BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2248|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2248
Author: Holden (D), et al.
Amended: 4/21/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/8/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Teacher credentialing: out-of-state trained
teachers: English learner authorizations
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing (CTC) to issue bilingual learner authorizations to
out-of-state teachers who hold equivalent credentials, as
specified.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes authorizations for teachers to teach English
learners in English and also establishes authorizations for
teachers to teach English learners in their primary languages.
(Education Code § 44253.3 and § 44253.4)
2)Authorizes a teacher who possesses a credential or permit and
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Page 2
is able to present a valid out-of-state credential or
certificate that authorizes the instruction of English
language learners may qualify for the English learner teaching
authorization by submitting an application and fee to the
commission. (Education Code § 44253.3)
This bill requires the CTC to issue authorizations to teach
English learners in a primary language to out-of-state teachers
who are applying for a preliminary or clear teaching credential,
and who hold valid out-of-state credentials or certificates that
authorizes the equivalent instruction of English learners.
Comments
Need for the bill. According to the author's office,
"California is experiencing one of the worst teacher shortages
with unprecedented unfilled teaching positions and teaching
positions filled by underqualified teachers. The teacher
shortage disproportionately impacts low-income students of
color, English language learners and students with special
needs, contributing to the growing achievement and opportunity
gap. Currently if a teacher possesses an out of state bilingual
teaching credential and moves to California to continue teaching
in their focus area, an out-of-state teacher must take multiple
professional tests and course work regardless of education
level, prior teaching evaluations, and previous experience
teaching in another state." This bill seeks to address this
issue by expediting the ability of qualified bilingual teachers
to teach in California classrooms.
Bilingual authorizations for out-of-state teachers. Current law
allows teachers who hold an out-of-state credential that
authorizes instruction of English learners to earn an English
learner authorization to teach in California. However, the
enabling legislation for this provision (SB 1209, Scott, Chapter
517, Statutes of 2006) did not extend that authorization to
out-of-state bilingual teachers. The CTC currently reviews each
bilingual teacher's authorization from out-of-state on an
individual basis. This bill allows an out-of-state teacher who
holds a bilingual teacher authorization in another state to earn
an equivalent authorization in California. However, the CTC
does not currently review or maintain a list of equivalent
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bilingual teacher authorizations as it does for equivalent
English learner authorizations. Presumably, the CTC would need
to do a similar review of other states' bilingual authorizations
to administer this bill's provisions.
Teacher shortage. The Learning Policy Institute (LPI) recently
released a report, "Addressing California's Emerging Teacher
Shortage: An Analysis of Sources and Solutions." In this
report, the LPI included the following summary: "After many
years of teacher layoffs in California, school districts around
the state are hiring again. With the influx of new K-12
funding, districts are looking to lower student-teacher ratios
and reinstate classes and programs that were reduced or
eliminated during the Great Recession. However, mounting
evidence indicates that teacher supply has not kept pace with
the increased demand." The report included the following
findings:
1)Enrollment in educator preparation programs has dropped by
more than 70 percent over the last decade.
2)In 2014-15, provisional and short-term permits nearly tripled
from the number issued two years earlier, growing from about
850 to more than 2,400.
3)The number teachers hired on substandard permits and
credentials nearly doubled in the last two years, to more than
7,700 comprising a third of all the new credentials issued in
2014-15.
4)Estimated teacher hires for the 2015-16 school year increased
by 25 percent from the previous year while enrollment in the
University of California and the California State University
teacher education programs increased by only about 3.8
percent.
Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) assessment. As part of its
Proposition 98 Education Analysis for the 2016-17 Governor's
Budget released in February 2016, the LAO includes a section on
teacher workforce trends in which it examines evidence for
teacher shortages in specific areas, identifies and assesses
past policy responses to these shortages, and raises issues for
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Page 4
the Legislature to consider going forward in terms of new policy
responses. In the report, the Legislative Analyst's Office
(LAO) indicates that the statewide teacher market will help
alleviate existing shortages over time and that the shortages
may decrease without direct state action. However, the LAO
notes there are perennial staffing difficulties in specific
areas, such as special education, math, and science, for which
they encourage the Legislature to address with narrowly tailored
policies rather than with broad statewide policies.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/20/16)
Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
Association of California School Administrators
California Alliance for Arts Education
California Art Education Association
California Association for Bilingual Education
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Association of Private School Organizations
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Charter Schools Association
California Federation of Teachers
California Language Teachers Association
California Music Educators Association
Californians Together Coalition
EdVoice
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/20/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 79-0, 5/5/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
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Page 5
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier,
Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger
Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes,
McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte,
O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Beth Gaines
Prepared by:Lenin DelCastillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
6/22/16 15:15:04
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