BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 381
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|Author: |Huff |
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|Version: |April 6, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: April 29, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Lenin Del Castillo |
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Subject: Certificated school employees: reduction in
workforce: deviation from order of seniority: career pathway
programs
SUMMARY
This bill allows school districts to exempt teachers in career
technical education or career pathways programs, and also for
purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with the school
district's local control and accountability plan, from the
seniority-based staffing provisions in current law.
BACKGROUND
Existing law requires school districts to provide preliminary
notification to a permanent employee that his or her services
will not be required for the ensuing year no later than March
15th and provide final notification of termination of his or her
services by May 15th. Permanent employees that receive a
preliminary layoff notice are allowed to request a hearing to
determine if there is cause for not reemploying him or her for
the ensuing year. The hearing is to be conducted by an
administrative law judge who shall prepare a proposed decision,
containing findings of fact and a determination as to whether
the charges sustained by the evidence are related to the welfare
of the schools and students. Copies of the proposed decision,
which is not binding on the governing board, shall be submitted
to the governing board and to the employee on or before May 7th.
(Education Code § 44949)
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Existing law requires districts to terminate employees in the
inverse of the order in which they were employed. School
districts may deviate from the order of seniority if:
1. The school district demonstrates a specific need for
personnel to teach a specific course or course of study, or
to provide services authorized by certain specialized
services credentials and the retained individual has the
specific experience or training required to meet that need
or to provide those services, which others with more
seniority do not possess.
2. For purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
constitutional requirements related to equal protection of
the laws. (EC § 44955)
These seniority-based provisions also apply to the preferred
rights to reappointment for permanent and probationary employees
whose services have been terminated as outlined in EC § 44956
and EC § 44957.
Existing law defines linked learning programs as multi-year,
comprehensive high school programs of integrated academic and
technical study that are organized around a broad theme,
interest area, or industry sector, and provide curriculum
choices that prepare participating pupils for a range of
postsecondary options, including two and four-year colleges,
apprenticeships, and formal employment training. Current law
specifies that linked learning programs are comprised, among
other things, of an integrated core curriculum that meets the
eligibility requirements for admission to the University of
California and the California State University and is delivered
through project-based learning and other engaging instructional
strategies. (Education Code § 52372.5)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1. Specifies that career technical education or a career
pathways program is included as a specific course or course
of study for which a school district may deviate from
terminating a permanent certificated employee or
reappointing a permanent certificated or probationary
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employee in order of seniority.
2. Provides that a school district may deviate from
terminating a certificated employee in order of seniority
for purposes of maintaining or achieving compliance with
the school district's local control and accountability
plan.
STAFF COMMENTS
1. Need for the bill. According to the author's office, the
side effects of seniority on career pathways programs can
cause problems for teachers and students. These programs
typically require a more stable teaching staff because not
only must the teacher be proficient in teaching the subject
matter, but he or she must also be knowledgeable about the
specific career pathway central to his or her school.
Learning the elements of a particular theme takes time, and
consistency among staff is critical. The author's office
indicates that seniority rules undermine this because
teachers may get "bumped" based on the date of hire rather
than school academic priorities, making it difficult to
maintain a stable faculty that can deliver the unique
educational experience provided in career pathway programs.
Further, there may be unnecessary cost pressures on school
districts with career pathway schools to retrain new
teachers every year due to seniority bumping.
2. Priority. Career technical education (CTE) and career
pathways programs may provide valuable benefits of
combining academics, technical training, and workplace
experiences potentially leading to higher graduation rates.
However, do teachers in career pathways programs or those
that teach CTE courses deserve more protection in staffing
decisions than other teachers? It is unclear whether the
impacts of teacher layoffs for these courses are more
severe than instructors for high school graduation course
requirements such as English, math, and science that are
not affiliated with CTE or career pathways programs.
Additionally, opponents of the bill argue that seniority is
a way to objectively release employees and to preserve the
most experienced teaching professionals.
The bill also allows school districts to deviate from
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seniority with layoffs for purposes of maintaining or
achieving compliance with a school district's local control
and accountability plan (LCAP). The LCAP is a
comprehensive planning document that reflects a school
district's annual goals (and actions to achieve those
goals) in each of the eight state priorities which are
intended to encompass the key features of high-quality
educational programs. School districts are required to
include associated data in their LCAPs and as well as both
district-wide goals and goals for each numerically
significant student subgroup in the district. Further,
school district LCAPs can include annual goals in
self-selected areas of local priority in addition to the
specified state priorities. While school districts are
required to use a template developed by the State Board of
Education to create consistency across the state, each
school district has discretion in the development of its
LCAP and can tailor it to meet the specific needs of its
local community. As such, it appears that the bill would
allow school districts significant flexibility in
determining how to terminate employees.
3. Is the bill necessary? Current law allows a school
district to deviate from seniority if it demonstrates a
specific need for personnel to teach a specific course or
course of study, or to provide services authorized by
certain specialized services credentials and the retained
individual has the specific experience or training required
to meet that need or to provide those services, which
others with more seniority do not possess. To the extent
that a school district can demonstrate that career
technical education (CTE) or a career pathways program
meets these criteria, school districts may already be able
to deviate from seniority for these programs under current
law.
