AB 1224: Teacher credentialing: substitute teachers: days of service.

Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish standards and procedures for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing regulations prohibit a holder of an emergency substitute teaching permit from substitute teaching during the school year for any one teacher (1) for more than 30 days for a holder of an emergency 30-day substitute permit or an emergency substitute teaching permit for prospective teachers or (2) for more than 60 days for a holder of a career emergency substitute permit. Existing law authorizes a person holding a valid credential authorizing substitute teaching to serve as a substitute for the appropriately credentialed special education teacher for not more than 20 cumulative school days for each special education teacher absent during each school year, except as otherwise provided. Existing law, notwithstanding those provisions or any other law, temporarily authorized, until July 1, 2024, any holder of a credential or permit issued by the commission that authorizes the holder to substitute teach in a general, special, or career technical education assignment to serve in a substitute teaching assignment aligned with their authorization, including for staff vacancies, for up to 60 cumulative days for any one assignment.

Existing law authorizes the commission to waive provisions governing the preparation or licensing of educators in certain situations. If a suitable fully prepared teacher is not available to the school district, existing law requires the school district to make reasonable efforts to recruit first a candidate who is qualified to participate and enrolls in an approved internship program in the region of the school district and then a candidate who is scheduled to complete the preliminary credential requirements within 6 months. Existing regulations authorize a local employing agency to request a teaching permit for statutory leave when a teacher of record is unable to provide services due to a statutory leave and certain requirements are met.

This bill, until January 1, 2029, and notwithstanding any other law, would reestablish the above-described 60-cumulative day authorization for any one assignment in a school district, county office of education, or charter school, if the local educational agency has entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the employee organization that includes a specific process for the assignment of substitute teachers or, before using the authorization, the local educational agency that has not entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the employee organization that includes a specific process for the assignment of substitute teachers has adhered to specified requirements related to whether the substitute will serve in a position in which the teacher on record is currently on statutory leave or the assignment is for a vacant position, as provided. The bill would require a school district or charter school, before assigning a substitute teacher pursuant to these provisions for more than 20 cumulative days in a special education assignment or 30 cumulative days in any one assignment, to either (1) obtain approval from the governing board or body at a regularly scheduled public meeting if the assignment is foreseeable or (2), if the assignment is not foreseeable due to urgent circumstances, provide specified information related to the assignment to the governing board or body as an informational item at the next regularly scheduled public meeting of the governing board or body, as provided. If a local educational agency assigns a substitute teacher pursuant to these provisions and the substitute teacher does not have a preliminary or professional clear credential, the bill would require the local educational agency, concurrently within 30 days of the assignment, to provide the substitute teacher with, among other things, access to professional development opportunities. The bill would require each county superintendent of schools, on a quarterly basis, to report to the respective county board of education the total number of substitute teachers employed by the county superintendent of schools who served during the prior quarter for more than 20 cumulative days in a special education assignment or 30 cumulative days in any one assignment, as provided. If a local educational agency makes an assignment where a substitute teacher teaches for more than 20 cumulative days in a special education assignment or 30 cumulative days in any one assignment, the bill would require the local educational agency, commencing with data from the 2026–27 school year, to annually report specified information to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing related to those assignments.