Sen. Sabrina Cervantes

Existing law prescribes the minimum requirements for a clear multiple or single subject teaching credential, including the completion of either a beginning teacher induction program approved by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to the Marian Bergeson Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment System, an alternative program of beginning teacher induction that is provided by one or more local educational agencies and has been approved by the commission and the Superintendent on the basis of initial review and periodic evaluations of the program in relation to appropriate standards of credential program quality and effectiveness that have been adopted by the commission, the Superintendent, and the State Board of Education, as provided, or an alternative program of beginning teacher induction that is sponsored by a regionally accredited college or university, in cooperation with one or more local school districts, that addresses the individual professional needs of beginning teachers and meets the commission's standards of induction, except as provided. Existing law also requires credentials for teaching specialties, including, but not limited to, bilingual education, early childhood education, and special education, to be based upon a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution, completion of a program of professional preparation, and any other standards which the commission may establish. This bill would, commencing with hiring for the 2017–18 school year, and each school year thereafter, prohibit a school district, county office of education, or charter school from charging a fee to a beginning teacher to participate in a beginning teacher induction program that is approved by the commission and the Superintendent, and would define a beginning teacher for purposes of that provision to include a teacher with a preliminary multiple or single subject teaching credential, or a preliminary education specialist credential. The bill also would prohibit a local educational agency from charging a fee to a beginning teacher to participate in an alternative program of beginning teacher induction program that it provides.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and establishes community college districts throughout the state that operate community colleges and provide instruction to students. Existing law requires community college districts to charge each student an enrollment fee of $46 per unit per semester. Existing law requires the board of governors to waive this fee for students meeting prescribed requirements, which include meeting specified minimum academic and progress standards adopted by the board of governors. Existing law requires the board of governors to consider, among other things, a process for reestablishing fee waiver eligibility that provides a student with a reasonable opportunity to continue or resume his or her enrollment at a community college when developing and adopting those minimum academic and progress standards. Existing law expresses the intent of the Legislature that these minimum academic and progress standards be implemented only as campuses develop and implement the student support services and interventions necessary to ensure no disproportionate impact to students based on ethnicity, gender, disability, or socioeconomic status. Existing regulations require each community college district to establish written procedures by which a student may appeal the loss of a board of governors fee waiver due to extenuating circumstances, or where a student with a disability applied for, but did not receive reasonable accommodation in a timely manner. This bill would express the intent of the Legislature that the minimum academic and progress standards be implemented only as campuses develop and implement the student support services and interventions necessary to additionally ensure no disproportionate impact to students based on geographic location. The bill would require the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to review, for general consistency, each community college district's due process procedures, including any subsequent modifications of the procedures, adopted to appeal the loss of a fee waiver under these provisions, and comment on the procedures, as appropriate. The bill would require each community college district to, at least once every 3 years, examine the impact of the specified minimum academic and progress standards and determine whether those standards have had a disproportionate impact on a specific class of students, and if a disproportionate effect is found, the bill would require the community college district to include steps to address that impact in a student equity plan. By imposing additional duties on community college districts, the 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 the statutory provisions noted above.

This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 680 in the City of San Ramon in the County of Contra Costa as the Detective Sergeant Thomas A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Highway. The measure would also request that the Department of Transportation determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, erect those signs.

Existing law establishes the Capital Access Loan Program to assist qualified small businesses in financing the costs of complying with environmental mandates and the remediation of contamination on their properties, which is administered by the California Pollution Control Financing Authority. Under the program, the authority may enter into contracts with participating financial institutions and is required to establish a loss reserve account with participating financial institutions. Under existing law, a participating financial institution that experiences a default on a qualified loan enrolled in the Capital Access Loan Program may obtain reimbursement from the authority by submitting a claim for reimbursement for a specified amount of the loss covered by that loan, subject to certain procedures. Existing law establishes within the program the California Americans with Disabilities Act Small Business Capital Access Loan Program to assist small businesses in financing the costs of projects that alter or retrofit existing small business facilities to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. Existing law also establishes within the Capital Access Loan Program the California Seismic Safety Capital Access Loan Program to assist residential property owners and small business owners in seismically retrofitting residences and small businesses by covering losses on qualified loans for those purposes. This bill, until January 1, 2027, would create the California Affordable Clean Vehicle Program to assist low-income individuals in the purchase or lease of zero emission or plug-in vehicles for personal or commercial use, and other eligible projects. The bill would require the authority to administer the program in consultation with the State Air Resources Board and consistent with the requirements of the Capital Access Loan Program and other related programs related to financing of clean energy vehicles. The bill would authorize the authority, to the extent funds are available, to offer financing mechanisms to low-income individuals under the program, including establishing a loss reserve account, providing funds to financial institutions to reduce the interest rates charged on qualified loans, and any other mechanism that the authority establishes to increase participation rates of low-income individuals in qualified loans. The bill would require the program to comply with goals and objectives relating to environmental and consumer protection. The bill would establish the California Affordable Clean Vehicle Program Fund, and would authorize the authority to utilize the funds, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of the program. The bill would require the authority to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of this bill.