BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �






                         SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Carol Liu, Chair
                           2013-2014 Regular Session
                                        

          BILL NO:       SB 576
          AUTHOR:        Block
          INTRODUCED:    February 22, 2013
          FISCAL COMM:   Yes            HEARING DATE:  April 24, 2013
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo

           SUBJECT  :  Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

           SUMMARY  

          This bill removes the California Postsecondary Education  
          Commission (CPEC) representative from the Commission on  
          Teacher Credentialing (CTC) and replaces it with a  
          representative appointed by the Board of Governors of the  
          California Community Colleges. 

           BACKGROUND

           Established in 1970, the CTC develops professional  
          standards for preparation, certification, and assignment  
          monitoring of K-12 public school teachers as well as for  
          administration and service professionals.  The CTC  
          implements these programs through the issuance and renewal  
          of teaching and service credentials, accreditation of  
          teacher preparation programs, and monitoring of teacher  
          conduct.

          The CTC is comprised of 19 members-15 voting members and  
          four ex-officio, non-voting members.  The voting members  
          are the Superintendent of Public Instruction and 14 members  
          appointed by the Governor for four-year terms.  These  
          appointments include six teacher representatives, four  
          representatives of the public, one member of a school  
          district governing board, one K-12 school administrator,  
          one faculty member from a college or university, and one  
          non-administrator services credential representative (e.g.  
          school counselor, librarian, or speech therapist).  The  
          four ex-officio members, whose terms are ongoing, represent  
          the Association of Independent California Colleges and  
          Universities, the Regents of the University of California,  
          the CPEC, and the California State University.  






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          The ex-officio members do not vote in any of the  
          proceedings of the CTC nor in any of its committees or  
          subcommittees, except by a majority vote of the CTC,  
          ex-officio members may be permitted to vote in order to  
          establish a quorum or as otherwise determined by the CTC.




           ANALYSIS
           
           This bill  removes the California Postsecondary Education  
          Commission (CPEC) representative from the Commission on  
          Teacher Credentialing (CTC) and replaces it with a  
          representative appointed by the Board of Governors of the  
          California Community Colleges. 

           STAFF COMMENTS
           
           1)   Need for the bill  .  The CPEC is no longer operational.  
                It was defunded in 2011 and subsequently has not  
               received any funding in the budget.  Therefore there  
               has not been a representative from the CPEC on the CTC  
               since 2011, leaving the position vacant.  

           2)   Rationale for having a community colleges  
               representative  .  According to the author's office and  
               information provided by the CTC, sponsor of the bill,  
               California's teacher preparation programs intersect  
               with the community colleges in several ways.  

               Many teacher candidates begin their undergraduate  
               studies in the community colleges and complete it at  
               the University of California (UC) or California State  
               University (CSU) campus.  

               Additionally, specific teacher pipeline programs, such  
               as the Paraprofessional Teacher Training Program  
               (PTTP) are dependent on articulated partnerships  
               across 22 PTTP sites.  These partnerships include  
               written articulation agreements with 50 campuses of  
               community colleges, 21 CSU campuses, 4 UC campuses,  
               and 15 independent colleges and universities allowing  







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               postsecondary institutions to contribute to the  
               program's goal of creating innovative teacher  
               education models.  

               Further, the community colleges are a major provider  
               of Child Development permit candidates.  Child  
               Development Permits constitute 21 percent of the  
               documents issued by the CTC.  According to the  
               sponsor, having institutional representation from the  
               community colleges would allow all segments of higher  
               education to be represented and provide the CTC with  
               additional perspective of that segment.

               The Chancellor's Office of the California Community  
               Colleges has indicated that community college  
               representation on the CTC would be appropriate given  
               their role in the teacher preparation pipeline and  
               programs for students in child development programs.    


           3)   Staffing for the Chancellor's Office  .  While this bill  
               could create additional workload for the Chancellor's  
               Office, they have indicated that their participation  
               on the CTC is not expected to disrupt current  
               workload. 

           4)   Staff amendments  .  The CPEC has not received funding  
               in the budget since 2011, but it still exists in  
               statute and conversations about reconstituting a  
               higher education coordinating board are ongoing in the  
               Legislature.  Therefore, it may be premature to  
               permanently eliminate the CPEC representative on the  
               Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).  Staff  
               recommends amending the bill to retain the  
               representative from the CPEC and allow an alternate  
               appointed by the Board of Governors of the California  
               Community Colleges to serve in the CPEC  
               representative's absence.  This would preserve the  
               CPEC's representation and also provide the CTC with  
               valuable higher education input from the community  
               colleges.  

          SUPPORT  








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          California Federation of Teachers
          Commission on Teacher Credentialing (sponsor)
          Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges

           OPPOSITION

           None on file.