BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1918
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Date of Hearing: March 16, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 1918
(O'Donnell) -As Amended March 8, 2016
SUBJECT: Teacher credentialing: temporary certificates
SUMMARY: Authorizes county offices of education to issue
temporary certificates to teachers employed at nonpublic
schools, including out-of-state teachers, while their credential
applications are being processed at the California Commission on
Teacher Credentialing (CCTC), and increases background check
requirements for all applicants for temporary certificates.
Specifically, this bill:
1.Authorizes county offices of education to issue temporary
certificates for out-of-state credential holders whose
credential applications are being processed by the CCTC.
2.Authorizes county offices of education to issue temporary
certificates for certified employees of nonpublic schools
(NPS) whose credential applications are being processed by the
CCTC, under the same conditions as those issued for employees
of school districts.
3.Requires that, prior to issuing a temporary certificate,
county offices of education and school districts obtain a
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certificate of clearance for the individual from the CCTC.
4.Requires the CCTC to honor requests from the California
Department of Education (CDE) to expedite the processing of
applications on behalf of employees at nonpublic schools to
the same degree the CCTC does for requests from another
employing agency.
5.Requires the CDE to recognize the authority of all teacher
permits, credentials, and certificates issued by the
commission or a county or city and county board of education.
6.Sunsets the provisions of the act on July 1, 2024.
EXISTING LAW:
1.Authorizes county offices of education and some school
districts to issue temporary certificates for the purpose of
authorizing salary payments to employees of school districts,
and to employees of children's centers and other preschool
educational programs, whose credential or permit applications
are pending at the CCTC, provided that the individual has
passed the state assessment of teachers' basic skills, and
that the county office has obtained a criminal record summary
from the Department of Justice. Limits the validity of
temporary certificates to a period of one year.
2.Requires the CCTC to issue five year multiple subject, single
subject, and special education credentials to out-of-state
prepared teachers to out-of-state prepared teachers who
possess a baccalaureate degree, have completed a teacher
preparation program, meet subject matter knowledge criteria,
have passed criminal background checks, and have earned
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corresponding credentials in out-of-state preparation
programs. Requires these teachers to have passed the state
basic skills assessment.
3.Defines nonpublic, nonsectarian schools as private,
nonsectarian schools that enroll individuals with exceptional
needs pursuant to an individualized education program and are
certified by the CDE. Requires these schools to meet
standards as prescribed by the Superintendent and board, and
establishes
4.Specifies requirements for annual certification of nonpublic
schools, including a requirement that any application provide
a list of appropriately qualified staff and copies of
credential and license documents. Authorizes the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to revoke or suspend the
certification of a nonpublic school for a variety of reasons,
including changes in credentialed staff.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. The author's office states: "Like school
districts, nonpublic schools, which serve special education
students whose individualized education programs (IEPs) require
specialized services, are experiencing a severe shortage of
qualified teachers.
Nonpublic school classrooms must be certified by the California
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Department of Education (CDE) in order to serve special
education students. Unlike a school operated by a school
district, if a nonpublic school classroom is inappropriately
staffed, the CDE cannot certify the classroom, and the
classroom or program may be threatened with closure.
Under current law, school districts may hire a teacher whose
credential application is pending at the California Commission
on Teacher Credentialing if a county office of education issues
a temporary teaching certificate. Unlike school districts,
nonpublic schools cannot obtain temporary teaching certificates
for these individuals. AB 1918 extends authority for these
temporary certificates to be granted to teachers at nonpublic
schools, preserving vital program options for special education
students.
In addition, AB 1918 strengthens background checks for teachers
authorized by temporary certificates, and codifies the existing
practice of issuing temporary certificates for teachers
prepared out of state."
Nonpublic school certification and classroom/program closure.
California's nonpublic, nonsectarian schools are specialized
private schools that provide services to public school students
with disabilities. They are defined in statute as private,
nonsectarian schools that enroll individuals with exceptional
needs pursuant to an individualized education program. The
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tuition of a student in a nonpublic school is paid by the public
local educational agency that places the student in the school.
Unlike other private schools, each nonpublic school is certified
by the CDE. The CDE website lists 325 nonpublic schools in the
state. According to the sponsor, there are over 1,700 certified
classrooms, with the capacity to serve over 22,000 students in
California.
