BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1484
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 1484
Weber - As Amended April 21, 2015
SUBJECT: Teachers: assignment prohibition: unsatisfactory
performance
SUMMARY: Creates the effective teacher experience factor (ETEF)
and prohibits schools from accepting teacher transfers or new
hires that would cause the school to fall below the district
average by more than 10%; and, prohibits a student from being
assigned to a teacher who has received an unsatisfactory
performance evaluation unless that teacher is participating in
Peer Assistance Review (PAR) program or is being supported by a
teacher with experience that is greater than the district
average ETEF, as specified. Specifically, this bill:
1)Prohibits the superintendent of a school district from
transferring or assigning a certificated employee with the
primary responsibility of being the classroom teacher of
record to a schoolsite if the transfer or assignment would
result in the reduction of the average ETEF at the schoolsite
to less than 90 percent of the average ETEF in the school
district for schools of the same type.
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2)The applicable ETEF shall be determined by months, subject to
the following conditions:
a) The maximum number of months that may be counted for a
single certificated employee is 60 months.
b) At the discretion of the governing board of the school
district, a certificated instructional employee with the
highest rating on a multiple positive-rating level
performance scale may be counted for up to 60 months,
regardless of his or her length of service in the school
district.
c) Months during an evaluation cycle in which a
probationary or permanent certificated instructional
employee received a final evaluation rating of
unsatisfactory shall not be counted.
d) Months during which a certificated employee was assigned
primarily noninstructional duties shall not be counted.
3)Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to waive the
transfer or assignment prohibition upon the request of the
governing board of a school district if the governing board of
the school district does all of the following:
a) Demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the SBE, that the
certificated employee subject to transfer or assignment has
the appropriate credential necessary to teach a specific
course, grade level, or program of study, there is a
critical shortage for certificated employees with such a
credential in the local labor market, and the placement
would enable the schoolsite to achieve its stated goals on
behalf of all pupils, including identified subgroups, as
identified for that schoolsite in the school district's
local control and accountability plan.
b) Provides written documentation that the exclusive
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representative of certificated employees has been
consulted.
c) Provides written documentation that the principal of the
schoolsite has approved of the proposed transfer or
assignment, and is aware of the related staff development,
mentoring, and evaluation workload the transfer or
assignment would necessitate.
d) The prohibition in this measure applies to the exercise
of authority by any administrator or other certificated
school employee responsible for certificated employee
assignment decisions.
4)Specifies a pupil shall not knowingly be assigned to a
classroom where the teacher of record received an
unsatisfactory performance rating in the most recent
evaluation and assessment of the employee's job performance
unless the employee is actively participating in a PAR program
or all of the following conditions are met:
a) The teacher of record is receiving the assistance and is
being supported with the assistance and guidance of a
certificated employee who possesses a valid certification
for the same level and type of credential required for the
subject matter and grade level being taught.
b) The ETEF of the employee providing assistance and
guidance is not less than the average ETEF in the school
district for schools of the same type.
c) The employee providing assistance and guidance to the
teacher of record has not received an unsatisfactory
performance rating in the three most recent evaluation
cycles.
d) Any provision may be waived on an individual basis by a
vote of the local governing board of the school district if
a parent or guardian of a pupil has been notified in
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writing in the home language of the pupil and the parent or
guardian has approved the submission of the waiver request
in writing before the proposed assignment.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the Peer Assistance and Review Program for
Teachers (PAR) by authorizing school districts and the
exclusive representative of the certificated employees to
develop and implement the program locally. Specifies that
assistance and review shall include multiple observations of a
teacher during periods of classroom instruction. Specifies
the program shall expect and strongly encourage a cooperative
relationship between the consulting teacher and the principal
with respect to the process of peer assistance and review.
