BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 62 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 62 (Pavley, et al.) As Amended February 1, 2016 Majority vote SENATE VOTE: 40-0 ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Higher |12-0 |Medina, Baker, Bloom, | | |Education | |Chávez, Harper, | | | | |Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, | | | | |Levine, Linder, | | | | |Santiago, Weber, | | | | |Williams | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bloom, Bonilla, | | | | |Bonta, Calderon, | | | | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | | | | |Gallagher, Eduardo | | | | |Garcia, Holden, | | | | |Jones, Obernolte, | | | | |Quirk, Santiago, | | | | |Wagner, Weber, Wood, | | SB 62 Page 2 | | |Chau | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ SUMMARY: Makes various programmatic changes to the Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE). Specifically, this bill: 1)Amends the definition of "eligible school" to mean one that serves a percentage of an unduplicated count of students classified as an English learner, eligible for a free or reduced-price meal, or is a foster youth, as determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI). 2)Eliminates the requirement that an eligible school must rank in the lowest two deciles on the Academic Performance Index (API). 3)Eliminates the requirement that an applicant has received or is approved to receive a loan under the Federal Family Education Loan Program and replaces it with the requirement that an applicant has demonstrated financial need. 4)Requires that an applicant will teach in a shortage area, as determined by the SPI. 5)Removes the provision allowing up to 400 APLE loan assumption agreements to go to credentialed teachers, as specified, each year. 6)Modifies the list of schools (that serve a large population of SB 62 Page 3 pupils from low-income families) that the SPI is required to provide to the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) each year. 7)Eliminates the prohibition for teachers in self-contained classrooms and multi-subject credential holders from participating in the APLE; and allows the list of teaching shortage areas that the SPI must develop each year to include teaching in a self-contained classroom and multi-subject credentials. 8)Amends the provision allowing loan forgiveness of $1,000 per year for those who teach math, science or special education by eliminating the requirement that the school is in the lowest 60 percentile of the API. 9)Modifies the annual report that CSAC is required to submit to the Legislature, as specified. 10)Authorizes CSAC to continue to implement APLE as it read on January 1, 2015, for the allocation of funds for loan agreements made before that date and for the purpose of collecting payments from former program participants. EXISTING LAW: 1)Establishes CSAC as the primary state agency to administer state-authorized student financial aid programs available to eligible students attending all eligible segments of postsecondary education (Education Code (EC) Section 69510, et seq.). 2)Establishes the APLE program, administered by the CSAC, to provide loan assumption benefits to credentialed teachers; SB 62 Page 4 specifies that qualifying schools include those with high proportions of low-income youth or emergency permit teachers and those located in rural areas; and, requires the subject area shortages to annually be determined by the SPI (EC Section 69612, et seq.). 3)Forgives up to $11,000 of college loan debt for a person who teaches for four 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); and, provides additional loan forgiveness of $1,000 per year for up to four years for those who teach math, science or special education (for a total of $15,000) and an additional $1,000 for those who teach math, science or special education in schools with an API of one or two (for a total of $19,000) (EC Sections 69613.4 and 69613.8). 4)Prohibits CSAC from awarding a greater number of agreements than is authorized in the annual Budget Act (EC Section 69615.8). FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, Administrative costs for the SPI and CSAC to adopt the program modifications of this bill should be minor and absorbable. There have been no authorizations for new APLE warrants for several years. Since current law already requires new warrants to be authorized through the Budget Act, this bill does not impose any new cost pressures. COMMENTS: Background. According to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), enrollment in teacher preparation programs has fallen from almost 78,000 a decade ago, to 19,933 in 2013, a decrease of 74%. Additionally, the number of CTC newly issued credentials for teachers has fallen every year for the past decade. The California Teachers Association SB 62 Page 5 contends that one-third of California's teachers are at or near retirement age. According to information provided by the author, over a decade ago the state spent over $80 million on statewide teacher recruitment efforts; however, if APLE is fully phased out over the course of the next few years, the state will eventually spend zero dollars on efforts to increase the number of teachers in the state. Need for the measure. According to the author, many reasons exist as to why the state has a shortage of teachers; from the costs of obtaining a college degree, to the low salaries teachers make. The author contends, "Eliminating California's teacher recruitment and financial aid programs over the past decade has not helped matters." Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE). The 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 "forgives" up to $11,000 of college loan debt for a person who teaches for four 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 youth or emergency permit teachers and those located in rural areas. To note, no new APLE warrants have been authorized for several years. Additionally, the 2015 Budget Act (AB 93, (Weber) Chapter 10, Statutes of 2015), as enacted by the Legislature on June 15, authorized 1,000 new warrants. However, SB 97 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 11, Statutes of 2015, which provided subsequent amendments to AB 93, deleted SB 62 Page 6 this authorization. The 2016 Budget Act similarly does not authorize any new APLE warrants. Previous legislation. SB 1264 (Pavley) of 2014, which was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee, proposed to establish the Educator Excellence Program, an assumption loan program for up to 6,500 teachers who satisfied specified criteria. SB 212 (Pavley) of 2013, which was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee, sought to appropriate $5 million, from an unspecified funding source, for 7,200 new warrants for the assumption of school loans for teachers in areas with identified teacher shortages. Analysis Prepared by: Jeanice Warden / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960 FN: 0003982