BILL NUMBER: ABX1 1 CHAPTERED 04/06/99 CHAPTER 4 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE APRIL 6, 1999 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR APRIL 6, 1999 PASSED THE SENATE MARCH 22, 1999 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY MARCH 22, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 18, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 11, 1999 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 4, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 18, 1999 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 12, 1999 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Villaraigosa, Strom-Martin, and Alquist JANUARY 19, 1999 An act to amend Sections 44662 and 44664 of, to add Section 44498 to, to add Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44500) to Chapter 3 of Part 25 of, and to repeal Article 4 (commencing with Section 44490) of Chapter 3 of Part 25 of, the Education Code, relating to teachers, and making an appropriation therefor. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1, Villaraigosa. California Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers. (1) Existing law establishes the California Mentor Teacher Program and provides that the primary function of a mentor teacher is to provide assistance and guidance to new teachers. Existing law authorizes mentor teachers to provide staff development for teachers and develop special curriculum. This bill would make the California Mentor Teacher Program inoperative on July 1, 2001, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2002. The bill would establish the California Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers, which would become fully operational on July 1, 2001, when it would completely replace the California Mentor Teacher Program. This bill would allow the governing board of a school district and the exclusive representative of the certificated employees in the school district to implement a peer assistance and review program for teachers. The bill would require teachers receiving assistance in the program to have permanent status if the school district has 250 or greater units of average daily attendance or to be a permanent or probationary employee if the school district has fewer than 250 units of average daily attendance and to volunteer to participate or be referred for participation in the program as a result of their biennial evaluation. The program would also require performance goals for individual teachers to be in writing, clearly stated, and aligned with pupil learning goals, assistance and review to include multiple observations of a teacher during periods of classroom instruction, a school district to provide sufficient staff development activities to assist teachers to improve their teaching skills and knowledge, a teacher's final evaluation on program participation to be made available for placement in the teacher's personnel file, and a monitoring component with a written record. This bill would require a joint teacher administrator peer review panel to select consulting teachers and to annually evaluate the impact of the district's peer assistance and review program in order to improve the program. This bill would provide that a school district that accepts state funds for purposes of this program agrees to negotiate the development and implementation of the program with the exclusive representative of the certificated employees in the school district, if the certificated employees in the district are represented by an exclusive representative. This bill would provide that not more than 5% of the funds received by a school district for the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers may be expended for administrative expenses. This bill would permit a school district to notify the Superintendent of Public Instruction that it plans to implement a program and would require the superintendent to apportion funds to that school district for staff development activities and training for district personnel that are necessary to implement a program. This bill would make a school district that does not elect to participate in the California Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers ineligible for any apportionment, allocation, or other funding from an appropriation for this program, for local assistance appropriated pursuant to Budget Act Item 6110-231-0001, for the Administrator Training and Evaluation Program, for the Instructional Time and Staff Development Reform Program, and for school development plans. This bill would, commencing with the 2000-01 fiscal year, authorize a school district that receives funds for the California Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers to expend those funds also for the Marian Bergeson Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System, the California Pre-Internship Teaching Program, district intern program, and other professional development, as described. This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, subject to the availability of funding in the annual Budget Act, to contract with an independent evaluator on or before December 15, 2002, to prepare a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation, impact, cost, and benefit of the California Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers and to submit the evaluation to the Legislature, the Governor, and interested parties on or before January 1, 2004. This bill would provide that state funding for this program subsequent to the 1999-2000 fiscal year is subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act. (2) Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to evaluate and assess certificated employee performance as it reasonably relates to the progress of pupils toward the standards of expected pupil achievement established by the governing board. This bill would require the governing board also to evaluate and assess certificated employee performance as it reasonably relates to the progress of pupils toward the state-adopted academic content standards as measured by state-adopted criterion referenced assessments, thereby imposing a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the results of an employee's participation in the Peer Assistance and Review Program to be considered in this evaluation. The bill would authorize a school district to require that a certificated employee who receives an unsatisfactory rating in this evaluation to participate in its Peer Assistance and Review Program. (3) This bill would appropriate $125,082,000 for the 1999-2000 fiscal year from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with $41,800,000 for the purpose of providing staff development activities and training for school district personnel that is necessary to implement the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers, $83,200,000 for the purpose of the California Mentor Teacher Program, and $82,000 for support services for the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers. To the extent that funds appropriated by this bill are allocated to a school district or community college district, those funds would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution. (4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed $1,000,000. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions. Appropriation: yes. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a teacher peer assistance and review system as a critical feedback mechanism that allows exemplary teachers to assist veteran teachers in need of development in subject matter knowledge or teaching strategies, or both. It is further the intent of the Legislature that a school district that operates a program pursuant to Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44500) of Chapter 3 of Part 25 of the Education Code coordinate its employment policies and procedures for that program with its activities for professional staff development, the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program, and the biennial evaluations of certificated employees required pursuant to Section 44664. SEC. 2. Section 44498 is added to the Education Code, to read: 44498. (a) When a school district notifies the Superintendent of Public Instruction that it plans to implement a program pursuant to Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44500), this article shall not apply to that school district. (b) This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2001, and, as of January 1, 2002, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted before January 1, 2002, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed. SEC. 3. Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44500) is added to Chapter 3 of Part 25 of the Education Code, to read: Article 4.5. California Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers 44500. (a) There is hereby established the California Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers. The governing board of a school district and the exclusive representative of the certificated employees in the school district may develop and implement a program authorized by this article that meets local conditions and conforms with the principles set forth in subdivision (b). (b) The following principles, at a minimum, shall be included in a locally developed program authorized by this article: (1) A teacher participant shall be a permanent employee in a school district with 250 or greater units of average daily attendance or a permanent or probationary employee in a school district with fewer than 250 units of average daily attendance and volunteer to participate in the program or be referred for participation in the program as a result of an evaluation performed pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 44664. In addition, teachers receiving assistance may be referred pursuant to a collectively bargained agreement. (2) Performance goals for an individual teacher shall be in writing, clearly stated, aligned with pupil learning, and consistent with Section 44662. (3) Assistance and review shall include multiple observations of a teacher during periods of classroom instruction. (4) The program shall expect and strongly encourage a cooperative relationship between the consulting teacher and the principal with respect to the process of peer assistance and review. (5) The school district shall provide sufficient staff development activities to assist a teacher to improve his or her teaching skills and knowledge. (6) The program shall have a monitoring component with a written record. (7) The final evaluation of a teacher's participation in the program shall be made available for placement in the personnel file of the teacher receiving assistance. 44501. A consulting teacher participating in a program operated pursuant to this article shall meet locally determined criteria and each of the following qualifications: (a) The consulting teacher shall be a credentialed classroom teacher with permanent status or, in a school district with an average daily attendance of less than 250 pupils, a credentialed classroom teacher who has completed at least three consecutive school years as an employee of the school district in a position requiring certification qualifications. (b) The consulting teacher shall have substantial recent experience in classroom instruction. (c) The consulting teacher shall have demonstrated exemplary teaching ability, as indicated by, among other things, effective communication skills, subject matter knowledge, and mastery of a range of teaching strategies necessary to meet the needs of pupils in different contexts. 44502. (a) The governance structure of a program designed pursuant to this article shall include a joint teacher administrator peer review panel that shall select consulting teachers, review peer review reports prepared by consulting teachers, and make recommendations to the governing board of a school district regarding participants in the program, including forwarding to the governing board the names of individuals who, after sustained assistance, are not able to demonstrate satisfactory improvement. (b) The majority of the panel shall be composed of certificated classroom teachers chosen to serve on the panel by other certificated classroom teachers. The remainder of the panel shall be composed of school administrators chosen to serve on the panel by the school district. (c) The panel's procedures for selecting consulting teachers, at a minimum, shall require the following: (1) Consulting teachers shall be selected by the majority vote of the panel. (2) The selection process shall include provisions for classroom observation of the candidates for consulting teacher by the panel. (d) The panel shall also annually evaluate the impact of the district's peer assistance and review program in order to improve the program. This evaluation may include, but is not limited to, interviews or surveys of the program participants. The panel may submit recommendations for improvement of the program to the governing board of the school district and to the exclusive representative of the certificated employees in the school district, if the certificated employees in the district are represented by an exclusive representative. 