Specifies the school district shall provide sufficient staff
development activities to assist a teacher to improve his or
her teaching skills and knowledge. Specifies the final
evaluation of a teacher's participation in the program shall
be made available for placement in the personnel file of the
teacher receiving assistance. (Education Code 44505)
2)Establishes the Stull Act, enacted in 1971, which governs
certificated employee evaluations and requires school
districts to evaluate and assess teacher performance as it
reasonability relates to pupil performance on criterion
referenced tests, teacher technique and strategies, curricular
objectives, and the maintenance of a suitable learning
environment. Specifies that in the development and adoption
of evaluation guidelines and procedures, the governing board
shall avail itself of the advice of the certificated
instructional personnel in the district's organization of
certificated personnel pursuant to collective bargaining
statutes. Specifies that a school district may, by mutual
agreement between the exclusive representative of the
certificated employees of the school district and the
governing board of the school district, include any objective
standards from the National Board for Professional Teaching
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Standards or any objective standards from the California
Standards for the Teaching Profession. Specifies that teacher
evaluations shall be made on a continuing basis at least once
each school year for probationary personnel; at least every
other year for personnel with permanent status; and, at least
every five years for personnel with permanent status who have
been employed at least 10 years with the school district, are
highly qualified, if those personnel occupy positions that are
required to be filled by a highly qualified professional, and
whose previous evaluation rated the employee as meeting or
exceeding standards, if the evaluator and certificated
employee being evaluated agree. Specifies that an employee
who receives an unsatisfactory rating in the area of teaching
methods or instruction may be required to participate in a
program designed to improve appropriate areas of the
employee's performance; and, requires if a school district
participates in the Peer Assistance and Review Program for
Teachers (PAR), employees who receive an unsatisfactory rating
shall participate in PAR. (Education Code 44660 et. seq.)
3)Specifies that the superintendent of a school district may not
transfer a teacher who requests to be transferred to a school
offering kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive,
that is ranked in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, on the Academic
Performance Index if the principal of the school refuses to
accept the transfer; and, specifies the governing board of a
school district may not adopt a policy or regulation, or enter
into a collective bargaining agreement, that assigns, after
April 15 of the school year prior to the school year in which
the transfer would become effective, priority to a teacher who
requests to be transferred to another school over other
qualified applicants who have applied for positions requiring
certification qualification at the school. (Education Code
35036)
FISCAL EFFECT: Legislative counsel has keyed this bill as a
state mandated local program.
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COMMENTS: This bill creates an "effective teacher experience
factor" (ETEF) and assigns teachers with point values based on
their length of experience with special consideration for
teachers with the highest rating on the evaluation system. Each
teacher can achieve a maximum of 60 points. Based on the
district average ETEF, a school can only accept transfers or
newly hired teachers if the school remains within 10% of the
district average ETEF. The bill further specifies that students
cannot be assigned to a classroom where the teacher received an
unsatisfactory performance rating on the most recent evaluation
unless the employee is participating in PAR or unless the
teacher is receiving support by a certificated employee who has
at least the average ETEF for the district.
According to the author, the California Constitution explicitly
establishes a state role in public education and guarantees
every child a fundamental right to a basic education and
equitable opportunity to learn. Education code 35036 prohibits
the superintendent of a school district from transferring a
teacher who requests to be transferred to a school ranked in an
API decile 1-3 if the principal of the school refuses to accept
the transfer. However, current law is silent on transfer and
assignment of teachers with inexperience, or documented needing
improvement or unsatisfactory performance. And, current law is
silent on the assignment of individual students within a school
to a struggling teacher's classroom. The state has an
obligation to have policies in place to purposefully tackle
decades-long achievement gaps between African American, Latino,
English Learners, Foster Care and disadvantaged students, and
their more advantaged peers. Accordingly, it is imperative that
these students are consistently assigned to effective teachers.
California public schools cannot increase overall student
achievement and guarantee equity in opportunity or make
significant progress in closing achievement gaps if all schools
and classrooms don't have effective teachers. If students are
assigned to a teacher who has been rated unsatisfactory in their
most recent job performance evaluation, there needs to be
additional assistance if that teacher remains teacher of record.
