BILL NUMBER: SB 837 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 585
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 7, 2001
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 5, 2001
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2001
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 10, 2001
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 5, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2001
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 28, 2001
INTRODUCED BY Senator Scott
FEBRUARY 23, 2001
An act to amend Section 44300 of the Education Code, relating to
teacher credentialing, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take
effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 837, Scott. Teacher credentialing: emergency permits.
Existing law authorizes the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to
issue or renew emergency teaching or specialist permits in
accordance with regulations adopted by the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing and provided that certain conditions are met, including
that the school district made a diligent search for, but is unable
to recruit, a sufficient number of certificated teachers.
This bill would define the requirement that a school district make
a diligent search for certificated teachers by listing specific
requirements.
The bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an
urgency statute.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 44300 of the Education Code is amended to read:
44300. (a) Commencing January 1, 1990, the commission may issue
or renew emergency teaching or specialist permits in accordance with
regulations adopted by the commission corresponding to the credential
types specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (b)
of Section 44225, provided that all of the following conditions are
met:
(1) The applicant possesses a baccalaureate degree conferred by a
regionally accredited institution of higher education and has
fulfilled the subject matter requirements of Section 44301.
(2) The applicant passes the state basic skills proficiency test
as provided for in Section 44252.
(3) The commission approves the justification for the emergency
permit submitted by the school district in which the applicant is to
be employed. The justification shall include all of the following:
(A) Annual documentation that the district has implemented in
policy and practices a process for conducting a diligent search that
shall include, but is not limited to, distributing job announcements,
contacting college and university placement centers, advertising in
local newspapers, exploring the incentives included in the Teaching
As A Priority Block Grant established pursuant to Section 44735,
participating in the state and regional recruitment centers
established pursuant to Sections 44751 and 90530, and participating
in job fairs in this state, but has been unable to recruit a
sufficient number of certificated teachers, including teacher
candidates pursuing full certification through internship, district
internship, or other alternative routes established by the
commission.
(B) A declaration of need for fully qualified educators based on
the documentation set forth in subparagraph (A) and made in the form
of a motion adopted by the governing board of the district or the
county board of education at a regularly scheduled meeting of the
governing board or the county board of education. The motion may not
be part of the consent agenda and shall be entered in the minutes of
the meeting.
(b) The commission may deny a request for an emergency permit that
does not meet the justification set forth in subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that all of the following
occur:
(1) The commission shall issue preintern certificates in place of
emergency teaching permits as sufficient resources are made available
to school districts to provide services pursuant to Article 5.6
(commencing with Section 44305) to preinterns pursuing multiple
subject or single subject teaching credentials.
(2) If the examination of the Pre-Internship Teaching Program
required by this chapter demonstrates that the program should
continue because it has been successful in better preparing and
retaining preintern teachers than the emergency permit system,
sufficient resources to fully fund the Pre-Internship Teaching
Program shall be appropriated by July 2002. For purposes of this
paragraph, two thousand dollars ($2,000) in state funding per
preintern shall be deemed to be sufficient resources.
(3) The commission shall continue to issue emergency teaching
permits to individuals employed by school districts defined in
regulations as remote from regionally accredited institutions of
higher education.
(d) Commencing January 1, 1990, the commission may issue and
reissue emergency permits corresponding to the credential types
specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 44225. The
commission shall establish appropriate standards for each type of
emergency permit specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of
Section 44225.
(e) The exclusive representative of certificated employees, if
any, as provided under Chapter 10.7 (commencing with Section 3540) of
Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code, may submit a written
statement to the commission agreeing or disagreeing with the
justification submitted to the commission pursuant to paragraph (3)
of subdivision (a).
(f) Commencing January 1, 1990, a person holding an emergency
teaching or specialist permit shall attend an orientation to the
curriculum and to techniques of instruction and classroom management,
and shall teach only with the assistance and guidance of a
certificated employee of the district who has completed at least
three years of full-time teaching experience, or the equivalent
thereof. It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage districts
to provide directed teaching experience to new emergency
permitholders with no prior teaching experience.
(g) The holder of an emergency permit shall participate in ongoing
training, coursework, or seminars designed to prepare the individual
to become a fully credentialed teacher or other educator in the
subject area or areas in which he or she is assigned to teach or
serve. The employing agency shall verify that employees applying to
renew their emergency permits are meeting these ongoing training
requirements.
(h) Emergency permits for pupil personnel services shall not be
valid for the purpose of determining pupil eligibility for placement
in any special education class or program.
(i) This section shall not apply to the issuance of an emergency
substitute teaching permit, or of an emergency permit to a teacher
who has consented to teach temporarily outside of his or her field of
certification, for which the commission shall establish minimum
requirements.
SEC. 2. This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the
meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate
effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order to address the shortage of teachers in a timely manner,
it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.