BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 512
AUTHOR: Committee on Education
AMENDED: April 27, 2009
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: April 29, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : Teacher Credentialing
SUMMARY
This bill corrects technical errors and oversights, and
makes numerous non-controversial and conforming changes to
various provisions of the Education Code.
BACKGROUND
This bill is one of the annual Education Code clean up
bills that makes various non-controversial revisions to
statute. This education omnibus bill corrects errors,
resolves conflicts, and deletes obsolete references that
relate to state education agencies such as the Commission
on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).
By tradition, objection to any provision by the agency
affected, the Department of Finance, or any of the four
legislative caucuses prevents that provision from being
included in this bill.
Current law requires the CTC to annually report to the
Legislature and the Governor on the availability of
teachers in California. The report, due by April 15 each
year, must include data on teacher availability relative to
credentials, internships and emergency permits, including
on a county by county basis, the number of individuals
serving on various credentials and the number of
individuals serving English learner pupils without the
proper authorization.
ANALYSIS
This bill corrects technical errors and oversights, and
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makes numerous non-controversial and conforming changes to
various provisions of the Education Code. Specifically,
this bill:
a) Deletes inaccurate and outdated
references to the Commission on Teacher
Preparation and Licensing and replaces those
references with the correct name, the Commission
on Teacher Credentialing.
b) Includes authorizations in the
required elements of the annual report on teacher
supply that the Commission submits to the
Legislature and the Governor.
c) Replaces the outdated term "fifth
year of study" with "clear credential program."
d) Replaces the outdated term
"professional clear credential" with the term
"clear credential."
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Teacher supply report . Current law specifies that the
annual teacher supply report include data regarding
"credentials" and "certificates." While the language
does not specify the inclusion of various
authorizations that may be listed on a credential
(i.e. an authorization to teach English learner pupils
or a supplementary authorization to teach a specific
subject) the practice of the Commission has been to
include authorizations when relevant to the content
requirements of the report. By adding authorizations
to the existing documents specified in law, SB 512
will conform the required data elements to Commission
practice and will assure consistency in data
reporting. The CTC has suggested, and staff
recommends, amending the bill to, for purposes of the
report, define the term authorization to mean the
designation that appears on a credential, certificate,
or permit that identifies the subjects and
circumstances in which the holder of the credential,
certificate, or permit may teach, or the services
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which the holder may render in the public schools of
this state.
2) Confusing terminology . SB 512 eliminates outdated
terminology in current law that creates confusion:
a) "Fifth year of study" - Education Code
sections 44251 and 44259 refer to the process of
clearing a preliminary credential and qualifying
for the clear credential by completing a "fifth
year of study." Yet many teachers, especially
those who have completed graduate work or who
combine a Master's degree with a teacher
preparation program, have already completed five
years of study by the time they earn a
preliminary credential. In addition, SB 2042
(Alpert, Chapter 548, 1998) changed the process
by which preliminary credential holders clear
their credential. Beginning teachers now earn
the clear credential by completing an induction
program during the first two years of teaching or
by completing specified coursework at a
regionally accredited institution of higher
education.
b) "Professional clear credential" - The term
"professional clear" denotes a credential for
which there are professional growth requirements
for renewal. SB 1209 (Scott, Chapter 517, 2006)
removed the professional growth requirement for
credential renewal. The term "clear" credential
is now the appropriate and commonly used term.
3) Additional correction . Section 44263 of the education
code specifies the coursework required in order for a
teacher credentialed in one subject area to be
assigned to teach a multiple subject class. This code
section specifies the teacher must have 60 semester
hours equally distributed among ten subject areas
including language studies, literature, mathematics,
science, social science, history, humanities, the
arts, physical education, and human development. A
later reference in this same code section inaccurately
refers to four required areas instead of ten. Staff
recommends the bill be amended to correct Section
44263 to reference ten required areas instead of four.
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SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
None received.