BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 1264 (Pavley) - Educator Excellence Program: Loan Assumption
Agreements
Amended: May 7, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 8-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 19, 2014 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1264 establishes the Educator Excellence
Program (EEP), an assumption loan program to be administered by
the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) for up to 6,500
teachers who satisfy all of the following: a) complete initial
or additional teaching credentials, a qualifying master's degree
in education or teaching, or National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards Certification (Board certification); b) agree
to teach in a subject area designated as an area of teacher
shortage; and, c) agree to teach at a school site that has a
population of unduplicated English learner (EL), students
eligible for free or reduced-price meals, and foster youth equal
to or greater than the district's unduplicated pupil count under
the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The bill also declares
the Legislature's intent that the program be fully funded
commencing with the Budget Act of 2015.
Fiscal Impact:
EEP loan assumptions: Up to $71.5 million (General Fund)
per cohort, with actual loan assumption payments beginning
2017-18.
CSAC administration: Significant new workload to promulgate
regulations for, establish, and administer the new program.
The CSAC would likely require at least 2 PYs to establish
program guidelines, specific eligibility criteria for
applicants and programs, and an application process. Costs
would likely be in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Automation: Potentially significant costs to the CSAC to
create an online application process for the EEP.
Study: Potentially significant costs to the California
Department of Education (CDE) to conduct the required study
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and determine EEP priorities.
Background: The Assumption Program Loans for Education (APLE)
program was established in 1983 to provide loan assumption
benefits to credentialed teachers, and is administered by CSAC.
Generally, APLE warrants are given to credential candidates; the
warrants are then redeemed for the loan assumption benefit once
the candidate has earned a credential and completed a year of
eligible teaching. The program is designed to increase the
number of qualified teachers in disadvantaged schools or
high-priority subject areas. The program "forgives" up to
$11,000 of college loan debt for a person who teaches for 4
consecutive years in a qualifying school or subject area (paying
$2,000 for the first year of teaching service and $3,000 for
each of the next three years of teaching).
Qualifying schools include those with high proportions of
low-income students or emergency permit teachers, and those
located in rural areas. Qualifying subject areas are those with
teacher shortages, and are annually determined by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction; math, science and special
education have been listed consistently for many years.
(Education Code § 69612)
Additional loan forgiveness of $1,000 per year for up to four
years is provided for those who teach math, science or special
education (for a total of $15,000) and an additional $1,000 is
provided for those who teach math, science or special education
in schools with an academic performance index (API) of 1 or 2
(for a total of $19,000).
(EC § 69613.8)
Existing law authorizes up to 6,500 agreements subject to
authorization by the Governor and Legislature in the annual
Budget Act. Generally, APLE warrants are given to credential
candidates; the warrants are then redeemed for the loan
assumption benefit once the candidate has earned a credential
and completed a year of eligible teaching. The CSAC is
prohibited from awarding a greater number of agreements than is
authorized in the annual Budget Act. (EC § 69612-69615.8)
Proposed Law: This bill establishes the EEP, a new program under
the administration of the CSAC, and requires the Commission to:
a) administer the program; b) adopt program rules and
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regulations, as specified; c) develop procedures for the
evaluation and selection of qualified applicants for
participation in the program, in coordination with the SPI.
EEP participants must meet specified eligibility criteria,
including agreeing to teach: a) for the equivalent of 4
consecutive full-time academic years; b) in a subject area
designated as an area of teacher shortage; c) at a school
district that has qualified for an LCFF concentration grant;
and, d) at a school site that has a population of unduplicated
English learner, low-income, and foster youth equal to or
greater than the district's unduplicated pupil count under the
LCFF.
This bill establishes for the EEP the same eligibility
requirements, deferrals, and exceptions, and related criteria
for participants pursuing initial credentials or added
authorizations as that which exists for the APLE program, as
specified.
This bill authorizes up to 400 loan assumption agreements for
current teachers who meet specified credentialing requirements
and are teaching in school districts at school sites that meet
the eligibility criteria, and directs the CSAC to develop and
adopt regulations for this purpose by January 1, 2016.
This bill requires the CDE, in consultation with the CTC, to
conduct a study at least every 3 years, to determine priority
areas for EEP loan assumption agreements and further:
a) Requires the SPI to convene a working group to
establish priorities, based on the most current study
conducted by the CDE.
b) Requires that program awards be authorized
consistent with the program goals, targeting high need
schools consistent with federal assumption loan program
regulations.
c) Requires that the study identify areas of
greatest need and award EEP loan assumption agreements
based on specific criteria.
d) Outlines the specific contents of the study, to
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include a list of teaching fields, as specified, several
lists of schools, as specified, and additional
information useful to make determinations in areas of
educational need and direct new program awards at those
areas of program focus.
e) Requires the SPI to develop priority areas for
the EEP awards on or before January 1 of the academic
year in those years in which the study is completed.
f) Requires the CSAC to provide awards based upon
the most current study conducted.
The terms of a loan assumption granted under the EEP would be as
follows
a) Completion of 1 school year of classroom
instruction - up to $2,000 of loan
assumption.
b) Completion of 2 consecutive school years of
classroom instruction - up to an additional $3,000 of
loan assumption (total of $5,000 maximum).
c) Completion of 3 consecutive school years of
classroom instruction - up to an additional $3,000 of
loan assumption (total of $8,000 maximum).
d) Completion of 4 consecutive school years of
classroom instruction - up to an additional $3,000 of
loan assumption (total of $11,000 maximum).
.
This bill requires the SPI to develop priority areas for the EEP
at least every 3 years based upon the most current CTC study, as
specified, and establishes annual reporting requirements for the
EEP.
This bill also establishes CSAC responsibilities similar to
those that exist under the APLE program, and declares the
Legislature's intent that the EEP be fully funded commencing
with the Budget Act of 2015.
Related Legislation: SB 212 (Pavley) 2013 would have
appropriated $5 million from the General Fund to the CSAC to
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fund 7,200 new warrants for the APLE Program. That bill was held
under submission in this Committee
Staff Comments: This bill would require the CSAC to establish
and administer the EEP program, which would issue up to 400 loan
assumption agreements (within the 6,500 allowed for all teaching
candidates) for current teachers who meet specified
credentialing requirements and are teaching in school districts
at school sites that meet the eligibility criteria. In addition
to the significant workload of promulgating regulations and
establishing the program, the CSAC would need to create an EEP
application process.
Last year, the CSAC indicated that the commission was in the
process of completing a database conversion and automating an
online application for the APLE program when funding was vetoed
(suspending the program). Programming staff were redirected to
work on California Dream Act award implementation. At the time
CSAC estimated that it would require a contract programmer for
up to 6 months, at a cost of $90,000 (General Fund), to complete
coding, testing, deployment, and provide temporary support for
the APLE system, in order to make the application process fully
automated. Similar resources would likely be required to create
an automated online application for the EEP.
This bill requires the CDE, in consultation with the CTC,
convene a working group and conduct a study at least every 3
years, to determine priority areas for EEP loan assumption
agreements. These requirements could drive significant new costs
to the CDE; the CTC has indicated that its participation would
result in only minor additional workload.