BILL NUMBER: AB 1262 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 4, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Dickinson
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend, repeal, and add Sections 44956 and 44957
of the Education Code, relating to education employment, and
declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
An act to amend Sections 47616.5 and 48352 of the
Education Code, relating to charter schools.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1262, as amended, Dickinson. Education employment:
right to reappointment. Charter schools.
(1) The Charter Schools Act of 1992 authorizes any one or more
persons to submit a petition to the governing board of a school
district to establish a charter school that operates independently
from the existing school district structure as a method of
accomplishing specified goals. Existing law requires the Legislative
Analyst to contract for a neutral evaluator to conduct an evaluation
of the effectiveness of the charter school approach, as specified,
and for this neutral evaluator, on or before July 1, 2003, to report
to the Legislature and the Governor with recommendations to modify,
expand, or terminate the charter school approach.
This bill would require that the neutral evaluator report this
evaluation on or before July 1, 2016.
(2) Existing law, the Open Enrollment Act, authorizes the parent
of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school, as defined, to submit
an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district
of enrollment, as defined. The act requires the Superintendent of
Public Instruction to annually create a list of 1,000 low-achieving
schools, according to specified criteria. The act excludes charter
schools from this list.
This bill would eliminate the exclusion of charter schools from
this list.
Existing law provides that when permanent and probationary
employees are terminated pursuant to a reduction in workforce, a
school district is required to terminate the employees in order of
seniority. Existing law requires that a permanent employee terminated
pursuant to these provisions, for the period of 39 months from the
date of the termination, and who has not reached 65 years of age in
the meantime, have the preferred right to reappointment, in order of
seniority. Existing law provides similar rights to reappointment for
probationary employees, for the period of 24 months from the date of
termination.
This bill would eliminate the age limit of 65 years. The bill
would eliminate the 39-month limitation for permanent employees
terminated commencing with the 2007-08 school year, and would restore
the 39-month limitation commencing on July 1, 2016. The bill would
eliminate the 24-month limitation for probationary employees
terminated commencing with the 2008-09 school year, and would restore
the 24-month limitation commencing on July 1, 2016.
The bill would make various technical, nonsubstantive changes.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as
an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3 majority . Appropriation:
no. Fiscal committee: no yes .
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 47616.5 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
47616.5. The Legislative Analyst shall contract for a neutral
evaluator to conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the
charter school approach authorized under this part. On or before July
1, 2003 2016 , the neutral evaluator
shall report directly to the Legislature and the Governor with
recommendations to modify, expand, or terminate the charter school
approach. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the charter school
approach shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following
factors:
(a) If available, the pre- and post-charter school test scores of
pupils attending charter schools and other pupil assessment tools.
(b) The level of parental satisfaction with the charter school
approach compared with schools within the district in which the
charter school is located.
(c) The impact of required parental involvement.
(d) The fiscal structures and practices of charter schools as well
as the relationship of these structures and practices to school
districts, including the amount of revenue received from various
public and private sources.
(e) An assessment of whether or not the charter school approach
has resulted in increased innovation and creativity.
(f) Opportunities for teachers under the charter school approach.
(g) Whether or not there is an increased focus on low-achieving
and gifted pupils.
(h) Any discrimination and segregation in charter schools.
(i) If available, the number of charter school petitions submitted
to governing boards of school districts and the number of those
proposals that are denied, per year, since the enactment of the
charter school law, including the reasons why the governing boards
denied these petitions, and the reasons governing boards have revoked
charters.
(j) The governance, fiscal liability and accountability practices
and related issues between charter schools and the governing boards
of the school districts approving their charters.
(k) The manner in which governing boards of school districts
monitor the compliance of the conditions, standards, and procedures
entered into under a charter.
( l ) The extent of the employment of noncredentialed
personnel in charter schools.
(m) An assessment of how the exemption from laws governing school
districts allows charter schools to operate differently than schools
operating under those laws.
(n) A comparison in each school district that has a charter school
of the pupil dropout rate in the charter schools and in the
noncharter schools.
(o) The role and impact of collective bargaining on charter
schools.
SEC. 2. Section 48352 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
48352. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Low-achieving school" means any school identified by the
Superintendent pursuant to the following:
(1) Excluding the schools, and taking into account the impact of
the criteria in paragraph (2), the Superintendent annually shall
create a list of 1,000 schools ranked by increasing API
Academic Performance Index with the same ratio
of elementary, middle, and high schools as existed in decile 1 in the
2008-09 school year.
(2) In constructing the list of 1,000 schools each year, the
Superintendent shall ensure each both
of the following:
(A) A local educational agency shall not have more than 10 percent
of its schools on the list. However, if the number of schools in a
local educational agency is not evenly divisible by 10, the
Superintendent shall round up to the next whole number of schools.
