41520-41522
EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 41520-41522
41520. (a) There is hereby established the teacher credentialing block grant. Commencing with the 2005-06 fiscal year, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall apportion block grant funds to a school district or charter school offering approved programs pursuant to Section 41521 based on the number of eligible participants in each of those programs. (b) (1) The Legislature finds that the Superintendent and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing established requirements for reviewing and approving teacher induction programs. The Legislature further finds that 135 of 150 programs are jointly approved as of July 1, 2004. It is the intent of the Legislature that these requirements remain in effect until the Superintendent and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing jointly agree to modify them. The Superintendent and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall jointly review new programs developed pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) based on established approval requirements. (2) As provided for in Section 44259, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing retains authority to issue credentials to candidates who complete an induction program that meets the Standards of Program Quality and Effectiveness adopted by the commission. A previously approved program that is deemed as no longer meeting the Standards of Program Quality and Effectiveness shall be considered a new program for purposes of becoming an approved program pursuant to this article. (3) A school district or charter school may expend funds received pursuant to this article for any purpose authorized by the programs listed in Section 41521, as the statutes governing those programs read on January 1, 2004, for the purpose of providing equivalent program services for beginning teachers. For the purpose of statewide program support and accountability, equivalent program services include regional support and technical assistance that existed under the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment system on January 1, 2004. (c) For purposes of this article, "school district" includes a consortia of school districts, a consortia of school districts and county offices of education, and a county office of education if county offices of education are eligible to receive funds for the programs that are listed in Section 41521. 41521. (a) The teacher credentialing block grant shall include funding previously apportioned to school districts for purposes of beginning teacher support and assessment as set forth in Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 44279.1) of Chapter 2 of Part 25. (b) For purposes of issuing teaching credentials, certificates, or other authorizations, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall approve the programs described by subdivision (a). To ensure the Superintendent has the requisite information to allocate funding based on the number of participating credential candidates pursuant to this article, the commission shall inform the Superintendent on an ongoing basis of the approval status of these programs and numbers of participating candidates in each approved program. 41522. (a) The amount of funding a school district or charter school receives pursuant to this article shall be adjusted for changes in the number of participating credential candidates in each approved program, and the amount per candidate shall be adjusted annually for inflation pursuant to Section 42238.1. (b) For purposes of calculating the amount of funding a school district or charter school receives pursuant to this article, the Superintendent shall include funding for up to 10 percent of credential candidates who complete the program early in accordance with paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 44468 for the time period that the candidate would regularly participate in the program, but not to exceed two fiscal years. In administering this subdivision, the Superintendent shall comply with subdivision (b) of Section 44386.