Teachers: teacher shortage and diversity programs: evaluation.

Existing law establishes the Teacher Residency Grant Program and the Local Solutions Grant Program as one-time competitive grant programs, administered by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, for the recruitment and retention of teachers, as specified. Existing law requires the commission to conduct an evaluation of the Teacher Residency Grant Program and the Local Solutions Grant Program to determine the effectiveness of these programs in recruiting, developing support systems for, and retaining special education teachers, bilingual education teachers, and teachers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Existing law requires the commission to provide a report on the evaluation to the Department of Finance and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature by December 1, 2023. Existing law repeals the above-described provisions on January 1, 2029. Instead of the evaluation described above, this bill would require the commission to conduct an annual evaluation of all investments in addressing teacher shortages and teacher diversity, including, among others, the Teacher Residency Grant Program and the Local Solutions Grant Program, to determine the effectiveness of these programs in recruiting, developing support systems for, and retaining special education, bilingual education, and STEM teachers and teachers of color, and, with respect to this evaluation, would require the commission to annually provide a report to the Department of Finance and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would specify various topics and types of data that would be required to be included in the annual evaluation. The bill would also delay the repeal of the Teacher Residency Grant Program, the Local Solutions Grant Program, and the annual reporting requirements until January 1, 2030.