(B) Court, community, or community day schools shall not be
included on the list.
(C) Charter schools shall not be included on the list.
(b) "Parent" means the natural or adoptive parent or guardian of a
dependent child.
(c) "School district of enrollment" means a school district other
than the school district in which the parent of a pupil resides, but
in which the parent of the pupil nevertheless intends to enroll the
pupil pursuant to this article.
(d) "School district of residence" means a school district in
which the parent of a pupil resides and in which the pupil would
otherwise be required to enroll pursuant to Section 48200.
SECTION 1. Section 44956 of the Education Code
is amended to read:
44956. A permanent employee whose services have been terminated
commencing with the 2007-08 school year, as provided in Section
44955, shall have the following rights:
(a) An employee shall have the preferred right to reappointment,
in the order of original employment as determined by the governing
board in accordance with the provisions of Sections 44831 to 44855,
inclusive, if the number of employees is increased or the
discontinued service is reestablished, with no requirements that were
not imposed upon other employees who continued in service; provided,
that a probationary or other employee with less seniority shall not
be employed to render a service that the employee is certificated and
competent to render. However, prior to reappointing any employee to
teach a subject that he or she has not previously taught, and for
which he or she does not have a teaching credential or that is not
within the employee's major area of postsecondary study or the
equivalent thereof, the governing board shall require the employee to
pass a subject matter competency test in the appropriate subject.
(b) The right to reappointment described in subdivision (a) may be
waived by the employee, without prejudice, for not more than one
school year, unless the governing board extends this right, but the
waiver shall not deprive the employee of his or her right to
subsequent offers of reappointment.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school district may deviate
from the order of seniority in reappointing a certificated employee
for either of the following reasons:
(1) The school district demonstrates a specific need for personnel
to teach a specific course or course of study, or to provide
services authorized by a services credential with a specialization in
either pupil personnel services or health for a school nurse, and
the employee has special training and experience necessary to teach
that course or course of study, or to provide those services, which
others with more seniority do not possess.
(2) For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws.
(d) For an employee who is reappointed, the period of his or her
absence shall be treated as a leave of absence and shall not be
considered as a break in the continuity of his or her service, he or
she shall retain the classification and order of employment he or she
had when his or her services were terminated, and credit for prior
service under any state or district retirement system shall not be
affected by the termination, but the period of his or her absence
shall not count as a part of the service required for retirement.
(e) During the period of his or her preferred right to
reappointment, an employee, in the order of original employment,
shall be offered prior opportunity for substitute service during the
absence of any other employee who has been granted a leave of absence
or who is temporarily absent from duty. However, his or her services
may be terminated upon the return to duty of the other employee and
the substitute service shall not affect the retention of his or her
previous classification and rights. If, in any school year the
employee serves as a substitute in any position requiring
certification for any 21 days or more within a period of 60
schooldays, the compensation the employee receives for substitute
service in that 60-day period, including his or her first 20 days of
substitute service, shall be not less than the amount the employee
would have received if he or she were being reappointed.
(f) During the period of the employee's preferred right to
reappointment, the governing board of the school district, if it is
also the governing board of one or more other districts, may assign
him or her to service, which he or she is certificated and competent
to render, in the other district or districts. However, the
compensation the employee receives may in the discretion of the
governing board be the same as he or she would have received had he
or she been serving in the district from which his or her services
were terminated, and his or her service in the other district or
districts shall be counted toward the period required for both state
and local retirement, as defined by Section 22102, as though rendered
in the district from which his or her services were terminated, and
a permanent employee in the other district or districts shall not be
displaced by him or her.
It is the intent of this subdivision that the employees of a
school district, the governing board of which is also the governing
board of one or more other school districts, shall not be at a
disadvantage as compared with employees of a unified school district.
(g) At any time prior to the completion of one year after the
employee's return to service, he or she may continue or make up, with
interest, his or her own contributions to a state or district
retirement system, for the period of his or her absence, but it shall
not be obligatory on the state or district to match these
contributions.
(h) If the employee becomes disabled or reaches retirement age at
any time before his or her return to service, he or she shall
receive, in any state or district retirement system of which he or
she was a member, all benefits to which he or she would have been
entitled had the disability or retirement occurred at the time of his
or her termination of service, plus any benefits he or she may have
qualified for thereafter, as though still employed.
