BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                    AB 1736
                                                                    Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 26, 2000

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS 
                              Carole Migden, Chairwoman

                 AB 1736 (Ducheny) - As Introduced: January 6, 2000 

          Policy Committee:                               
          P.E.R.&S.S.Vote:7-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local  
          Program:NoReimbursable:           

           SUMMARY  :

          This bill exempts from the current State Teachers' Retirement  
          System (CalSTRS) post-retirement earnings of CalSTRS members who  
          retired before July 1, 2000 and who are subsequently employed to  
          provide direct remedial instruction to pupils in K-12 education.  


           FISCAL EFFECT  :

          According to CalSTRS, this bill would result in no costs to the  
          system due to the anticipated small number of retired teachers  
          that would exceed the earnings limitation under the provisions  
          of this bill.

           COMMENTS  :

           1)Background.  Current law allows retired members of CalSTRS to  
            earn up to $19,050 in 1999-2000 for public school employment.  
            The earnings limitation is adjusted annually to reflect  
            changes in the Consumer Price Index. Any creditable earnings  
            in excess of this amount result in a dollar-for-dollar  
            reduction in the member's retirement allowance. Existing law  
            also provides an exemption from this limit if the member  
            retired prior to July 1, 1998, and is employed by a school  
            district to provide direct classroom instruction in any  
            statutorily authorized class size reduction program.  This  
            exemption sunsets on July 1, 2002. There is an additional  
            exemption for a retired CalSTRS member who is appointed as a  
            trustee or administrator or who is employed on an emergency  
            basis to fill an administrative position. This exemption  
            sunsets on July 1, 2003.








                                                                    AB 1736
                                                                    Page  2


           2)Purpose.  According to the author, this bill will help  
            alleviate the problem of a shortage of credentialed teachers  
            to teach remedial classes by expanding the pool of available  
            teachers.

           3)Related Legislation  . AB 1733 (Wildman) would eliminate the  
            current earnings limitation entirely. AB 141 (Knox) would  
            expand the current earnings limitation exemption for members  
            filling administrative positions on an emergency basis. SB  
            1505 (Alarcon) would exempt CalSTRS members who retired prior  
            to 2000 and who return to provide direct K-12 classroom  
            instruction or to provide support to new teachers from the  
            current earnings limitation. 

           4)Suggested Amendment  . The Education Code does not define  
            remedial instruction, although it is generally understood to  
            mean supplemental instruction intended to bring students up to  
            grade level achievement.  In order to maintain consistency in  
            how this exemption is applied, the bill should be amended to  
            specify what constitutes remedial instruction.

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Stephen Shea / APPR. / (916) 319-2081