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Effective Teaching Experience Factor: This bill creates a new
effective teaching experience factor (ETEF) to be calculated at
the district and school level. The calculation method for
determining the ETEF is not clear and it is not clear whether
the calculation can be accurately determined at each district or
school. The bill specifies that the maximum number of months to
be counted for an employee is 60, and it lists instances where
time should not be counted toward this total, but the bill does
not specify how the points are supposed to be calculated. It is
unclear whether a district should count all months of service to
the district, all months of service in the state, all months of
service since the employee received certification, or whether
all months of service in any job should count. Further, what are
schools supposed to do if they are already far below this
requirement? If they are unable to attract very experienced job
applicants, it could make hiring extraordinarily difficult. The
bill is broadly written and only specifies that a district may
assign the maximum 60 points to any employee who achieves the
highest rating on the evaluation, regardless of their length of
service. The assignment of points for all other employees is not
specified. For these reasons, the committee should consider
whether to amend the bill to delete this overly broad ETEF
calculation.
PAR & Educational Support: This bill specifies that no student
shall knowingly be assigned to a teacher who has received an
unsatisfactory performance rating unless the employee is
participating in PAR or they are being supported by a teacher
with the same certification, whose ETEF experience is greater
than the district average. This essentially requires all
districts to implement a PAR program or implement a mentor
teacher program to support all teachers who receive an
unsatisfactory performance evaluation. These types of supports
have been successfully implemented at a number of districts
across the state. In recent years, however, PAR funding has
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been cut and many districts have discontinued their PAR
programs.
Waivers: This bill specifies that the SBE can waive the transfer
requirements specified under the ETEF and authorizes a district
governing board to waive the requirement of providing PAR or
mentor teachers to employees who receive an unsatisfactory
performance evaluation if the parents have been notified in
writing and the parents have approved the assignment of their
child to that teacher. The committee should consider whether
the district should be allowed to waive the requirement to
provide a teacher who received an unsatisfactory performance
evaluation with a PAR program or a mentor teacher. Existing law
requires districts to provide PAR to employees who receive an
unsatisfactory performance evaluation, if the district has a PAR
program. This bill would authorize districts to waive the
requirement to provide PAR to these employees. The committee
should consider whether PAR should continue to be required for
all employees who receive an unsatisfactory performance
evaluation, if the district has a PAR program.
Arguments in Support: EdVoice supports the bill and states, "AB
1484 prohibits a student from knowingly being assigned to a
classroom where the teacher of record received an unsatisfactory
performance rating in the most recent evaluation and assessment
of the employees job performance unless the employee is actively
participating in a PAR program or is otherwise being supported
with the assistance and guidance of an effective teacher, as
specified. The bill would allow a waiver of this provision with
advance parental consent?.Current law is silent on transfer and
assignment of teachers with inexperience, or documented as
needing improvement or unsatisfactory performance. And, current
law is silent on the assignment of individual students within a
school to a struggling teacher's classroom."
Arguments in Opposition: California Teachers Association opposes
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the bill and states, "The bill prohibits a district transfer or
reassignment of a classroom teacher to a school site if the
transfer or reassignment would result in the reduction of the
average ETEF at the school site to less than 90% of the average
effective teaching factor in the school district for schools of
the same type. The bill does not bridge transition for the
implementation of this new index with guidance for a plan of
correction for the LEAs that currently do not meet this
requirement. Finally, the bill does not indicate a deadline for
when the 90% threshold must be attained by all schools and
districts. Without such guidance, how does this mandate impact
the development and approval of new LCAPs and the evaluation
rubrics over the next few years?"
Committee Amendments: Staff recommends the bill be amended as
follows:
1)Delete the "effective teaching experience factor" in the new
Education Code Section 35035.5.
2)Delete the "effective teaching experience factor" as it
relates to the assignment of students in a classroom in
Education Code Section 35037 and instead specify that the
support and assistance be provided by a trained educational
coach.
3)Delete the authorization for a district to waive the
requirement to provide PAR or a trained educational coach.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support
CalChamber
EdVoice
Students Matter
StudentsFirst
The Education Trust - West
Opposition
California Federation of Teachers
California Teachers Association
Analysis Prepared by:Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087
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