BILL ANALYSIS
Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
SB 1505 (Alarcon)
Hearing Date:5/22/00 Amended:5/16/00
Consultant: Kathleen Chavira Policy Vote:Education
8-1
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BILL SUMMARY:
SB 1505, an urgency measure, makes numerous changes in
current law and creates new programs designed to recruit or
provide incentives to teachers.
Eliminates the cap on earnings for teachers who retired
before January 1, 2000 if the teacher provides direct
instruction in grades K-12 or support services in
training new teachers. The provision sunsets on July 1,
2005.
Increases from $1,500 to $2,500 per intern per year, the
maximum amount of state funding local school districts
and county offices of education (COE) may receive for
operating a teacher intern program.
Increases the award available through the National Board
for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Certification
Incentive Program from $10,000 to $20,000 for teachers
agreeing to teach at a low-performing school for at least
four years. Funding is contingent upon Annual Budget Act
appropriation.
Establishes the Teacher Recruitment Incentive Program
(TRIP) to be administered by the Sacramento County Office
of Education. The program would award grants for the
operation of regional recruitment centers.
Creates the Teacher As a Priority Program (TAP),
administered by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing
(CTC), to provide incentive grants to low-performing
schools which replace emergency permit teachers with
credentialed teachers, as specified.
Adds a teaching requirement, as specified, for recipients
of a Cal Grant T award and requires the Student Aid
Commission to report, annually, as specified.
Increases from 5,500 to 6,500 the number of APLE warrants
awarded annually and makes a variety of changes to
generally streamline and facilitate the administration of
the APLE program
Creates the Governor's Teaching Fellowships program which
would provide 250 merit-based grants of $20,000 each to
graduate students who, upon becoming credentialed
teachers, agree to teach at a low-performing school for
four years. The program would be administered by the
Chancellor's Office of the California State University
(CSU).
Creates the Neighborhood Teachers Program, which would
provide homebuyer housing down payment assistance of up
to $10,000 for teachers working in low-performing
schools.
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2000-01 2001-02
2002-03 Fund
STRS Admin . --minor, absorbable administrative
costs-- General
Alt. Cert. Program 20,800 20,800
20,800 General
NBPTS 15,000 15,000
15,000 General*
TRIP Program 9,400 9,400
9,400 General*
CTC TAP Grants 52,000 52,000 52,000
General
CSAC Cal Grant Report -----------unknown----------
General
APLE warrants ----increased costs in subsequent years---
General
CSU Fellowships
Fellowship Awards 2,500 22,500
20,000 General
CSU Admin 1,000 1,000
1,000 General
Housing Assistance 50,000 50,000
50,000 General
*Count toward Prop 98 minimum guarantee
STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for the
SUSPENSE FILE
SB1505 is the vehicle for the teacher
recruitment/incentives portion of the Governor's education
initiatives. This committee recently passed SB1330(Alpert)
which is similar to portions of SB1505 which amend the APLE
program. APLE warrants can only be redeemed after
completion of school and at least one year of teaching.
Although the bill proposes an increased number of warrants
be issued in this budget year, increased costs will not be
realized until subsequent years.
There is no cost impact to STRS since valuation of the
defined benefit program assumes that members do no work
beyond the earnings limit. In addition, the established
retirement cut-off date of 1-1-2000 eliminates any
incentive for current employees to retire to take advantage
of the cap removal.
The fiscal impact for the CSU Teaching Fellowships reflects
the 250 to be awarded in this year, with half the funds to
be disbursed in 2000-2001, half in 2001-2002. In addition,
beginning in 2001-2002, the number of fellowships to be
awarded increases to 1,000 annually.
STAFF NOTES: Although the Governor's proposed budget
provided for funding of the various provisions in the
bills, funding for several of the proposed programs was
originally deleted by the Senate Education Budget
Subcommittee. These included the TRIP ($9.4 million),TAP
($52 million), NBPTS ($15 million) and CSU Teaching
Fellowships ($3.5 million) programs. Proposed funding has
since been restored in the form of a block grant without
programmatic assignment.