Pass a criminal background check.
(B) Provide verification of one of the following:
(i) Has earned an associate or higher level degree.
(ii) Has successfully completed at least two years of
study at a postsecondary educational institution.
(2) An applicant shall certify that it has received a commitment
from each participant that he or she will accomplish all of the
following:
(A) Graduate from an institution of higher education under the
program with a bachelor's degree.
(B) Complete all of the requirements for, and obtain, a multiple
subject, single subject, or education specialist teaching credential.
(C) Complete one school year of classroom instruction in the
school district or county office of education for each year that he
or she receives assistance for books, fees, and tuition while
attending an institution of higher education under the program.
(e) The commission shall contract with an independent evaluator
with a proven record of experience in assessing teacher training
programs to conduct an evaluation to determine the success of the
program. The evaluation shall be conducted once every five years,
with the first evaluation being completed on or before July 1, 2021.
The commission shall submit the completed evaluation to the Governor
and the education policy and fiscal committees of the Assembly and
Senate.
(f) On or before January 1 of each year, the commission shall
report to the Legislature regarding the status of the program,
including, but not limited to, the number of classified school
employees recruited, the academic progress of the classified school
employees recruited, the number of classified school employees
recruited who are subsequently employed as teachers in the public
schools, the degree to which the applicant meets the teacher shortage
needs of the school district or county office of education, and the
ethnic and racial composition of the participants in the program. The
report shall be made in conformance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that
that, each fiscal year, funding for the California
Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program be allocated
to the commission for grants for up to 1,000 new participants per
year. A grant to an applicant shall not exceed four thousand dollars
($4,000) per participant per year. Funding for grants to applicants
shall be contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act.
