Bill Text: CA AB694 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Teachers: teacher residency apprenticeship programs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-09-01 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB694 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB694-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 27, 2023 |
Introduced by Assembly (Coauthor: Assembly Member Juan Carrillo) |
February 13, 2023 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
(1)Existing law establishes the State Department of Education in state government, and vests the department with specified powers and duties relating to the state’s public school system. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish procedures within the department to accomplish certain things, including to annually identify the critical needs for which effective educational programs and practices are to be identified, developed, and disseminated to public schools.
This bill would establish the Statewide Educator Workforce Coordinating Committee within the department for purposes of determining and defining the state’s role in addressing the educator workforce shortage. The bill would require the committee to address certain workforce issues. The bill would require the committee’s membership
to be determined by the Superintendent.
(2)Under
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 3075.2 is added to the Labor Code, to read:3075.2.
(a) (1) The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall submit the Teacher Residency Grant Program standards, pursuant to Section 44415.5 of the Education Code, for approval as a registered apprenticeship program through the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and the United States Department of Labor.(a)The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1)Since 2017, it has been determined that than 100,000 classrooms in the United States have been staffed by instructors who were unqualified for their jobs, and that these classrooms are disproportionately located in low-income, high-minority schools, although in some key subjects, every kind of school district has been hit by a lack of qualified applicants.
(2)The federal Office for Civil Rights’ data show that school districts serving more pupils of color employ about four times more uncertified
teachers than school districts serving few pupils of color, and pupils from low-income families, pupils with disabilities, and English learners are also more likely to be taught by underqualified teachers than other pupils, with negative effects on their achievement.
(3)Federal policies can extend the financial capacity of teachers by reducing their college debt and by making other financial supports more readily available to teachers.
(4)Investing in alternative pathways and policies that recruit and prepare future teachers earlier in their educational careers can help attract young people into teaching and reduce the overall costs of their preparation.
(5)California’s education budget has included considerable investments
in building the educator pipeline and supporting the existing workforce, including the creation of the Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program, the Teacher Residency Grant Program, and the Golden State Teacher Grant Program.
(b)Therefore, it is the intent of the Legislature for this act to accomplish both the following:
(1)Provide strategies to increase the number of teacher candidates.
(2)Establish a statewide coordinating committee in statute to determine and define the state’s role in addressing educator workforce issues, including recruitment, retention, and pipelines into the teaching profession, from early childhood education through grade 12.
(a)(1)The Statewide Educator Workforce Coordinating Committee is hereby established within the department for purposes of determining and defining the state’s role in addressing the educator workforce shortage.
(2)The workforce issues to be addressed by the committee shall include, but are not limited to, recruitment, retention, and pipelines into the teaching profession, from early childhood education through grade 12.
(3)The committee’s membership shall be determined by the Superintendent.
(b)(1)The committee shall explore the creation of a statewide database of local educational agency vacancies.
(2)For purposes of paragraph (1), local educational agency includes, but is not limited to, a school district, county office of education, or charter school.
The Legislature encourages apprenticeship funding to be used to reduce the teacher shortage.