BILL ANALYSIS
AB 406
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 1, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 406 (Yamada) - As Introduced: February 23, 2009
SUBJECT : School personnel: Classified School Employee Training
Program.
SUMMARY : Establishes the Classified School Employee Training
Program for classified employees at the community colleges and
K-12 public schools. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes the Classified School Employee Training Program
and requires the Superintendent, with the approval of the
State Board of Education, to administer the program.
2)Defines "Classified school employee" as a person employed on a
full-time or a part-time basis as a classified school employee
at a community college, or a public school or a state special
school in which kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12 are
taught.
3)Defines "Hard-to-staff school" as a school in which teachers
holding emergency permits or credential waivers make up 20% or
more of the teaching staff.
4)Defines "High-priority school" as a school in the bottom half
of all schools based on the Academic Performance Index
rankings.
5)Defines "Local educational agency" as a school district, a
county office of education, a charter school, or a community
college district.
6)Declares Legislative intent that, from funds appropriated for
this article, the Superintendent shall award incentive funding
to provide classified school employees with instruction and
training in areas that include, but are not necessarily
limited to, all of the following:
a) Curriculum frameworks and instructional materials
aligned to the state academic standards.
b) The management of state and local pupil data, assessment
instruments, and specific ways to use assessment data from
the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program,
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including analyzing achievement of specific subgroups,
including English language learners and individuals with
exceptional needs.
c) The management strategies and best practices regarding
the use of educational technology to improve pupil
performance.
d) Pupil and campus safety.
e) School facilities and maintenance. School districts
that receive grants for new facility technology shall set
aside a portion of the funding for staff development and
training to classified school employees to maintain the
equipment or system.
f) Chemical safety.
g) School transportation and bus safety.
h) Parent involvement.
i) Food service.
j) Health and nursing standards.
aa) At-risk pupils.
bb) Special education.
cc) Academic standards: training for paraprofessionals to
assist teachers and administrators to improve the academic
achievement of pupils to include, but not necessarily be
limited to, capacity building in all of the following
areas:
i) Pedagogies of learning.
ii) Motivating pupil learning.
iii) Instructional strategies for teaching essential
content in ways that address the varied learning needs of
pupils, with special emphasis on English language
learners and individuals with exceptional needs.
iv) Collaboration.
v) Conflict resolution, including reduction of racial
tensions.
vi) Respect for diversity.
vii) Parent involvement.
viii) Staff relations.
ix) Creation of an effective, safe, and inclusive
learning environment.
x) A single plan for pupil achievement.
7)Requires the Superintendent to identify existing state,
federal, or local funds that can be used for classified school
employees, and make a recommendation to local educational
agencies on the appropriate set-aside of funds intended for
staff development for classified staff with appropriate
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guidelines that are consistent with federal requirements.
8)Specifies that to receive incentive funding for the purposes
of this article, a local educational agency, individually or
in partnership with one or more institutions of higher
education or other educational entities, shall submit a
program proposal to the Superintendent including an
expenditure plan; how the training program for which funding
is being requested addresses the program goals; and, how the
local educational agency plans to continue ongoing training to
classified school employees.
9)Directs the Superintendent to approve or disapprove a local
educational agency's plan for training of classified school
employees serving kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, with
respect to school districts and county offices of education.
10)Directs the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges
to approve or disapprove a community college district plan for
training of classified school employees serving community
colleges, and transmit approved community college district
plans to the Superintendent for his or her consideration for
funding.
11)Requires, after five years of implementation, the department
to develop, subject to review and approval by the state board,
a final report for submission to the Legislature.
12)Requires the report to include, at a minimum, all of the
following:
a) The number of classified school employees who received
training.
b) The entities that received funds for the purpose of
offering training and the number of classified school
employees that each entity has trained.
c) Information detailing the effectiveness of the program;
and, at a minimum, to incorporate survey data concerning
program effectiveness that has been gathered from program
participants.
d) Information detailing the retention rate of classified
school employees who participated in training.
e) A comparison of the Academic Performance Index scores
for elementary and secondary schools within participating
local educational agencies for the year before the school's
classified school employees receive training and for the
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second year after the classified school employees complete
the training provided.
f) Relevant data required to be included in the school
accountability report card.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the Administrator Training Program to provide
training for principals and vice principals at K-12 public
schools which requires incentive grants not to exceed $3,000
per schoolsite administrator; requires the SPI to report to
the Legislature; and, establishes a sunset date of July 1,
2012. (Education Code Section 44510)
2)Establishes the Chief Business Officer Training Program to
provide training for chief business or financial officers at
school districts or county offices of education (COE), or
people nominated by school districts or COE's, which requires
incentive grants not to exceed $3,000 per candidate; requires
the SPI to report to the Legislature; and, establishes a
sunset date of July 1, 2009. (Education Code Section 44518)
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill creates the Classified School Employee
Training Program for K-12 and community college employees.