4. Vergara v. California. The Vergara case was filed here in
California by nine public school children from around the
state in May 2012. The case challenges various provisions
of the education code related to the way the teacher
workforce is managed, including seniority and last in,
first statutes. The plaintiffs argue that these laws play
out in classrooms and schools in ways that violate
students' rights to access equal education under the
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California constitution. In June 2014, the Los Angeles
Superior Court issued a final judgment in favor of the
students on all three issues in August 2014. In September
2014, Governor Brown and Attorney General Harris filed an
appeal of the decision. The California Teachers
Association and the California Federation of Teachers,
formal interveners in the case, also filed an appeal of the
decision. The appeal is awaiting hearing at the appellate
court level and a decision is expected in the Fall of 2015.
Depending on the outcome, the Vergara case could
potentially impact the same seniority provisions of the
education code that this bill proposes to amend.
5. Linked learning. As defined in statute, linked learning
programs integrate academic instruction with technical
curriculum and work-based learning within the context of
industry sectors identified in the model curriculum
standards for career technical education adopted by the
State Board of Education. These programs connect learning
in the classroom with real-world applications outside of
school. Whether the linked learning occurs within a
program, is employed as a strategy in an individual course,
or is utilized as a methodology by one or more high school
departments, the underlying premise is to "link" academic
constructs with opportunities for project-based "learning."
AB 790 (Furutani, Chapter 616, Statutes of 2011)
established the Linked Learning Pilot Program for the
purpose of implementing districtwide linked learning
programs. In January of 2013, the State Department of
Education chose twenty participants that include individual
school districts, consortia of districts, and county
offices of education to take part in the Linked Learning
Pilot Program, based on competitive criteria. The program,
contingent upon the availability of funding, is scheduled
to become inoperative on July 1, 2017.
6. Career Pathways Trust Program. AB 86 (Committee on Budget,
Chapter 48, Statutes of 2013) created the California Career
Pathways Trust and provided $250 million on a one-time
basis to school districts, county superintendents of
schools, charter schools, and community college districts
in the form of one-time competitive grants. The 2014-15
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Budget Act provided an additional $250 million for a
program total of $500 million. Grants were available for
K-14 career pathways programs to build stronger connections
between businesses, schools, and community colleges to
better prepare students for the 21st century workplace and
place a greater emphasis on career-based learning.
Unlike "linked learning", it does not appear that "career
pathways" is defined in statute. There are similarities
with the purposes of the Career Pathways Trust and the
Linked Learning Pilot programs, but absent a clear
definition of "career pathways", it is unclear if the
bill's provisions apply only to those grant recipients
under the Career Pathways Trust Program or whether it
applies to the Linked Learning Pilot Program as well. Due
to the similarities of the programs, the bill could
reasonably be interpreted to apply to both programs. The
bill could also be interpreted to apply to any school that
is implementing similar educational models in terms of
putting teams of faculty together to deliver their specific
pathways program and curriculum, but is not funded pursuant
to those programs. In the latter case, this bill could
have broader implications.
7. Related and prior legislation.
AB 1044 (Baker) proposes to repeal the various
seniority-based staffing provisions in current law and
instead require school districts to adopt policies
regarding the dismissal of employees when reductions in
workforce are necessary. This bill is pending before the
Assembly Education Committee.
SB 1185 (Huff, 2014), similar to this bill, would have
allowed school districts to exempt career pathways program
teachers from the seniority-based staffing provisions in
current law. SB 1185 failed passage in this Committee.
AB 86 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 48, Statutes of 2013,
established the California Career Pathways Trust and
appropriated $250 million in one-time competitive grants
for its purposes.
SB 1070 (Steinberg), Chapter 433, Statutes of 2012,
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modified the Career Technical Education Pathways Program to
improve linkages and career technical education pathways
between high schools and community colleges.
SB 355 (Huff, 2011) proposed to authorize school districts
to evaluate and assess the performance of certificated
employees using a multiple-measures evaluation system, make
specified employment decisions based on teacher
performance, and expand the reasons districts may deviate
from the order of seniority in terminating and reappointing
teachers. SB 355 failed passage in this Committee.
SB 1285 (Steinberg, 2010) proposed various changes to the
procedures school districts are required to follow when
hiring, terminating, and reappointing teachers, including
criteria to deviate from seniority. This bill was held in
the Assembly Rules Committee.
SB 955 (Huff, 2010) would have made various changes to
statutes governing staffing notification deadlines, layoff
and dismissal procedures, and reemployment preferences
pertaining to certificated educators. This bill was heard
and passed by this Committee and subsequently held by the
Senate Rules Committee.
SUPPORT
California Chamber of Commerce
School Employers Association of California
OPPOSITION
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
California Federation of Teachers
California School Employees Association
California Teachers Association
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