Substitute teachers with an emergency credential will be able to work in a single classroom in a California K-12 school for up to 70 days, instead of the 60 formerly permitted.
Assembly Bill 2490, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, expands eligibility for the Emergency Career Substitute Teaching Permit to college graduates who have no prior substitute teaching experience but can demonstrate basic teaching skills. The law also requires schools to provide these teachers with an orientation, at least five hours of professional development and ongoing mentorship.
Previously, teachers working on the permit were required to have worked 90 days as a substitute each of the three years before applying for it. The permit allows them to teach in a general education or special education classroom.
Substitutes can also work with an Emergency 30-Day Substitute Teaching Permit, which authorizes them to teach for no more than one month in a single classroom.
The new legislation requires school districts to notify parents within 10 school days if their child is assigned to a teacher who received an Emergency Career Substitute Teaching Permit through the alternative pathway.
The bill also requires districts to first try to fill vacant positions with fully credentialed teachers. According to a bill analysis, the legislation is intended to address the state’s persistent teacher shortage.
“Every student deserves the consistency that comes from having a qualified, permanent teacher in the classroom, and that must remain the goal,” said Debra Schade, president of the California School Boards Association, a co-sponsor of the bill. “But when a permanent teacher simply isn’t available, repeatedly replacing one substitute with another disrupts relationships, instruction and classroom stability. AB 2490 gives local schools another carefully structured option to provide students with greater continuity while they continue working to recruit permanent teachers.”
This story was originally published by EdSource.