Teachers: professional development: bilingual and dual language grant programs.

Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other duties, establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law requires the commission to issue an authorization for a teacher who meets specified requirements to provide instruction to English learners. Existing law establishes the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program, administered by the State Department of Education in consultation with the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, for teachers seeking to provide instruction in bilingual and multilingual settings. Existing law requires the department to issue a minimum of 5 grants to applicants through a competitive process and to allocate grant funding to eligible local educational agencies for purposes of providing professional development services to teachers or paraprofessionals. Existing law provides that a teacher or paraprofessional is eligible for professional development services funded by a grant if the teacher possesses a teaching credential or an education specialist credential authorizing the holder to teach pupils with exceptional needs and the teacher possesses an authorization to teach English learners or seeks that authorization, and meets other specified requirements, as provided. Existing law requires grant recipients to report specified information related to the program to the department by January 1, 2021. This bill would delete the requirement that the department issue a minimum of 5 grants. The bill would require a teacher or paraprofessional, to be eligible for professional development services funded by a grant, to possess a teaching credential or an education specialist credential authorizing the holder to teach English learners, instead of pupils with exceptional needs, and to meet those other same requirements. The bill would delay the reporting by grant recipients of specified information to the department to January 1, 2025. The bill would establish the Licensed Child Development Teacher Professional Development Program, administered by the department, for child development permitholders to acquire and improve their knowledge, skills, and abilities to support dual language learners enrolled in child development programs. The bill would require the department to allocate grant funding to eligible child development providers that operate a child development program for purposes of providing professional development services to administrators, teachers, and staff who possess a child development permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The bill would specify eligibility criteria and would require the department to ensure that grant recipients, to the maximum extent possible, are balanced with regard to geographic regions and urban and rural settings. The bill would require a grant recipient to submit a specified report to the department on or before January 1, 2025.