The sponsors of this bill note that the acute teacher shortage
in special education can make maintaining certified programs
challenging. No statewide information on threats to
classroom/program closure are available from the CDE, but the
sponsors share anecdotes they believe are representative of the
experience of many schools, and the way in which access to
temporary certificates would allow them to keep classrooms and
programs open. The sponsors share the following two
representative experiences:
"This year a San Diego area school had an on-site review, and
they had a teacher leave prior to that review. They made every
attempt to find a teacher and to provide temporary coverage.
During the recruitment process they found someone with an
out-of-state credential. The teacher was able to apply to the
CTC to transfer their credential but it was not cleared at the
time of the on-site review. The CDE required the school to
close the classroom if the credential was not in-hand by the
end of the week. The substitute credential was going to
expire and the out-of-state-teacher's credential had not been
cleared at that time. Fortunately, the teacher's credential
was processed by the CTC by the deadline and they did not need
to close a classroom."
"One nonpublic school had two teachers leave within two weeks
of each other, and had to refuse to take students because they
did not have sufficient staff. They also had certified
teachers from out-of-state apply, but when told they need to
go through the process of getting a California credential,
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they opted not to apply for the positions."
Expediting of credential applications. According to the CCTC
website, "online recommendations submitted through credential
program sponsors are usually completed within 10 working days.
Typically, all other applications are processed within 50
working days from the date we receive the application." CCTC
advises that "applicants who need to have their application
processed for employment purposes should submit their
application no less than three months prior to applying for or
beginning a position."
This bill requires the CCTC to honor requests to expedite
credential applications from the CDE on behalf of nonpublic
schools in the same manner as it does for requests from school
districts. The CCTC's current policy on the expediting of
applications from LEAs, as communicated in a February, 2014
credential information alert, states that the CCTC will only
expedite a credential application if 1) the employing agency
wants to make an offer of employment, 2) the educator is in
jeopardy of being removed from the classroom, or 3) the educator
is at risk of having his or her pay withheld.
Certificate of clearance. This bill prohibits county offices of
education from issuing temporary certificates for teachers until
they have obtained a certificate of clearance from the CCTC. A
certificate of clearance is a document issued by the CCTC to an
individual who has completed the Commission's fingerprint and
character and identification process, and whose professional
fitness has been shown to meet the standards as established by
law.
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Under current law, county offices of education obtain a
background check through the DOJ before issuing a temporary
certificate. According to the CCTC, county offices of
education are not able to access FBI records for background
checks.
AB 1918 requires that these teachers instead obtain a
certificate of clearance from the CCTC prior to issuance of a
temporary certificate. A certificate of clearance which
involves a more thorough background check through the
Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), and the National Association of State
Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC)
database, which contains information about credentials in other
states which have been annulled, denied, suspended, revoked, or
otherwise invalidated. A certificate of clearance is required
for all new credential applications, so this check would happen
for the credential applicant whether or not he or she were
applying for a temporary certificate. The fee for the
certificate is applied to the applicant's credential processing
fee. According to the CCTC, for applicants with no issues of
concern, the certificate is generally issued in 1-2 days.
Significant portion of new California credentials are granted to
out-of-state trained teachers. This bill seeks to codify the
current practice of county offices of education issuing
temporary certificates to out-of-state teachers. According to
the Legislative Analyst's Office, between 1990-91 and 2014-15,
18 percent of California's new teaching credentials were issued
to those prepared in out-of-state programs, and that this share
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has fluctuated from a low of 11 percent in 2003-04 to a high of
33 percent in 1990-91. In 2014-15 out-of-state trained teachers
represented nearly 25 percent of new credentials issued in
California.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Spectrum Center Schools and Programs (sponsor)
California Association of Private Special Education Schools
(sponsor)
California Association of Private School Organizations
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Coalition of Option Schools
Center for Early Intervention on Deafness
Dubnoff School
ECF Kayne Eras Center
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Hawthorne Academy
Institute for the Redesign of Learning
Speech and Language Development Center
Villa Esperanza Services Nonpublic School
Vista School Nonpublic School
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087