Proposed misassignment systems needs teeth
(Calif.) A coalition of advocates for low-income families has warned lawmakers that plans working through Sacramento to reduce the number of teachers improperly assigned classroom duties may actually have the opposite effect.
Both the Newsom administration and Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, have introduced legislation that would fully utilize a new data collection system so that schools statewide—including charters—are monitored annually for teacher misassignments.
The letter points out that neither proposal includes language that would formally require schools to correct any assignment problems found by the new review process.
The coalition–which includes Public Advocates, a San Francisco-based non-profit law firm, the American Civil Liberties Union of California and Californians Together—sent a letter raising the issue Monday to the chairs of the Legislative Conference Committee.
“Current law states that county superintendents of schools shall notify school administrators of assignments with “no legal authorization” and “advise him or her to correct the assignment within 30 days,’” the coalition said. “The current proposal, however, reduces the county superintendent role to data verification and presents the LEA and the school administrator with no obligation to act, even to review potential misassignments—let alone correct them.”
Ensuring that all students have a properly credentialed instructor was one key settlement agreement made in the landmark Williams lawsuit from 2006. Making sure that local educational agencies comply with the mandate, however, has proved problematic—especially during the teacher shortage that districts have faced in recent years.
Under the Williams settlement, only those schools ranked at the bottom on statewide testing are monitored for teacher assignments every year. Otherwise, schools are looked at on a rotation of every four years.
The governor’s plan, as well as AB 1219, would both require annual evaluation of misassignments, CONTINUE READING: Proposed misassignment systems needs teeth :: K-12 Daily :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet
