BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1619
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Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1619 (Gonzalez) - As Amended: April 8, 2014
Policy Committee: EducationVote:4-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill, as of July 1, 2015, expands the classification of
permanent status employees. Specifically, this bill:
1)Extends permanent status authorization to all nonsupervisory,
nonmanagement employees who work in positions requiring
certification in school districts and county offices of
education (COEs), as specified.
2)Extends permanent status authorization to all certificated
employees at school districts and COEs. Specifically:
a) For school districts and COEs with 250 or less average
daily attendance (ADA), permanent status is granted to an
employee that has been employed by the district or COE for
three consecutive years and is reelected for the next year.
b) For school districts and COEs with 250 or more ADA,
permanent status is granted to an employee that has been
employed by the district or COE for two consecutive years
and is reelected for the next year.
3)Clarifies that provisions related to probation, attainment of
permanent employment status and dismissal that are otherwise
applicable to employees of the school district or COE, are
applicable.
4)Deletes the prohibition on including service as an instructor,
conducted at regional occupational centers or programs
(ROC/Ps), toward the service required to attain permanent
employee status, and, instead requires service as an
instructor at an ROC/P to be counted toward the service
AB 1619
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requirement to attain permanent employee status at a school
district.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Unknown, potentially significant GF/Proposition 98 costs to
school districts and COEs to the extent permanent employees
seek due process related to dismissal. Costs associated with
due process hearings or other dismissal proceedings can range
from $10,000 to over $100,000 per case, depending on the
scope.
It is estimated that 1,300 employees in small school districts
would now be eligible for permanent status. The bill also
extends due process rights to ROC/P instructors and certain
nonsupervisory, nonmanagement employees, such as school
counselors, psychologists, speech therapists.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose. The California Teachers Association and the
California School Employees Association, sponsors of the bill,
state that several classes of certificated employees have been
inappropriately denied permanent status based on the need to
create fiscal solvency or anticipation that the need for
future service is unsure. This bill would provide all
non-administrative employees serving in a position requiring
certification with permanent status following completion of a
probationary period.
2)Probationary vs. Permanent employee. Existing law allows for
dismissal of probationary employees for unsatisfactory
performance or cause. "Probationary employees" have statutory
timelines for notice of dismissal and the ability to appeal.
"Permanent employee" status guarantees more extensive due
process rights if the employee is dismissed. In the case of
dismissal, permanent employee status allows employees to
request a hearing before a Commission on Professional
Competence to decide whether their dismissal was appropriate.
According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, 100 dismissal
hearings were heard in the entire state between 1996 and 2005.
3)ROP Teachers . This bill requires service as an ROC/P teacher
to count toward attaining permanent employee status. With the
implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF),
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ROC/Ps no longer receive separate categorical program funding.
However, existing law requires districts to maintain their
2012-13 level of ROC/P funding for two years. After the
two-year period, local funding for ROC/Ps is optional.
If this bill is implemented January 1, 2015, existing ROC/P
teachers would attain permanent employee status, however, one
year later, designated funding for ROC/Ps will be folded into
the LCFF funding formula. Generally, ROC/P teachers have not
been given permanent employee status due to the volatile
nature of ROC/P funding and industry changes regarding
specific courses offered through those programs.
According to the sponsors, however, in at least one school
district, ROC/P teachers have been employed continuously for
nearly 18 years.
4)Opposition. The Association of California School
Administrators opposes the bill, citing concerns that
expanding the rights of permanent teachers to all certificated
employees will be cost and time prohibitive. They note that
flexibility has been allowed to address the changing needs of
a student populations. Expanding the definition of who
qualifies for permanent status to all certificated employees
significantly limits flexibility.
5)Prior legislation . AB 165 (Cohn) of 2001 would have required
COEs with 250 or more ADA to grant permanent status to
non-supervisory, nonmanagement employees who work in positions
requiring certification if the individual works two
consecutive school years and is rehired for the next (third)
year. This bill was held on the Suspense File in this
committee.
Analysis Prepared by : Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081