Code Section

44258.9.  

(a) (1) The Legislature finds and declares that continued monitoring of educator assignments by the commission and the county superintendents of schools and continued reporting of educator assignments by the department will help ensure that local educational agencies meet state and federal reporting requirements, including the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114-95), or any other federal law that effectively replaces that act, and will ensure that the rate of educator misassignments remains low. To support pupil access to credentialed and appropriately assigned educators, the commission and the department shall collaborate to publish annual data on educator credentialing and assignment, at the school, local educational agency, and state level. To the extent possible, and with the funds provided for that purpose, each county office of education shall perform its duties as a monitoring authority, as specified in subdivision (e).

(2) The commission and the department shall collaborate to perform the duties specified in this section, with the commission executing the assignment monitoring process and the department facilitating the annual teaching assignment monitoring data production and publication.

(3) The teaching assignment monitoring outcome data reporting shall be executed in a manner consistent with the statewide system of support and the school accountability system established pursuant to Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 52059.5) of Chapter 6.1 of Part 28 of Division 4, county office of education monitoring established pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 1240) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 1 of Title 1, and the state plan approved by the state board that is required for compliance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, or any other federal law that effectively replaces that act.

(b) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Assignment” means the placement of an individual in a teaching or services position. An “assignment” can be filled legally by an individual with a credential, permit, waiver, or any other document issued by the commission authorizing the assignment, or the individual may be otherwise authorized by statute.

(2) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, charter school, or state special school.

(3) “Misassignment” has the same meaning as defined in Section 33126. For purposes of this section, “employee,” as used in the definition of “misassignment” in Section 33126, includes an individual hired on a contract. For purposes of this section, in a charter school, “misassignment” shall apply only to employees in teaching positions.

(4) “Monitoring authority” means:

(A) The county office of education for school districts in the county and programs operated by the county office of education.

(B) The commission for a school district or county office of education that operates within a city or county in which there is a single school district, including the Counties of Alpine, Amador, Del Norte, Mariposa, Plumas, and Sierra, and the City and County of San Francisco, and the state special schools.

(C) (i) The chartering authority for a charter school.

(ii) Notwithstanding clause (i), in cases where a charter school operates under the authority of a school district in which the charter school is the sole schoolsite in the school district, the commission shall serve as the monitoring authority.

(5) “System,” unless the context requires otherwise, means the State Assignment Accountability System, which is an electronic data system administered by the commission for monitoring educator assignments and vacant positions and uses department data collected pursuant to Section 60900 for its functioning.

(6) “Vacant position” means a position to which a single-designated certificated employee has not been assigned at the time that the data are collected by the department pursuant to Section 60900.

(c) The commission and the department shall enter into a data sharing agreement for the department to provide the commission with educator assignment data necessary to annually identify educator assignments, including assignments filled by individuals on preliminary or clear credentials, intern credentials, permits or waivers, misassignments, and vacant positions at local educational agencies. The data sharing agreement shall also require the commission to make credential, permit, waiver, misassignment, vacant positions, and other relevant data available to the department to support reporting consistent with the state plan approved by the state board that is required for compliance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114–95), or any other federal law that effectively replaces that act, and applicable state reporting requirements, including for the statewide system of support established pursuant to Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 52059.5) of Chapter 6.1 of Part 28 of Division 4.

(d) The commission and the department may engage in a variety of activities designed to inform school administrators, teachers, and personnel within the county offices of education of the regulations and statutes affecting the assignment of educators and how data on educator assignments is published and used. These activities may include, but shall not necessarily be limited to, the preparation of instructive brochures and the holding of regional workshops.

(e) (1) The commission shall annually use the data provided by the department pursuant to subdivision (c) to produce an initial data file of vacant positions and educator assignments that do not have a clear match of credential to assignment. The commission shall notify local educational agencies and monitoring authorities of the opportunity to access the system and review the initial data file of potential misassignments and vacant positions.

(2) A local educational agency may do any of the following within 60 days of the commission’s notification pursuant to paragraph (1):

(A) Access and review the initial data file in the system to determine if each educator included in the initial data file is otherwise legally authorized for the assignment.

(B) Submit documentation or additional assignment information to the commission and monitoring authority showing that the educator is otherwise legally authorized for the assignment. This information may include the use of local assignment options outlined in any statute or regulation.

(C) Submit documentation to the commission and monitoring authority showing that a position identified in the initial data file as vacant was miscoded and that a legally authorized educator was assigned to the position.

(3) Information submitted to the commission and monitoring authority pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be submitted electronically through the system.

(4) A monitoring authority shall access the system to review the initial data file and any documentation or additional information submitted by a local educational agency for which it is a monitoring authority and make a determination of potential misassignments and vacant positions within 90 days of the commission’s notification pursuant to paragraph (1).

(5) The commission shall have the authority to make a final determination for all potential assignments and misassignments.

(6) After the 90-day review period pursuant to paragraph (4), the commission shall share all educator assignment data, including all preliminary and clear credentials, intern credentials, permits, waivers, misassignments, and vacant positions for that year, with the department for the department’s teaching assignment monitoring outcomes report and other state and federal reporting requirements.

(7) Once published, the commission shall post a link to the department’s teaching assignment monitoring outcomes reporting on its internet website, with resources for local educational agencies seeking to maintain a fully credentialed and properly assigned educator workforce.