Existing law provides training for administrators and chief
business officers, and it is also important to provide training
for classified school employees. Classified employees are
often the most impacted by budget cuts, and are most likely to
take on new work responsibilities due to budget cuts. It is
important to provide training to classified employees who take
on significant new responsibilities, to ensure the safety of
employees and students.
Currently, there is not a statewide training program for
classified employees. If fact, paraeducators are currently the
only classified employees that have access to training programs
within existing state categorical programs. This measure will
create a statewide training program for all classified employees
and their various areas of expertise, modeled after the existing
Administrator Training Program.
Classified school employees include paraeducators, healthcare
professionals, office and clerical staff, bus drivers,
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groundskeepers, custodians, information technology assistants,
instructional assistants, food service workers, and school
safety personnel. In these capacities, they frequently interact
with parents and students, and are important partners in
educational success. They are employed in public K-12 school
settings or at public community colleges and have major
responsibilities for reinforcing classroom instruction and the
health and safety of students. Classified school employees
include part time as well as full time staff.
As a result of the most recent Budget Act, the Administrator
Training Program and the Chief Business Officer (CBO) Training
Program were placed in Tier 3, which means the program funding
was reduced by 19.8%. The total program funding for the
Administrator Training Program for the 2009-10 Budget year was
$3.639 million. This item sets aside approximately $810,000 for
CBO training for the 2009-10 Budget year, which also represents
a reduction of 19.8%. In addition to the reduction in funding,
these programs are open to categorical flexibility, which means
school districts can use the funds for any purpose. This means
that districts are not required to offer administrator training
or CBO training and instead can transfer those funds to other
programs. In light of this, is it appropriate to establish a
new categorical program? Would this new program be funded
differently than the existing training programs that are given
full flexibility at the local level?
According to the author, under current law there is no
consolidated program that establishes a training program for
classified school employees to learn new approaches in
fulfilling their job responsibilities such as training to learn
the latest and best practices for pupil and campus safety;
training and staff development in food preparation to provide
nutritional meals and food management; training and staff
development in methods for providing timely and appropriate
interventions and assistance to at-risk pupils and their
parents; and other training related to the enhancement of job
responsibilities of classified school employee so that they may
better serve the needs of students to create a safe, clean
learning environment in schools and community colleges.
According to the author, schools rely on paraeducators,
healthcare professionals, information technology assistants and
other classified school employees to effectively meet these
challenges. However, they often do not receive adequate
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training. Training is needed to enhance existing skills as well
as to learn new approaches to better serve the needs of students
and to create a safe, clean learning environment in our schools
and community colleges. Therefore, training for classified
school employees is imperative to the success of our students.
Existing law establishes the Administrator Training Program and
Chief Business Officer Training Program under the administration
of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Existing law also
establishes training programs for teachers. Classified school
employees need structured, consolidated, and efficient training
programs, as much as school administrators and teachers.
Committee Amendments . Committee staff recommends the bill be
amended to correct a drafting error with regard to the funding
of this program. Staff recommends the bill be amended to
specify that this program shall become operable upon
appropriation of new funds in the annual Budget Act for this
program and that the reporting requirements shall commence 3
years after the appropriation of funds. Staff recommends the
bill be amended to include a priority for funding for high
priority or hard to staff schools. Staff further recommends the
bill be amended to insert a sunset and repeal date, similar to
the Administrator Training Program and Chief Business Officer
Training Program.
Previous legislation : SB 352 (Scott), Chapter 356, Statues of
2005 established the Chief Business Officer Training Program.
SB 430 (Nava), Chapter 364, Statues of 2005 reauthorized the
Administrator Training Program.
AB 75 (Steinberg), Chapter 697, Statues of 2001 established the
Principal Training Program, which was re-named by SB 430 (Nava)
as the Administrator Training Program.
AB 341 (Strom-Martin) Chapter 884, Statutes of 2001 required the
California Department of Education (CDE) to contract for the
development of standards for professional development for
educators and instructional leaders.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California School Employees Association (Sponsor)
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American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
California Teachers Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087