BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          SB 933 (Allen) - Teachers:  California Teacher Corps Act of  
          2016:  teacher residency programs
          
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          |Version: March 29, 2016         |Policy Vote: ED. 9 - 0          |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: No                     |
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          |Hearing Date: April 11, 2016    |Consultant: Jillian Kissee      |
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          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.



          Bill  
          Summary:  Contingent upon funding provided in the budget or  
          another enacted statute, this bill establishes the California  
          Teacher Act of 2016, a grant program to assist local educational  
          agencies (LEAs) in establishing and maintaining teacher  
          residency programs.  This bill defines a teacher residency  
          program as a school-based teacher preparation program and  
          authorizes expenditure of these funds for master teacher's  
          stipends, stipends and tuition for residents, teacher residency  
          program management, and costs of mentoring and induction  
          following initial preparation.  Participants are required to be  
          enrolled in a credentialing program while teaching under the  
          supervision of a mentor teacher, and agree to teach at the LEA  
          for a specified period of time. 


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  







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           Grant program: The cost of this program is unknown as it is  
            contingent upon funding provided in the budget or another  
            statute but could be in the hundreds of millions per grant  
            cycle.  To fund one round of three year grants for ten percent  
            of school districts, costs to the state would be $200 million  
            Proposition 98 and a local cost pressure of $100 million to  
            meet the matching requirement.  Staff notes that some grant  
            funding may eventually be recovered both at the state and  
            local level if participants fail to meet the terms of the  
            placement period and are required to pay back the proportion  
            of training costs incurred.  

           Administrative costs: The CDE estimates that administering  
            this program would cost about $100,000 in the first year and  
            $158,000 ongoing, for as long as the program operates.   
            Additionally, the CDE estimates that it would need $300,000 to  
            complete the program evaluation.  (General Fund)


          Background:  The Budget Act of 2013 implemented the Local Control Funding  
          Formula (LCFF) and permanently consolidated the vast majority of  
          categorical programs, including the Beginner Teacher Support and  
          Assessment Program (an induction program of mentorship and  
          support for new teachers) and the Professional Development Block  
          Grant (which supported activities such as teacher recruitment  
          and retention incentives) into a single source of funding along  
          with former revenue limit apportionments. The statutory and  
          programmatic requirements for almost all of these categorical  
          programs were also eliminated, leaving any related activities to  
          local districts' discretion. 

          While school districts may choose to undertake these activities  
          with their LCFF entitlements, the state has provided funding  
          specifically for teacher support activities. For example, as  
          part of the Budget Act of 2015, the state provided $490 million  
          in one-time Proposition 98 funds for the educator effectiveness  
          block grant, which school districts can use for a variety of  
          teacher-related purposes, such as professional development and  
          beginning teacher support and mentoring.
          
          Each new teacher must first complete preliminary credential  
          requirements and additional requirements within a specified  
          period of time to clear a teaching credential to remain teaching  
          in California public schools.  








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          Proposed Law:  
            This bill establishes the California Teacher Act of 2016, a  
          grant program to assist LEAs, or a consortium of LEAs, in  
          establishing and maintaining teacher residency programs.  These  
          are school-based teacher preparation programs in which  
          prospective teachers teach at least half-time alongside a mentor  
          teacher for one academic year while engaging in initial  
          preparation coursework.  Participants also receive tuition  
          assistance that eliminates training costs and a living stipend;  
          attain a preliminary teaching credential upon completion of the  
          program; and receive mentoring, induction support, and  
          professional development during the first years of teaching.   
          Mentor teachers must receive specific training and compensation  
          and/or appropriate release time to serve as a mentor in the  
          initial preparation or induction component of the teacher  
          residency program.   

          This bill authorizes the CDE to issue an unspecified number of  
          grants beginning in the 2017-18 fiscal year, on a competitive  
          basis, with preference to LEAs or a consortium of them, on the  
          basis of their high-need status as defined in federal law for  
          the most recent school year.  The bill also requires the CDE to  
          evaluate this program's effectiveness.

          Eligible prospective participants are required to: (1) enroll  
          simultaneously in a teacher credentialing program that meets  
          certain requirements; (2) complete at least nine months of  
          teaching a class under supervision of a mentor in a school  
          chosen by the LEA that is the recipient of the grant; and (3)  
          agree in writing to be placed for four years as a teacher of  
          record in the high-need LEA after completing the initial year of  
          preparation and obtaining a preliminary teaching credential.  If  
          participants fail to complete the placement period, they are  
          required to pay back the cost of the training on a pro rata  
          basis.


          Related  
          Legislation:  SB 933 is part of a legislative package with SB 62  
          (Pavley) and SB 915 (Liu) to address teacher recruitment and  
          retention.  SB 62 makes various programmatic changes and  
          authorizes additional warrants for the existing Assumption  








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          Program of Loans for Education.  SB 915 reestablishes the  
          California Center on Teaching Careers to recruit individuals  
          into the teaching profession.  SB 915 is scheduled to be heard  
          in this committee on April 11, 2016. 
          Staff  
          Comments:  The implementation of this bill is contingent upon an  
          appropriation provided in the annual Budget or in another  
          statute.  Therefore, the number of grants that the CDE could  
          issue is unknown. 



          This bill provides that grant amounts are required to be for at  
          least three school years, and the lesser of the following two  
          options: (1) an annual amount of up to $30,000 per resident, as  
          matched by the LEA, or (2) a total of $2 million over three  
          school years, as matched by the LEA.  Therefore, the CDE would  
          have discretion in issuing grants that could range widely in  
          duration (such as surpassing the three year grant minimum) and  
          number of participants it would support.  

          Assuming all grants are issued at a level of $2 million over  
          three years and 10 percent of school districts receive a grant  
          (for simplicity, but charter schools are also eligible to  
          apply), costs to the state would be $200 million ($66.7 million  
          annually).  In addition, grantees are required to provide a  
          match of funds equal to 50 percent of their grant award.  Under  
          this scenario, each school district would have to contribute $1  
          million, or $100 million statewide ($33.3 million annually).   
          This bill authorizes LEAs to meet the matching requirement with  
          funding provided by community partners, institutions of higher  
          education, or others.  However, without an identified funding  
          source, LEAs would likely need to meet the matching requirement  
          by redirecting or using new general purposes dollars provided  
          through the LCFF to support this program.  

          According to the author's office, the author envisions  
          implementation of this bill to include $100 million in  
          Proposition 98, one-time funding, for $20 million per year for  
          five years.


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