44100-44105
EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 44100-44105
44100. (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following: (1) Generally, California school districts employ a disproportionately low number of racial and ethnic minority classified and certificated employees and a disproportionately low number of women and members of racial and ethnic minorities in administrative positions. (2) It is educationally sound for the minority student attending a racially impacted school to have available to him or her the positive image provided by minority classified and certificated employees. It is likewise educationally sound for the child from the majority group to have positive experiences with minority people, that can be provided, in part, by having minority classified and certificated employees at schools where the enrollment is largely made up of majority group students. It is also educationally important for students to observe that women as well as men can assume responsible and diverse roles in society. (3) Past employment practices created artificial barriers and past efforts to promote additional action in the recruitment, employment, and promotion of women and minorities did not result in a substantial increase in employment opportunities for these persons. (4) Lessons concerning democratic principles and the richness that racial diversity brings to our national heritage can be best taught by staffs composed of mixed races and ethnic groups working toward a common goal. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to do all of the following: (1) Establish and maintain a policy of equal opportunity in employment for all persons. (2) Prohibit discrimination on any basis listed in subdivision (a) of Section 12940 of the Government Code, as those bases are defined in Sections 12926 and 12926.1 of the Government Code, except as otherwise provided in Section 12940 of the Government Code, in every aspect of personnel policy and practice in the employment, development, advancement, and treatment of persons employed in the public school system. (3) Promote the total realization of equal employment opportunity through a continuing affirmative action employment program. (c) The Legislature recognizes that it is not enough to proclaim that public employers do not discriminate in employment, but that effort must also be made to build a community in which opportunity is equalized. It is the intent of the Legislature to require educational agencies to adopt and implement plans for increasing the numbers of women and minority persons at all levels of responsibility. 44101. For the purposes of this article the following definitions apply: (a) (1) "Affirmative action employment program" means planned activities designed to seek, hire, and promote persons who are underrepresented in the work force compared to their numbers in the population, including individuals with disabilities, women, and persons of minority racial and ethnic backgrounds. It is a conscious, deliberate step taken by a hiring authority to assure equal employment opportunity for all staff, both certificated and classified. These programs require the employer to make additional efforts to recruit, employ, and promote members of groups formerly excluded at the various levels of responsibility who are qualified or may become qualified through appropriate training or experience within a reasonable length of time. These programs should be designed to remedy the exclusion, whatever its cause. (2) Affirmative action requires imaginative, energetic, and sustained action by each employer to devise recruiting, training, and career advancement opportunities that will result in an equitable representation of women and minorities in relation to all employees of the employer. (b) "Goals and timetables" means projected new levels of employment of women and minority racial and ethnic groups to be attained on an annual schedule, given the expected turnover in the work force and the availability of persons who are qualified or may become qualified through appropriate training or experience within a reasonable length of time. Goals are not quotas or rigid proportions. They should relate both to the qualitative and quantitative needs of the employer. (c) "Public education agency" means the Department of Education, each office of the county superintendent of schools, and the governing board of each school district in California. 44103. Each county superintendent of schools shall render assistance in developing and implementing affirmative action employment programs to elementary school districts under his jurisdiction which had fewer than 901 units of average daily attendance during the preceding fiscal year, and to high school districts under his jurisdiction which had fewer than 301 units of average daily attendance during the preceding fiscal year, and to unified school districts under his jurisdiction which had fewer than 1,501 units of average daily attendance during the preceding fiscal year. 44104. The department, out of funds appropriated for such purposes, (1) shall provide assistance to local educational agencies in adopting and maintaining high-quality affirmative action programs and (2) develop and disseminate to public education agencies guidelines to assist the agencies in developing and implementing affirmative action employment programs. 44105. The State Board of Education shall adopt all necessary rules and regulations to carry out the intent of this article.