(i) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2016, and, as
of January 1, 2017, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2017, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 44956 is added to the Education
Code, to read:
44956. A permanent employee whose services have been terminated
as provided in Section 44955 shall have the following rights:
(a) For the period of 39 months from the date of the termination,
an employee shall have the preferred right to reappointment, in the
order of original employment as determined by the governing board in
accordance with the provisions of Sections 44831 to 44855, inclusive,
if the number of employees is increased or the discontinued service
is reestablished, with no requirements that were not imposed upon
other employees who continued in service, provided that a
probationary or other employee with less seniority shall not be
employed to render a service that the employee is certificated and
competent to render. However, prior to reappointing any employee to
teach a subject that he or she has not previously taught, and for
which he or she does not have a teaching credential or that is not
within the employee's major area of postsecondary study or the
equivalent thereof, the governing board shall require the employee to
pass a subject matter competency test in the appropriate subject.
(b) The right to reappointment described in subdivision (a) may be
waived by the employee, without prejudice, for not more than one
school year, unless the governing board extends this right, but the
waiver shall not deprive the employee of his or her right to
subsequent offers of reappointment.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school district may deviate
from the order of seniority in reappointing a certificated employee
for either of the following reasons:
(1) The school district demonstrates a specific need for personnel
to teach a specific course or course of study, or to provide
services authorized by a services credential with a specialization in
either pupil personnel services or health for a school nurse, and
the employee has special training and experience necessary to teach
that course or course of study, or to provide those services, which
others with more seniority do not possess.
(2) For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws.
(d) For an employee who is reappointed, the period of his or her
absence shall be treated as a leave of absence and shall not be
considered as a break in the continuity of his or her service, he or
she shall retain the classification and order of employment he or she
had when his or her services were terminated, and credit for prior
service under any state or district retirement system shall not be
affected by the termination, but the period of his or her absence
shall not count as a part of the service required for retirement.
(e) During the period of his or her preferred right to
reappointment, an employee, in the order of original employment,
shall be offered prior opportunity for substitute service during the
absence of any other employee who has been granted a leave of absence
or who is temporarily absent from duty. However, his or her services
may be terminated upon the return to duty of the other employee and
the substitute service shall not affect the retention of his or her
previous classification and rights. If, in any school year the
employee serves as a substitute in any position requiring
certification for any 21 days or more within a period of 60
schooldays, the compensation the employee receives for substitute
service in that 60-day period, including his or her first 20 days of
substitute service, shall be not less than the amount the employee
would have received if he or she were being reappointed.
(f) During the period of the employee's preferred right to
reappointment, the governing board of the school district, if it is
also the governing board of one or more other school districts, may
assign him or her to service, which he or she is certificated and
competent to render, in the other district or districts. However, the
compensation the employee receives may in the discretion of the
governing board be the same as he or she would have received had he
or she been serving in the district from which his or her services
were terminated, and his or her service in the other district or
districts shall be counted toward the period required for both state
and local retirement, as defined by Section 22102, as though rendered
in the district from which his or her services were terminated, and
a permanent employee in the other district or districts shall not be
displaced by him or her.
It is the intent of this subdivision that the employees of a
school district, the governing board of which is also the governing
board of one or more other school districts, shall not be at a
disadvantage as compared with employees of a unified school district.
(g) At any time prior to the completion of one year after the
employee's return to service, he or she may continue or make up, with
interest, his or her own contributions to a state or district
retirement system, for the period of his or her absence, but it shall
not be obligatory on the state or district to match these
contributions.
(h) If the employee becomes disabled or reaches retirement age at
any time before his or her return to service, he or she shall
receive, in any state or district retirement system of which he or
she was a member, all benefits to which he or she would have been
entitled had the disability or retirement occurred at the time of his
or her termination of service, plus any benefits he or she may have
qualified for thereafter, as though still employed.
(i) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2016.
SEC. 3. Section 44957 of the Education Code is
amended to read:
44957. A probationary employee whose services have been
terminated commencing with the 2008-09 school year, as provided in
Section 44955, shall have the following rights:
(a) An employee shall have the preferred right to reappointment,
subject to the prior rights to reappointment by all permanent
employees as set forth in Section 44956, in the order of original
employment as determined by the governing board in accordance with
the provisions of Sections 44831 to 44855, inclusive, if the number
of employees is increased or the discontinued service is
reestablished, with no requirements that were not imposed upon other
employees who continued in service. Except as otherwise provided, a
probationary or temporary employee with less seniority shall not be
employed to render a service that the employee is certificated and
competent to render and the employee shall be given a priority over
employees whose right to a position is derived pursuant to Section
44918. However, prior to reappointing an employee to teach a subject
that he or she has not previously taught, and for which he or she
does not have a teaching credential or that is not within the
employee's major area of postsecondary study or the equivalent
thereof, the governing board shall require the employee to pass a
subject matter competency test in the appropriate subject.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school district may deviate
from reappointing a probationary employee in order of seniority for
either of the following reasons:
(1) The school district demonstrates a specific need for personnel
to teach a specific course or course of study, or to provide
services authorized by a services credential with a specialization in
either pupil personnel services or health for a school nurse, and
the employee has special training and experience necessary to teach
that course or course of study, or to provide those services, which
others with more seniority do not possess.
