BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 449 (Muratsuchi) - Certificated School Employees: Misconduct
Reporting
Amended: June 6, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: July 1, 2013 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
This bill may meet the criteria for referral to the Suspense
File.
Bill Summary: AB 449 requires a superintendent of a school
district or county office of education (COE) or the
administrator of a charter school to report changes in the
employment status of certificated employees that result from
allegations of misconduct to the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing (CTC). This bill also makes failure of the
specified administrator to report a misdemeanor punishable by a
personal fine of between $500 and $1000.
Fiscal Impact: Potentially significant increased administrative
workload for the CTC, depending on the number of additional
misconduct reports it receives pursuant to this bill.
Background: Existing law provides that any principal, teacher,
or school officer of any elementary or secondary school who
refuses or willfully neglects to make reports to the CTC as are
required by law is guilty of a misdemeanor and is punishable by
a fine of not more than one hundred dollars. (Education Code §
44030)
Existing law further provides that each allegation of an act or
omission by an applicant for, or holder of, a credential for
which he or she may be subject to an adverse action shall be
presented to the CTC's Committee of Credentials. The Committee
of Credentials has jurisdiction to begin an initial review of a
credential upon receipt of any of the following:
1) Official records of the Department of Justice, of a law
enforcement agency, of a state or federal court, and of any
other agency of this state or another state.
AB 449 (Muratsuchi)
Page 1
2) An affidavit or declaration signed by person or persons
with personal knowledge of the acts alleged to constitute
misconduct.
3) A statement from an employer notifying the CTC that, as a
result of, or while an allegation of misconduct is pending,
a credential holder has been dismissed, suspended for more
than 10 days, or placed pursuant to a final adverse
employment action on unpaid administrative leave for more
than 10 days, or has resigned or otherwise left employment.
4) A notice from an employer that a complaint was filed with
the school district alleging sexual misconduct by a
credential holder.
5) A notice from a school district, employer, public agency,
or testing administrator of a violation of various sections
of law, as specified.
6) An affirmative response on an application submitted to the
commission as to any conviction, adverse action on, or
denial of, a license, or pending investigation into a
criminal allegation or pending investigation of a
noncriminal allegation of misconduct by a governmental
licensing entity, or failure to disclose any of these
matters. (Education Code § 44242.5)
Current regulations require the superintendent of an employing
school district to notify the CTC when a credential holder
working in a position requiring a credential is dismissed,
resigns, is suspended for more than 10 days, retires, or is
terminated as a result of an allegation of misconduct or while
an allegation of misconduct is pending. These regulations also
require the superintendent of the employing school district to
report the change in employment status to the CTC not later than
30 days after the employment action. (California Code of
Regulations Title 5, Section 80303).
Proposed Law: AB 449 requires the superintendent of a school
district or COE, or the administrator of a charter school,
employing a person with a credential to report any change in the
employment status of the credential holder to the CTC not later
than 30 days after the change in employment status, if the
credential holder, while working in a position requiring a
AB 449 (Muratsuchi)
Page 2
credential, and as a result of an allegation of misconduct or
while an allegation of misconduct is pending, dismissed, is
nonreelected, 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. This bill specifically provides that for
purposes of the reporting requirement a change of employment
status due solely to unsatisfactory performance or a reduction
in force is not a result of an allegation of misconduct. This
bill also:
1) Provides that the failure to make the report is
unprofessional conduct and may subject the superintendent
of the school district or COE, or the administrator of a
charter school, to adverse action by the CTC.
2) Requires that refusing or willfully neglecting to make the
report is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less
than $500 or more than $1,000, and that all fines imposed
are the personal responsibility of the superintendent of
the school district or COE, or the administrator of a
charter school, and may not be paid or reimbursed with
public funds.
Staff Comments: In November 2012, the California State Auditor
released a report regarding the Los Angeles Unified School
District's (LAUSD) handling of allegations of teacher
misconduct, in which the State Auditor found that LAUSD failed
to timely report at least 144 cases of teacher misconduct when
required to do so. As a result, the CTC was not able to review
teachers who may have been unfit for the classroom.
This bill seeks to strengthen reporting requirements for charter
school administrators, school district superintendents, and COE
superintendents to notify the CTC when a certificated employee
has a specified employment status change resulting from an
allegation of misconduct or while an allegation of misconduct is
pending. The bill clarifies what constitutes misconduct for the
purposes of the reporting requirement, and places penalties on
individuals who fail to report.
It is unclear how many charter school administrators, school
district superintendents, and COE superintendents are not
reporting this information to the CTC, and unclear how many
AB 449 (Muratsuchi)
Page 3
additional reports will be generated by the strengthened
penalties and clarified requirements of this bill. In 2011-12,
the CTC processed 765 such reports from LEAs statewide. If this
bill results in a significant increase in reports, the CTC will
be responsible for processing those increased reports.