Teacher credentialing: out-of-state prepared teachers.

(1) 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 a preliminary multiple subject, single subject, or education specialist teaching credential to an out-of-state applicant who satisfies specified requirements and, as part of one of those requirements, authorizes the commission to require an applicant to meet California subject matter requirements before issuing a clear credential if the subject area listed on the out-of-state credential does not correspond to a California subject area, as specified. Existing law requires the commission to issue a clear multiple subject, single subject, or education specialist teaching credential to an applicant who satisfies specified requirements, including, among other things, providing 2 satisfactory performance evaluations for verification of 2 or more years of teaching experience. This bill would eliminate the provision that authorizes the commission to require an out-of-state preliminary teaching credential applicant to meet California subject matter requirements before issuing a clear credential and would require the commission to instead issue a preliminary multiple subject teaching credential to an out-of-state prepared teacher in general education and issue a preliminary education specialist credential in mild to moderate support needs to an out-of-state prepared teacher in special education, as provided. The bill would eliminate the provision that requires an out-of-state clear teaching credential applicant to provide 2 satisfactory performance evaluations and would instead authorize those out-of-state applicants to provide an experience verification letter, as specified, or a copy of a signed teaching contract to meet the requirement of verifying 2 or more years of teaching experience. (2) Existing law requires an out-of-state applicant who is issued a preliminary or clear teaching credential pursuant to the above-described provisions to meet the basic skills proficiency requirement within one year of the date the credential is issued or the credential becomes invalid. The bill would eliminate the requirement that an out-of-state applicant meet the basic skills proficiency requirement within one year of the date the credential is issued.