(2) For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws.
(c) For an employee who is reappointed, the period of his or her
absence shall be treated as a leave of absence and shall not be
considered as a break in the continuity of his or her service, he or
she shall retain the classification and order of employment he or she
had when his or her services were terminated, and credit for prior
service under any state or district retirement system shall not be
affected by the termination. However, the period of his or her
absence shall not be counted as a part of the service required for
attaining permanent status in the district or, except as provided in
subdivision (e), for retirement purposes.
(d) During the period of his or her preferred right to
reappointment, an employee, in the order of original employment, and
subject to the rights of permanent employees as set forth in Section
44956, shall be offered prior opportunity for substitute service
during the absence of any other employee who has been granted leave
of absence or who is temporarily absent from duty. However, his or
her services may be terminated upon a return to duty of the other
employee, the substitute service shall not affect the retention of
his or her previous classification and rights, and the employee shall
be given a priority over employees whose right to a substitute
position is derived pursuant to Section 44918.
(e) At any time prior to the completion of one year after his or
her return to service, an employee reappointed under the provisions
of this section may elect to continue or to reinstate his or her
membership and interest in any state or district retirement system
and to receive retirement benefits as if no absence from service had
occurred. In the event of this election the employee shall pay into
the retirement system the amount of his or her share of contribution
and the district's share of contribution attributable to the period
of absence and the amount of any contributions withdrawn, plus
interest.
(f) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2016, and, as
of January 1, 2017, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2017, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 4. Section 44957 is added to the Education
Code, to read:
44957. A probationary employee whose services have been
terminated as provided in Section 44955 shall have the following
rights:
(a) For the period of 24 months from the date of the termination,
an employee shall have the preferred right to reappointment, subject
to the prior rights to reappointment by all permanent employees as
set forth in Section 44956, in the order of original employment as
determined by the governing board in accordance with the provisions
of Sections 44831 to 44855, inclusive, if the number of employees is
increased or the discontinued service is reestablished, with no
requirements that were not imposed upon other employees who continued
in service. Except as otherwise provided, a probationary or
temporary employee with less seniority shall not be employed to
render a service that the employee is certificated and competent to
render and the employee shall be given a priority over employees
whose right to a position is derived pursuant to Section 44918.
However, prior to reappointing an employee to teach a subject that he
or she has not previously taught, and for which he or she does not
have a teaching credential or that is not within the employee's major
area of postsecondary study or the equivalent thereof, the governing
board shall require the employee to pass a subject matter competency
test in the appropriate subject.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school district may deviate
from reappointing a probationary employee in order of seniority for
either of the following reasons:
(1) The school district demonstrates a specific need for personnel
to teach a specific course or course of study, or to provide
services authorized by a services credential with a specialization in
either pupil personnel services or health for a school nurse, and
the employee has special training and experience necessary to teach
that course or course of study, or to provide those services, which
others with more seniority do not possess.
(2) For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws.
(c) For an employee who is reappointed, the period of his or her
absence shall be treated as a leave of absence and shall not be
considered as a break in the continuity of his or her service, he or
she shall retain the classification and order of employment he or she
had when his or her services were terminated, and credit for prior
service under any state or district retirement system shall not be
affected by the termination. However, the period of his or her
absence shall not be counted as a part of the service required for
attaining permanent status in the district or, except as provided in
subdivision (e), for retirement purposes.
(d) During the period of his or her preferred right to
reappointment, an employee, in the order of original employment, and
subject to the rights of permanent employees as set forth in Section
44956, shall be offered prior opportunity for substitute service
during the absence of any other employee who has been granted leave
of absence or who is temporarily absent from duty. However, his or
her services may be terminated upon a return to duty of the other
employee, the
substitute service shall not affect the retention of his or her
previous classification and rights, and the employee shall be given a
priority over employees whose right to a substitute position is
derived pursuant to Section 44918.
(e) At any time prior to the completion of one year after his or
her return to service, an employee reappointed under the provisions
of this section may elect to continue or to reinstate his or her
membership and interest in any state or district retirement system
and to receive retirement benefits as if no absence from service had
occurred. In the event of this election the employee shall pay into
the retirement system the amount of his or her share of contribution
and the district's share of contribution attributable to the period
of absence and the amount of any contributions withdrawn, plus
interest.
(f) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2016.
SEC. 5. 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 preserve the public and private investment in the
training of certificated employees who have been subject to layoff
from public school employment in unprecedented numbers in the past
three years, and to ensure that these qualified employees remain in
the teaching profession as opposed to seeking employment in other
fields, it is necessary to temporarily extend their rights to rehire
for the next three years, until state funding for public education
increases, and thus, it is necessary that this act take effect
immediately.