Teachers: best practices teacher evaluation system.

(1) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district or a county board of education, as specified, after a public hearing on the matter, to request the State Board of Education to waive all or part of any section of the Education Code or any regulation adopted by the state board that implements a provision of the Education Code that may be waived, except for specified provisions. This bill would include additional specified provisions of the Education Code, relating to teacher evaluation and the Quality Education Investment Act of 2006, that may not be waived. (2) Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that governing boards of school districts establish a uniform system of evaluation and assessment of the performance of all certificated personnel within each school district of the state. Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to establish standards of expected pupil achievement at each grade level in each area of study and to evaluate and assess certificated employee performance on a continuing basis as it reasonably relates to the progress of pupils toward the established standards and, if applicable, the state adopted academic content standards as measured by state adopted criterion referenced assessments, the instructional techniques and strategies used by the employee, the employee's adherence to curricular objectives, and the establishment and maintenance of a suitable learning environment, within the scope of the employee's responsibilities. This bill would provide that the provisions described above would become inoperative on July 1, 2014. The bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature regarding the nature of effective teachers and of the teaching profession. Commencing on July 1, 2014, the bill would require the governing board of each school district to adopt and implement a locally negotiated best practices teacher evaluation system, described as one in which each teacher is evaluated on a continuing basis on the degree to which he or she accomplishes specific objectives and multiple observations of instructional and other professional practices that are conducted by trained evaluators. The bill would authorize the state board, in consultation with the Superintendent of Public Instruction and appropriate education stakeholder groups, to adopt nonregulatory guidance to support the implementation of a best practices teacher evaluation system by school districts, as specified. The bill would, on or before May 1, 2013, require the governing board of each school district, at a regularly scheduled public hearing, to seek comment on the development and implementation of the best practices teacher evaluation system, and, on or before May 1 of each year prior to local negotiations required by law, to seek comment on the best practices teacher evaluation system. The bill also would require the governing board of each school district to disclose the provisions of the best practices teaching evaluation system at a regularly scheduled public hearing. The bill would also require the governing board of each school district to establish and define job responsibilities for certificated, noninstructional employees and evaluate and assess their performance in relation to those responsibilities. The bill would provide that these provisions do not apply to certificated personnel who are employed on an hourly basis in adult education classes. The bill would require that funds appropriated pursuant to a provision of law for the 2013–14 fiscal year be distributed to school districts, as specified, for the purpose of implementing the best practices teacher evaluation system, and would require these school districts to use the funds, as specified. The bill would also provide that the provisions of the best practices teacher evaluation system do not supersede or invalidate a teacher evaluation system that is locally negotiated and that is in effect at the time the best practices teacher evaluation system becomes operative. (3) Existing law requires that an evaluation and assessment of the performance of a certificated employee be made on a continuing basis, as provided, including at least every 5 years for personnel with permanent status who have been employed at least 10 years with the school district, are highly qualified, as specified, and whose previous evaluation rated the employee as meeting or exceeding standards. This bill would require the evaluation and assessment of the above personnel at least every 3 years, except as locally negotiated and provided in the best practices teacher evaluation system. (4) The existing Quality Education Investment Act of 2006 effectuates the intent of the Legislature to implement the terms of the proposed settlement agreement of a specified legal action, to provide for the discharge of the minimum state educational funding requirement, to improve the quality of academic instruction and the level of pupil achievement in schools whose pupils have high levels of poverty and complex educational needs, to develop exemplary school district and school practices to create working conditions to attract and retain well-qualified teachers and administrators, and to focus school resources solely on instructional improvement and pupil services. The act requires county superintendents of schools to annually review participant schools and their data to determine compliance with the program requirements, including, among others, specified class size requirements. The act requires, among other things, $450,000,000 per fiscal year to be appropriated from the General Fund for specified purposes for each of the 2008–09, 2011–12, and 2014–15 fiscal years, inclusive, and requires those funds to be allocated, as specified, to Sections A and B of the State School Fund. A provision of the act appropriates $218,322,000 for the 2013–14 fiscal year, for allocation by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the Superintendent, as specified, from the General Fund. This bill would revise the class size requirement for kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, to be no more than an average of 20 pupils per class in each grade level at each schoolsite, provided that any grade 1 to 3 classroom at that schoolsite has no more than 22 pupils. The bill would instead require $450,000,000 per fiscal year to be appropriated from the General Fund for specified purposes for each of the 2008–09 and 2011–12 fiscal years, and would, commencing with the 2013–14 fiscal year, appropriate $89,000,000 to the Superintendent, as specified, for purposes of the act. The bill would, commencing with the 2013–14 fiscal year and continuing annually thereafter, require the Superintendent to allocate, as specified, certain appropriated funds that are not allocated to schools with kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, in a fiscal year due to program termination or otherwise, except funds allocated in the 2013–14 fiscal year for purposes of implementing the best practices teacher evaluation system. The bill also would instead appropriate $361,000,000 for the 2013–14 fiscal year, for allocation, as specified, from the General Fund, including $313,000,000 for transfer by the Controller to Section A of the State School Fund for allocation by the Superintendent. (5) Under the California Constitution, whenever the Legislature or a state agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on any local government, including a school district and a community college district, the state is required to provide a subvention of funds to reimburse the local government, with specified exceptions. Existing law, commencing with the 2012–13 fiscal year, requires certain funds appropriated in the annual Budget Act for reimbursement of the cost of a new program or increased level of service of an existing program mandated by statute or executive order to be available as a block grant to school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education to support specified state-mandated local programs and permits those entities to elect to receive that block grant funding in lieu of claiming mandated costs pursuant to the state claims process. This bill would, as of July 1, 2014, add specified mandated programs, including the best practices teacher evaluation system, to the state-mandated local programs supported by the block grant funding. (6) By requiring school districts to perform additional duties, this 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 these statutory provisions. (7) Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.