44503. (a) The governing board of a school district that accepts state funds for purposes of this article agrees to negotiate the development and implementation of the program with the exclusive representative of the certificated employees in the school district, if the certificated employees in the district are represented by an exclusive representative. In a school district in which the certificated employees are not represented, the school district shall develop a Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers consistent with this article in order to be eligible to receive funding under this article. (b) Functions performed pursuant to this article by certificated employees employed in a bargaining unit position shall not constitute either management or supervisory functions as defined by subdivisions (g) and (m) of Section 3540.1 of the Government Code. (c) Teachers who provide assistance and review shall have the same protection from liability and access to appropriate defense as other public school employees pursuant to Division 3.6 (commencing with Section 810) of Title 1 of the Government Code. (d) It is the intent of the Legislature that school districts be allowed to combine, by mutual agreement, their programs of peer assistance and review with those of other school districts. (e) Not more than 5 percent of the funds received by a school district for the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers may be expended for administrative expenses. 44504. (a) Except as provided in Section 44505, the California Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers shall become fully operational on July 1, 2001, on which date it shall completely replace the California Mentor Teacher Program established pursuant to Chapter 1302 of the Statutes of 1983 and set forth in Article 4 (commencing with Section 44490). This article is applicable to all school districts that elect to receive state funds for the California Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers. Commencing with the 2001-02 fiscal year, funding shall only be made available for purposes authorized by this article. A school district that elects to participate in the program established pursuant to this article shall certify to the Superintendent of Public Instruction that it has implemented a Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers pursuant to this article. (b) A school district that does not elect to participate in the program authorized under this article by July 1, 2001, is not eligible for any apportionment, allocation, or other funding from an appropriation for the program authorized pursuant to this article or for any apportionments, allocations, or other funding from funding for local assistance appropriated pursuant to Budget Act Item 6110-231-0001, funding appropriated for the Administrator Training and Evaluation Program set forth in Article 3 (commencing with Section 44681) of Chapter 3.1 of Part 25, from an appropriation for the Instructional Time and Staff Development Reform Program as set forth in Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 44579) of Chapter 3, or from an appropriation for school development plans as set forth in Article 1 (commencing with Section 44670.1) of Chapter 3.1 and the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall not apportion, allocate, or otherwise provide any funds to the district pursuant to those programs. (c) Commencing February 1, 2002, a school district that elects not to participate in the program authorized under this article shall report annually at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board of the school district on the rationale for not participating in the program. 44505. (a) Between July 1, 1999, and June 30, 2000, a school district may notify the Superintendent of Public Instruction that it plans to implement, commencing July 1, 2000, a Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers pursuant to this article. Upon receipt of the notification by the school district, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall apportion to the school district an amount equal to the number of mentor teachers that the state funded for the district in the 1999-2000 fiscal year pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 44490) multiplied by two thousand eight hundred dollars ($2,800). The school district may use the funds apportioned pursuant to this section for activities necessary to implement the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers. (b) Between July 1, 2000, and May 31, 2001, a school district may notify the Superintendent of Public Instruction that it plans to implement, commencing July 1, 2001, a Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers pursuant to this article. On or before June 29, 2001, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall apportion to every school district that provides this notification an amount equal to the number of mentor teachers that the state funded for the school district in the 1999-2000 school year pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 44490) times a maximum of one thousand dollars ($1,000). (c) The maximum amount of funds available for apportionment to school districts by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for allocation pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be the amount appropriated pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 6 of the act adding this section, minus any funds apportioned by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to school districts pursuant to subdivision (a) as of June 30, 2000. (d) A school district may use funds apportioned pursuant to this section for activities necessary to implement the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers. 44506. (a) The state funding for this article subsequent to the 1999-2000 fiscal year is subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act. It is the intent of the Legislature that the funding for the program for the 2000-01 fiscal year be at least equal to the 1999-2000 fiscal year appropriation for Article 4 (commencing with Section 44490) plus the amount apportioned pursuant to Section 44505. (b) If a school district elects to implement a Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers after June 30, 2000, but before July 1, 2001, it is the intent of the Legislature that the school district's state apportionment for fiscal year 2000-01 be at least equal to the dollar amount the district received in the 1999-2000 fiscal year for purposes of Article 4 (commencing with Section 44490). (c) A school district that receives funds for purposes of this article may also expend those funds for any of the following purposes: (1) The Marian Bergeson Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System as set forth in Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44279.1) of Chapter 2. (2) The California Pre-Internship Teaching Program as set forth in Article 5.6 (commencing with Section 44305) of Chapter 2. (3) A district intern program as set forth in Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 44325) of Chapter 2. (4) Professional development or other educational activities previously provided pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 44490) of Chapter 3. (5) Any program that supports the training and development of new teachers. 