BILL ANALYSIS
SB 751
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
SB 751 (Romero) - As Amended: June 24, 2009
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC)
to issue a multiple subject, single subject, or education
specialist teaching credential to a teacher prepared in a
country other than the United States, as specified.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the individual who is prepared outside of the United
States to have earned a valid corresponding elementary,
secondary, or special education teacher credential in another
state and who meets the current requirements for individuals
prepared out-of-state, as specified.
2)Requires a school district, county office of education (COE),
or charter school that provides intensive examination
preparation courses, as specified, to do both of the
following: (a) ensure that the program meets the domains for
subject matter understanding and skill adopted by the CTC in
the content area and (b) provide general information to
teacher participants on the requirements for adding a new
credential type, as specified.
3)Authorizes a school district, COE, or charter school to
contract with other entities, including the California Subject
Matter Projects administered by the University of California,
to provide intensive examination preparation courses, as
specified above.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor absorbable costs to the CTC to implement this measure.
SB 751
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COMMENTS
1)Purpose . Existing law authorizes the CTC to issue preliminary
and clear teaching credentials to teachers prepared in
countries other than the United States who meet specified
criteria. This criterion includes the possession of a
baccalaureate or higher degree determined to be equivalent to
a degree offered by a regionally accredited institution in the
United States and completion of a professional preparation
program approved by a government agency in the country where
the program was completed.
The state's credential application process for teachers
prepared outside of the United States requires applicants to
obtain a foreign transcript evaluation (which can cost $200 or
more) to determine that the university or college degree
earned in the foreign country is equivalent to degrees earned
by candidates who are prepared in the United States.
Currently, this process applies to individuals who come to the
state directly from their home country and to teachers who
first earn a credential in another state. The teachers who
earned a credential in the other state also underwent a
transcript evaluation to satisfy requirements in that state.
Under current law, out-of-state teachers who completed their
teacher training outside the U.S. are required to undergo a
transcript evaluation, regardless if they already did so when
they received a credential from another state. This bill
would remove this barrier and streamline the process for a
teacher prepared outside of the United States to teach in
California.
2)Current law and subject matter examinations . Statute requires
candidates earning a single subject teaching credential to
demonstrate subject matter knowledge either by completion of a
baccalaureate subject matter program approved by the CTC or by
passage of a subject matter examination.
Existing law also requires the CTC to select, administer, and
interpret subject matter examinations. The CTC has adopted a
series of subject matter examinations (i.e., California
Subject Examinations for Teachers) for prospective teachers
who choose to meet the subject matter competency in this
manner.
SB 751
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The CTC indicates there are 41 universities and local
educatoin agencies (i.e., districts, COEs, and charter
schools) that offer test prepartion programs. This bill
requires school districts, COEs, and charter schools who offer
these programs to demonstrate quality to the CTC.
3)Previous related legislation . SB 1209 (Scott), Chapter 517,
Statutes of 2006, established credential requirements for
out-of-state teachers that are consistent with requirements
for candidates prepared in California.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081