BILL NUMBER: SB 1208 CHAPTERED 07/06/04 CHAPTER 113 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 6, 2004 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 6, 2004 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JUNE 21, 2004 PASSED THE SENATE APRIL 29, 2004 INTRODUCED BY Senator Vincent FEBRUARY 10, 2004 An act to amend Section 44830 of the Education Code, relating to teachers. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1208, Vincent. Teachers: state basic skills proficiency test. Existing law prohibits the governing board of a school district from initially hiring, on a permanent, temporary, or substitute basis, a certificated person unless that person has demonstrated basic skills proficiency or is exempted from the requirement. Existing law exempts, among others, from that prohibition, a certificated person, who has been employed in a position requiring certification in any school district within 39 months prior to employment with the district. This bill would also exempt from that prohibition a retired certificated employee who has taught 15 years or more in a California public school and who meets other specified requirements. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 44830 of the Education Code is amended to read: 44830. (a) The governing board of a school district shall employ for positions requiring certification qualifications, only persons who possess the qualifications therefor prescribed by law. It is contrary to the public policy of this state for any person or persons charged, by the governing boards, with the responsibility of recommending persons for employment by the boards to refuse or to fail to do so for reasons of race, color, religious creed, sex, or national origin of the applicants for that employment. (b) A school district governing board shall not initially hire on a permanent, temporary, or substitute basis a certificated person seeking employment in the capacity designated in his or her credential, unless that person has demonstrated basic skills proficiency as provided in Section 44252.5 or is exempted from the requirement by subdivision (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (j), (k), (l), or (m). (1) The governing board of a school district, with the authorization of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, may administer the state basic skills proficiency test required under Sections 44252 and 44252.5. (2) The superintendent, in conjunction with the commission and local governing boards, shall take steps necessary to ensure the effective implementation of this subdivision. It is the intent of the Legislature that in effectively implementing this subdivision, school district governing boards shall direct superintendents of schools to prepare for emergencies by developing a pool of qualified emergency substitute teachers. This preparation shall include public notice of the test requirements and of the dates and locations of administrations of the tests. District governing boards shall make special efforts to encourage individuals who are known to be qualified in other respects as substitutes to take the state basic skills proficiency test at its earliest administration. (3) Demonstration of proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics by any person pursuant to Section 44252 satisfies the requirements of this subdivision. (c) (1) A certificated person is not required to take the state basic skills proficiency test if he or she has been employed in a position requiring certification in any school district within 39 months prior to employment with the district or if he or she is a retired certificated employee who meets all of the following requirements: (A) He or she has taught 15 years or more in a California public school. (B) He or she has been employed at least five of those 15 years in the same school district that desires to reemploy that person and has been employed as a full-time classroom teacher within the last five years or concurrently enrolls in a teacher refresher course that meets all of the following requirements: (i) The course is developed and administered by the employing school district. (ii) The course is aligned with the state content and performance standards for pupils, adopted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 60605. (iii) The course is approved by the local governing board. (C) He or she has been employed as a classroom teacher or administrator within the last 10 years. (2) A person holding a valid California credential who has not been employed in a position requiring certification in any school district within 39 months prior to employment and who has not taken the state basic skills proficiency test, but who has passed a basic skills proficiency examination that has been developed and administered by the school district offering that person employment, may be employed by the governing board of that school district on a temporary basis on the condition that he or she will take the state basic skills proficiency test within one year of the date of his or her employment. (3) A certificated person who is employed for purposes of the class size reduction program set forth in Chapter 6.10 (commencing with Section 52120) of Part 28 is not required to take the state basic skills proficiency test if he or she has been employed in a position requiring certification in any school district within 39 months prior to employment with the district. A person holding a valid California credential who has not been employed in a position requiring certification in any school district within 39 months prior to employment for purposes of the class size reduction program and who has not taken the state basic skills proficiency test may be employed by the governing board of that school district on a temporary basis on the condition that he or she will take the state basic skills proficiency test within one calendar year of the date of his or her employment. (d) This section does not require a person employed solely for purposes of teaching adults in an apprenticeship program, approved by the Apprenticeship Standards Division of the Department of Industrial Relations, to pass the state proficiency assessment instrument as a condition of employment. (e) This section does not require the holder of a child care permit or a permit authorizing service in a development center for the handicapped to take the state basic skills proficiency test, so long as the holder of the permit is not required to have a baccalaureate degree. (f) This section does not require the holder of a credential issued by the commission who seeks an additional credential or authorization to teach, to take the state basic skills proficiency test. (g) This section does not require the holder of a credential to provide service in the health profession to take the state basic skills proficiency test, if that person does not teach in the public schools. (h) If the state basic skills proficiency test is not administered at the time of hiring, the holder of a vocational designated subject credential who has not already taken and passed the state basic skills proficiency test may be hired on the condition that he or she will take the test at its next local administration. (i) If the holder of a vocational designated subject credential does not pass a proficiency assessment in basic skills pursuant to this section, he or she shall be given one year in which to retake and pass the proficiency assessment in basic skills. If at the expiration of the one-year period he or she has not passed the proficiency assessment in basic skills, he or she shall be subject to dismissal under procedures established in Article 3 (commencing with Section 44930). (j) This section does not require the holder of a vocational designated subject credential to pass the state basic skills proficiency test as a condition of employment. The governing board of each school district, or each governing board of a consortium of school districts, or each governing board involved in a joint powers agreement, which employs the holder of a vocational designated subject credential shall establish its own basic skills proficiency for these credentials and shall arrange for those individuals to be assessed. The basic skills proficiency criteria established by the governing board shall be at least equivalent to the test required by the district, or in the case of a consortium or a joint powers agreement, by any of the participating districts, for graduation from high school. The governing board or boards may charge a fee to individuals being tested to cover the costs of the test, including the costs of developing, administering, and grading the test. (k) This section does not require the holder of an adult education designated subject credential for other than academic subjects, who is employed in an instructional setting for 20 hours or less per week, to pass the state proficiency assessment as a condition of employment. (l) This section does not require certificated personnel employed under a foreign exchange program to take the state basic skills proficiency test. The maximum period of exemption under this subdivision shall be one year. (m) Notwithstanding any other law, a school district may hire a certificated teacher who has not taken the state basic skills proficiency test if that person has not yet been afforded the opportunity to take the test. The person shall take the test at the earliest opportunity and may remain employed by the district pending the receipt of his or her test results.