BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1385|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1385
Author: Hancock (D)
Amended: 4/10/12
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 3/28/12
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Huff, Liu, Price,
Simitian, Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Blakeslee, Vacancy
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/24/12
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Dutton, Lieu, Price,
Steinberg
SUBJECT : California After School Teacher Pipeline
Program
SOURCE : California After School Coalition
California Partnership for Children and Youth
DIGEST : This bill establishes the California After
School Teacher Pipeline Program for the purpose of
providing support to instructors in specified after school
programs who wish to become teachers.
ANALYSIS : Existing state and federal law establish
various after school academic enrichment programs including
the 21st Century High School After School Safety and
Enrichment for Teens Program (ASSETs), the After School
Education and Safety Program (ASES), and the federally
CONTINUED
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funded 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program
(CCLC).
Existing law establishes the California School
Paraprofessional Teacher Training Program (PTTP) for the
purpose of assisting paraprofessionals who work in public
schools to become teachers. Existing law limits
participation in the program to public school employees who
serve as instructional aides or assistants, including
library aides; pupil services aids, child development
assistants, and physical education aides.
This bill:
1. Establishes the California After School Teacher Pipeline
Program (Pipeline Program) to recruit qualified after
school instructors to participate on a pilot basis in
the PTTP.
2. Defines after school instructor to mean an employee who
meets the minimum standards of the paraprofessional job
classification as defined by an applicant local
educational agency (LEA) and who is employed in an
ASSETs, ASES, or the CCLC program.
3. Requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC)
to select up to four applicant school districts or
county offices of education already receiving PTTP funds
to participate in the pipeline program; and requires
applicants to satisfy all PTTP requirements and
demonstrate:
A. A screening process to determine if a pilot
participant's after school instruction experience
ensures readiness for the pilot.
B. How the applicant will ensure professional support
for participants through mentor teaching oversight,
classroom experience, and academic content
instruction experience.
C. How the applicant will track pilot participants
within their program.
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D. How applicants and pipeline program participants
will meet all PTTP requirements, including but not
limited to, participant eligibility and commitments,
program design, and program reporting.
4. Requires the annual transfer of $150,000 from funds used
by the California Department of Education (CDE) for the
administration of the ASES to the CTC to implement the
pipeline program.
5. Requires the CTC to use the $150,000 to award a grant to
teach selected applicants of up to $3,500 per pilot
participant.
6. Requires the CTC to include pipeline program participant
data in its annual report to the Legislature on the PTTP
program.
7. Requires the CTC to report to the Legislature regarding
the pipeline program pilot before January 1, 2018, and
requires the report to include information regarding the
ability of applicants to successfully integrate the
pilot into their existing program and the number of
pipeline program participants who earn a teaching
credential.
8. Specifies that the pilot pipeline program will be
inoperative on July 1, 2019, and sunsets on January 1,
2020, unless a later enacted statute that becomes
operative on or before January 1, 2020, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is
repealed.
9. Declares that this bill furthers the purposes of the
After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002.
Comments
After school programs . The state and federal after school
programs specified in this bill provide education and
literacy as well as enrichment. The education and literacy
component provides tutoring and/or homework assistance in
language arts, math, history and social science, science,
or computer training. The educational enrichment component
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may include fine arts, recreation, physical fitness, and
prevention activities. Programs are typically located on a
school site and operate from the end of the school day
until at least 6:00 pm. There are approximately 4,000
California schools that operate an after school program.
These programs employ approximately 20,000 individuals who
directly supervise students.
Many after school program providers are city, county, or
nonprofit agencies. Although program employees who
directly supervise students must meet the minimum
qualifications of an instructional aide in the sponsoring
school district, these employees are not eligible to
participate in the PTTP unless they are school district
employees. This bill enables after school program staff
who are employees of a school's partner agencies to
participate in the PTTP.
