BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 449
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 449 (Muratshuchi) - As Amended: April 25, 2013
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the superintendent of a school district or
county office of education (COE), or the administrator of a
charter school employing a person with a credential, to report
any change in the credentialholder's employment status to the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) no later than 30 days
after the change in status, as specified. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Requires any change in a credentialholder's employment status
(including as a result of an allegation of misconduct or while
an allegation is pending) to be reported to the CTC, if he or
she is dismissed, is nonrelected, resigns, is suspended or
placed on unpaid administrative leave for more than 10 days as
a final adverse action, retires, or is otherwise terminated by
a decision not to employ or reemploy.
2)Specifies a change in employment status due solely to
unsatisfactory performance or a reduction in force is not an
allegation of misconduct.
3)Deems the failure to make a report unprofessional conduct, and
authorizes a superintendent of a district or COE or the
administrator of a charter school to be subject to an adverse
action by the CTC.
4)Establishes a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less
than $500 or more than $1,000, for the refusal or willful
neglect to make a report. Further specifies all fines imposed
are the personal responsibility of the superintendent or
charter school administrator, and prohibits the payment of
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fines to be paid or reimbursed with public funds.
5)Repeals the requirement that any principal, teacher, employee,
or school officer who refuses or willfully neglects to make
reports required by law to the CTC is guilty of a misdemeanor
and is punishable by a fine of not more than $100.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Unknown, GF administrative costs, likely between $50,000 and
$150,000, to the CTC for increased workload to process
educator misconduct reports received from COE superintendents
and charter school administrators. Currently, the CTC only
receives these reports from school districts superintendents.
There are 58 counties and 1,062 charter schools in 2012-13.
2)Minor, non-reimbursable local law enforcement costs, offset by
fine revenue to establish a misdemeanor for the refusal or
willful neglect to make a report, as specified.
COMMENTS
1)Background . In order to teach in California public schools
(except for charter schools), an individual must obtain a
teaching credential from the CTC. The type of credential one
receives depends on the ages and subject matter taught. One
can also earn an administrative services credential, which
enables the individual to evaluate certificated personnel and
instructional services at a school cite level.
Existing law specifies any principal, teacher, employee, or
school officer who refuses or willfully neglects to make
reports required by law to the CTC is guilty of a misdemeanor,
punishable by a fine of not more than $100. This requirement
is broad and may include any reporting. This bill repeals
this statute and establishes a new reporting requirement
limited to employment information.
Current law, under the California Penal Code, establishes
specified school employees as mandated reporters of child
abuse. Specifically, school employees are required to report
suspected child abuse immediately or as soon as practically
possible by calling a law enforcement entity and filing a
suspected child abuse report within 36 hours.
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The California Code of Regulations (CCR) requires the
superintendent of the employing school district to report a
change in employment status to the CTC not later than 30 days
after a credentialholder is dismissed or nonrelected;
resigns; is suspended or placed on unpaid administrative
leave as a final adverse employment action for more than 10
days; retires; or is otherwise terminated by a decision not
to employ or re-employ; as a result of an allegation of
misconduct or while an allegation of misconduct is pending.
The regulations further require the report to be made to the
CTC regardless of any proposed or actual agreement,
settlement, or stipulation not to make such a report. The
report is required to be made if allegations served on the
credentialholder are withdrawn in consideration of the
holder's resignation, retirement or other failure to contest
the truth of the allegations.
Under the CCR, a failure to make a report constitutes
unprofessional conduct. The Committee on Credentials may
investigate any superintendent who holds a credential and who
fails to file reports required by this section.
2)Purpose . In November 2012, the State Auditor (SA), released a
report entitled Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD):
It Could Do More to Improve its Handling of Child Abuse Cases.
According to the SA, [LAUSD] "often did not properly notify
the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (commission) when
required to do so. After reviewing past practices, the
district reported 600 cases to the commission in a span of
three months. At least 144 of these cases - including cases
involving employee misconduct against students - were
submitted a year or more late. Of the 144 cases, 31 were more
than three years late when reported to the commission."
According to the author, "Existing law does not grant the CTC
clear authority to investigate or hold a superintendent
accountable for failure to make a report when a school
district takes employment action against a credential holder
as a result of an allegation of misconduct. In particular,
the State Auditor's report highlighted one case where the
Superintendent failed to report an allegation of sexual
misconduct for three years. This teacher allegedly had a
sexual relationship with a student however, the district's
lack of timely reporting meant that for 3.5 years the CTC
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could not take any steps to revoke the teacher's certificate
and thus prevent the teacher from working in other school
districts. Reporting delays not only jeopardize the safety of
students at the teacher's current school, but also any school
district throughout the state."
3)CTC updated regulations on reporting employment status . On
April 19, 2013, the CTC (commission) considered language to
update its regulations "to clarify the requirement for a
superintendent to report when a school district takes an
adverse employment action against a credential holder."
These regulations exist to ensure the fitness of a
credentialholder as well as the public safety of public school
children. According to the CTC, "the regulation in its
current form lacks clarity in some areas and contributes
to?ongoing problems. First, the existing language often
results in districts over-reporting, to include such
'misconduct' as unsatisfactory performance style or such final
employment actions as lay-offs or reductions in workforce.
This over-reporting consumes valuable commission resources
that are better invested in reviewing final employment actions
that arise from genuine misconduct."
Specifically, the regulations amend the reporting requirement
to: (a) ensure that resources are devoted to the review of
genuine educator misconduct; (b) secure complete and adequate
case files for efficient review of educator misconduct; and
(c) clarify for the public information sufficient for the
commission to obtain jurisdiction to commence an investigation
as to superintendents who fail to satisfy reporting
requirements.
The CTC has heard public comment of the regulations and now
must respond to these comments. Once this occurs, it can
forward the regulations to the Office of Administrative Law
for further action. The commission expects the regulations to
be adopted sometime this fall. This bill codifies a portion
of the regulations that excludes the reporting of
credentialholders who are laid off or are terminated for
unsatisfactory performance, as specified.
4)Related legislation .
a) AB 349 (Gatto), pending in the Assembly Education
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Committee, establishes a new process for tracking
classified employees who have a change in employment status
while an allegation of misconduct involving a child is
pending, as specified.
b) AB 1338 (Buchanan), pending in this committee, requires
the governing board of a school district and county office
of education (COE) and the governing body of a charter
school to adopt a policy on the reporting of child abuse
and the responsibilities of mandated reporters in
accordance with the Child Abuse and Neglect and Reporting
Act.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081