Teacher credentialing: certificated employee assignment monitoring.

Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, among other duties, to establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law requires a county superintendent of schools to monitor and review school district certificated employee assignment practices, as provided. Existing law requires a county superintendent of schools to submit an annual report to the commission and the State Department of Education summarizing the results of all assignment monitoring and reviews. Existing law requires the commission to submit biennial reports to the Legislature concerning teacher assignments and misassignments based, in part, on the annual reports of the county superintendents of schools. This bill would repeal those provisions relating to teacher assignment monitoring. The bill would require the commission to administer a State Assignment Accountability System to provide local educational agencies with a data system for assignment monitoring. The bill would require the commission to annually use data it receives from the department to produce an initial data file of vacant positions and assignments that do not have a clear match of credential to assignment. The bill would identify the monitoring authority for a local educational agency, and would require a monitoring authority to review and determine any potential misassignments reported in and identified through the system for local educational agencies within its authority, as provided. The bill would grant the commission the authority to make a final determination for all potential misassignments. The bill would require the data generated from the system for the 2019–20 school year to be used for informational purposes only. The bill would require, commencing with the 2020–21 school year, the commission to make annual misassignment and vacant position data publicly available on its internet website. The bill would require a certificated employee who has attained permanent status to notify specified entities if the certificated employee is required by the local educational agency to accept an assignment for which the certificated employee has no legal authorization, as provided. The bill would prohibit a local educational agency from taking adverse action against a certificated employee who provides that notice. To the extent the bill imposes additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.