Paraprofessional Teacher Training Program . PTTP is a
career ladder teacher recruitment program that enables
districts to meet local teacher supply needs by helping
their paraeducators become teachers. Participants work as
instructional aids while they complete subject matter
requirements and continue to receive assistance through the
program while they complete professional preparation
requirements (typically completed in an intern program).
Participants are required to complete one school year of
classroom instruction in the district or county office of
education for each year they receive assistance through the
program. Candidates who do not fulfill the service
requirement must repay the assistance they received from
the program. According to the CTC, more than 2,175
instructional aides have become fully-credentialed teachers
as a result of the financial, academic, and mentoring
support provided through the PTTP. As PTTP participants
continue working while they are completing their education,
they can take six or seven years to become fully
credentialed, especially if they enter the program with
only an associate degree. Given the sunset date for this
pilot, would it make sense to strengthen the screening
criteria for the pipeline program to determine not only a
participant's readiness for the program but also their
likely completion by 2019? Alternatively, should the
sunset date be extended to 2021?
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Categorical program flexibility . As part of the February
2009 budget process, LEAs were provided fiscal and policy
flexibility related to categorical programs through 2013.
This flexibility was subsequently extended through
2014-2015. The PTTP program is included in the categorical
program flexibility. Specifically, an LEA that received
PTTP funding is authorized to use this funding for any
other educational purpose. The LEA may choose to continue
operating the categorical program that it received funding
for or redirect it for any other educational purpose as it
deems appropriate. LEAs are deemed to be in compliance
with any program and funding requirements contained in
statute and regulation that may be associated with the
program. Enrollment in the statewide PTTP program has
declined in recent years. The PTTP served 390 or 31% fewer
participants in 2010-2011 than in 2009-2010. Due in part
to choices LEAs have made with regard to categorical
flexibility, the decline in participants is also due to the
fiscal constraints that have reduced the availability of
jobs for new teachers. In its December 2011 annual PTTP
report, the CTC noted that the state's current fiscal
environment and categorical flexibility places continued
operation and administration of local programs in jeopardy
and noted that the statewide PTTP was no longer accepting
new participants.
Prior Legislation
AB 364 (Torlakson, 2009) proposed to establish a California
After School Teacher Pipeline Program by expanding
eligibility for the PTTP. AB 364 was held under submission
by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 1674 (Torlakson, 2008) proposed to establish the
California After School Teacher Pipeline Program, expand
the existing ASES to allow weekend operation, and establish
a minimum grant level for small programs. The bill was
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, who stated: "As the
primary author of Proposition 49 that created the After
School Education and Safety Program (ASES) Act, I am very
proud of the good work that after school providers have
done in serving kids over the years. While providing
students with educationally enriching activities during
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weekend hours is a worthy goal, this bill takes the program
beyond the original scope of the ASES program. After
school programs are intended to provide students with
access to quality tutoring, homework assistance, and
educational enrichment during weekday non-school hours,
when they are most at risk of being involved in dangerous
activities."
SB 43 (Torlakson, 2007) would have expanded eligibility for
the PTTP by defining staff that provide academic assistance
in specified after school programs as school
paraprofessionals. SB 43 was not heard, at the request of
the author, and was subsequently returned to the Secretary
of the Senate because it did not meet the "house of origin"
deadline.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/24/12)
California After School Coalition (co-source)
California Partnership for Children and Youth (co-source)
Aspiranet
California School-Age Consortium
Citizen Schools
LA's Best
Pro-Youth/HEART
THINK Together
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters argue that after school
programs provide education and enrichment activities that
help support a child's education. Nearly all (97%) of
these programs serve low income communities and after
school employees are often from and representative of the
community in which they work. Many after school program
staff are well suited and well qualified to enter a teacher
training program, but may not have the financial resources
to complete teacher credential requirements. The author's
office maintains that access to the PTTP will promote
employee retention in after school programs, which suffer
from high staff turn-over due to low pay and a lack of
career ladder options.
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PQ:mw 5/24/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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