(8) Notwithstanding any other law, the commission, when identifying misassignments using the system, shall identify an educator in a teaching position, including an educator at a charter school, as correctly assigned only when the educator holds the certificate or credential required by the commission for that assignment in a noncharter public school, taking into account local assignment options.

(9) Commencing in the 2020–21 school year, a chartering authority, as provided in this section, may request technical assistance to assist in its determination of potential misassignments and vacant positions from the county office of education in the county in which the chartering authority is located.

(10) For a school district, the county superintendent of schools shall notify, through the office of the school district superintendent, a certificated school administrator responsible for the assignment of a certificated person to a position for which the person has no legal authorization of the misassignment and shall advise the school administrator to correct the assignment within 30 calendar days. For a charter school, the monitoring authority shall notify the charter school administrator responsible for the assignment of a certificated person to a position for which the person has no legal authorization of the misassignment and shall advise the charter school administrator to correct the assignment within 30 calendar days.

(f) The system and the data reported from the system shall not be used by a local educational agency for purposes of evaluating certificated employees, certificated employee performance determinations, or employment decisions.

(g) If an employee, including an employee who is employed by a charter school, is required by a local educational agency to accept an assignment in a teaching or services position for which the employee has no legal authorization, all of the following shall occur:

(1) (A) After exhausting existing local remedies, an employee of a school district shall notify the superintendent of the school district, and an employee of a charter school shall notify the administrator of the charter school, in writing, of the illegal assignment.

(B) If no action is taken after the notice required pursuant to subparagraph (A), an employee of a school district shall notify the county superintendent of schools, and an employee of a charter school shall notify the chartering authority, in writing, of the illegal assignment.

(2) In the case of an assignment by a school district for which the employee has filed a notice that the employee has no legal authorization, the school district or county superintendent of schools shall advise the employee about the legality of the assignment within 15 working days. In the case of an assignment by a charter school for which the employee has filed a notice that the employee has no legal authorization, the administrator of the charter school or the chartering authority shall advise the employee about the legality of the assignment within 15 working days.

(3) A local educational agency shall not take adverse action against an employee who files a notice of misassignment pursuant to paragraph (1).

(4) Notwithstanding any other law, for purposes of a charter school authorized by the state board, the employee shall file the written notices regarding misassignment described in paragraph (1) with the commission.

(5) During the period of a misassignment, the certificated employee who files a written notice pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) shall be exempt from Section 45034.

(6) If it is determined that a misassignment has occurred, a performance evaluation pursuant to Article 11 (commencing with Section 44660) of Chapter 3 of the certificated employee in the misassignment shall be nullified.

(7) A certificated employee who has not attained permanent status is subject to the protections described in this subdivision and subdivision (f) even if the certificated employee does not provide notice pursuant to paragraph (1).

(h) For the 2019–20 school year, the final data file generated by the system to identify misassignments and vacant positions shall be nonconsequential and shall be provided to the department, local educational agencies, and monitoring authorities by the commission for informational purposes only.

(i) Commencing with the 2020–21 school year, and each school year thereafter, following the 90-day review period provided for monitoring authorities pursuant to subdivision (e), the commission shall do all of the following:

(1) Ensure local educational agencies have access to the results of the system’s process of assignment monitoring to support local continuous improvement efforts.

(2) Publish annual certificated educator assignment data that reflects the level of preparation and licensure of educators serving California pupils. This data shall include comprehensive information on all educator assignments, including those filled by individuals on permits or waivers, intern credentials, and preliminary or clear credentials, and those properly assigned and misassigned, at the schoolsite, local educational agency, county, and state level. The commission may also publish data on educators serving on administrative and pupil services credentials, educator preparation pathways, and educator retention, and whether certificated staff are employed in K–12 education.

(3) Support the department to do all of the following:

(A) Make annual educator assignment, misassignment, and vacant position data generated by the system publicly available in a searchable format on the department’s internet website. Data shall be updated annually and provide comprehensive information on teaching assignment outcomes inclusive of all educator classifications at the schoolsite, school district, and county level.

(B) Ensure that data for charter schools is distinguishable from data for noncharter public schools when made publicly available in a searchable format.

(C) Maintain each year’s data for no less than five years.

(D) Ensure that the publicly available misassignment data reported from the system shall not include any personally identifiable information, including names, social security numbers, home addresses, telephone numbers, or email addresses of individual educators.

(j) The commission may promulgate regulations that define standards for a local educational agency, including a charter school, that consistently misassigns educators and what sanctions, if any, to impose on that local educational agency.

(k) (1) On or before December 1, 2022, the commission shall report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the development of the system, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(A) The development and current status of the system.

(B) The ability of the system to efficiently produce accurate annual data on teacher misassignments.

(C) Statewide information regarding misassignments, delineated by credential type, assignment, and type of school.

(D) Use of local assignment options, delineated by local assignment option and type of school.

(E) Any recommendations to improve the system and the local assignment monitoring process required by this section.

(F) Identification of any need for further technical assistance for local educational agencies, including chartering authorities, to improve assignment monitoring and reduce the overall rate of misassignment.

(2) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the reporting requirement described in paragraph (1) shall be inoperative on December 1, 2026.

(l) This section shall not relieve a local educational agency from compliance with state and federal law regarding teachers of English learners or be construed to alter the definition of “misassignment” for purposes of Section 33126 or the definition of “vacancy” for purposes of Section 35186.