44507. Subject to the availability of funding in the annual Budget Act, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall contract with an independent evaluator on or before December 15, 2002, to prepare a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation, impact, cost, and benefit of the California Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers. The evaluation shall be delivered to the Legislature, the Governor, and interested parties on or before January 1, 2004. 44508. For purposes of this article, "school district" includes a county office of education. SEC. 4. Section 44662 of the Education Code is amended to read: 44662. (a) The governing board of each school district shall establish standards of expected pupil achievement at each grade level in each area of study. (b) The governing board of each school district shall evaluate and assess certificated employee performance as it reasonably relates to: (1) The progress of pupils toward the standards established pursuant to subdivision (a) and, if applicable, the state adopted academic content standards as measured by state adopted criterion referenced assessments. (2) The instructional techniques and strategies used by the employee. (3) The employee's adherence to curricular objectives. (4) The establishment and maintenance of a suitable learning environment, within the scope of the employee's responsibilities. (c) The governing board of each school district shall establish and define job responsibilities for certificated noninstructional personnel, including, but not limited to, supervisory and administrative personnel, whose responsibilities cannot be evaluated appropriately under the provisions of subdivision (b) and shall evaluate and assess the performance of those noninstructional certificated employees as it reasonably relates to the fulfillment of those responsibilities. (d) Results of an employee's participation in the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers established by Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44500) shall be made available as part of the evaluation conducted pursuant to this section. (e) The evaluation and assessment of certificated employee performance pursuant to this section shall not include the use of publishers' norms established by standardized tests. (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed as in any way limiting the authority of school district governing boards to develop and adopt additional evaluation and assessment guidelines or criteria. SEC. 5. Section 44664 of the Education Code is amended to read: 44664. (a) Evaluation and assessment of the performance of each certificated employee shall be made on a continuing basis, at least once each school year for probationary personnel, and at least every other year for personnel with permanent status. The evaluation shall include recommendations, if necessary, as to areas of improvement in the performance of the employee. If an employee is not performing his or her duties in a satisfactory manner according to the standards prescribed by the governing board, the employing authority shall notify the employee in writing of that fact and describe the unsatisfactory performance. The employing authority shall thereafter confer with the employee making specific recommendations as to areas of improvement in the employee's performance and endeavor to assist the employee in his or her performance. When any permanent certificated employee has received an unsatisfactory evaluation, the employing authority shall annually evaluate the employee until the employee achieves a positive evaluation or is separated from the district. (b) Any evaluation performed pursuant to this article which contains an unsatisfactory rating of an employee's performance in the area of teaching methods or instruction may include the requirement that the certificated employee shall, as determined necessary by the employing authority, participate in a program designed to improve appropriate areas of the employee's performance and to further pupil achievement and the instructional objectives of the employing authority. If a district participates in the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers established pursuant to Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44500), any certificated employee who receives an unsatisfactory rating on an evaluation performed pursuant to this section shall participate in the Peer Assistance and Review Program for Teachers. (c) Hourly and temporary hourly certificated employees, other than those employed in adult education classes who are excluded by the provisions of Section 44660, and substitute teachers may be excluded from the provisions of this section at the discretion of the governing board. SEC. 6. There is hereby appropriated for the 1999-2000 fiscal year the sum of one hundred twenty-five million eighty-two thousand dollars ($125,082,000) according to the following schedule: (a) The sum of forty-one million eight hundred thousand dollars ($41,800,000) from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the purposes of Section 44505 of the Education Code. (b) The sum of eighty-three million two hundred thousand dollars ($83,200,000) from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the purposes of Article 4 (commencing with Section 44490) of Chapter 3 of Part 25 of the Education Code. (c) The sum of eighty-two thousand dollars ($82,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide support services related to the program established pursuant to Section 44500 of the Education Code. SEC. 7. Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code. If the statewide cost of the claim for reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000), reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.