BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2401
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2401 (O'Donnell) - As Amended March 30, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill reestablishes state funding for the Beginning Teacher
Support and Assessment (BTSA) System and modifies existing
program requirements. Specifically, this bill:
1)Appropriates an unspecified amount from the General Fund to
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) to provide grants
AB 2401
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for BTSA participants.
2)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that funding for BTSA
be provided each year in the annual Budget Act.
3)Revises existing BTSA statutes as follows:
a) Repeals provisions related to supplemental grants for
program clusters and consultants;
b) Replaces the requirement that an annual cost-of-living
adjustment (COLA) for BTSA grants be based on the revenue
limit and instead requires the COLA to be based on the
amount provided in the annual Budget Act for this purpose;
c) Requires the CCTC to review induction programs as
necessary to determine whether they meet current standards
of quality and effectiveness; and
d) Repeals outdated reporting requirements and a reference
to a section of the Education Code that no longer exists.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Proposition 98/GF cost pressures, in the millions of dollars,
to annually fund the BTSA program and adjust funding each year
for changes in COLA. This bill includes a blank
appropriation. Actual costs will depend on the actual amount
appropriated by the Legislature. In prior years, the funding
for BTSA ranged between $87 million to $128 million.
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2)General Fund administrative costs of approximately $200,000
for the CCTC and the CDE to administer the program.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. The state established an induction program in 1992
known as the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA)
program. In 2004, as part of the process to clear a multiple
and single subject credential, the Legislature required
teacher candidates to complete an induction program, if
available. If an induction program is verified as unavailable
by the employer, the teacher can clear their credential
without participation in an induction program.
Most BTSA programs are operated by local education agencies
(LEAs) or consortia of LEAs. Of the 156 approved programs,
152 are offered by LEAs/consortia and the remaining four are
university based.
In 2009, in response to the state budget crisis, the
Legislature reduced funding for the BTSA program and
approximately 40 other categorical programs. Along with the
funding reduction, the state made program requirements
flexible, allowing LEAs to spend funding for any educational
purpose. This flexibility was continued under the Local
Control Funding Formula (LCFF) enacted in 2013. Not every
district received funding for BTSA prior to LCFF; however, for
those that did, the funds were rolled into the base of their
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LCFF based upon 2012-13 funding allocations.
2)Purpose. Successful completion of a CTC-approved induction
program is a requirement for a teacher to earn a clear
credential, if a program is available. The BTSA program was
designed to be a matching grant program; however, these
provisions no longer apply since dedicated funding for BTSA
has been discontinued. In the absence of dedicated funding, at
least 13 district induction programs have ceased operation in
the last few years. Other programs charge beginning teachers
a fee for induction.
According to the author, the need to retain and improve the
effectiveness of teachers is a high state priority. Because
teacher preparation programs in our public universities are
heavily subsidized by the state, there is a further interest
in capturing the benefits of that investment through improved
teacher retention. For these reasons, re-establishing a
dedicated state funding for BTSA is important.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081