Bill Text: CA AB2401 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Teachers: California Beginning Teacher Support and

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [AB2401 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB2401-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 2401	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member O'Donnell

                        FEBRUARY 18, 2016

   An act relating to teachers, and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2401, as introduced, O'Donnell. Teachers: California Beginning
Teacher Support and Assessment System.
   Existing law establishes the California Beginning Teacher Support
and Assessment System, to be administered jointly by the Commission
on Teacher Credentialing and the Superintendent of Public Instruction
for specified purposes, including providing an effective transition
into the teaching career for first-year and 2nd-year teachers in
California.
   This bill would make legislative findings and declarations
regarding the teacher shortage in the state and the California
Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System.
   This bill would make an appropriation of an unspecified amount
from the General Fund to the Superintendent and the commission for
the 2016-17 fiscal year to fund the California Beginning Teacher
Support and Assessment System.
   This bill would also state the intent of the Legislature that
future funding for the California Beginning Teacher Support and
Assessment System be provided each year in the annual Budget Act.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) According to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the
number of pupils enrolled in teacher preparation programs declined by
more than 50 percent between 2008 and 2013.
   (b) At the same time that enrollment in teacher preparation
programs is declining, more than 20 percent of California's teachers
have more than 20 years of experience, meaning they are at or near
retirement age and will need to be replaced.
   (c) Among new teachers, 40 percent leave the profession within the
first five years, adding to the teacher shortage and reducing the
benefits of the state's investment in teacher preparation.
   (d) The California Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System
(Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44279.1) of Chapter 2 of Part
25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code), which was
established in 1992, has been shown to substantially increase new
teacher retention to nearly 90 percent. In addition, the California
Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System has been shown to
improve teacher effectiveness and pupil outcomes.
   (e) There is a clear state interest in continuing the California
Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System as a proven means of
effectively addressing the teacher shortage and improving teacher
effectiveness and pupil outcomes.
   (f) With the enactment of the local control funding formula,
ongoing funding targeted to the California Beginning Teacher Support
and Assessment System was eliminated.
   (g) While the local control funding formula is an effective system
for targeting spending to programs whose benefits accrue to local
educational agencies and their pupils, it is not an effective system
for the support of programs whose benefits primarily are external to
local educational agencies and are more statewide than local.
   (h) The California Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System
serves a compelling state interest and should be funded each year in
the annual Budget Act.
  SEC. 2.  The amount of ____ dollars ($____) is hereby appropriated
from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Education and
the Commission on Teacher Credentialing for the purposes of Section
44279.2 of the Education Code for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
  SEC. 3.  It is the intent of the Legislature that funding for the
California Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System (Article
4.5 (commencing with Section 44279.1) of Chapter 2 of Part 25 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code) be provided each year in
the annual Budget Act.