Section 44258.9.

(a) The Legislature finds that continued monitoring of teacher assignments by county superintendents of schools will ensure that the rate of teacher misassignment remains low. To the extent possible and with funds provided for that purpose, each county superintendent of schools shall perform the duties specified in subdivisions (b) and (c).

(b) (1) Each county superintendent of schools shall monitor and review school district certificated employee assignment practices in accordance with the following:

(A) Annually monitor and review schools and school districts that are likely to have problems with teacher misassignments and teacher vacancies, as defined in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 33126, based on past experience or other available information.

(B) Annually monitor and review schools ranked in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, of the base Academic Performance Index, as specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 1240, if those schools are not currently under review through a state or federal intervention program. If a review completed pursuant to this subparagraph finds that a school has no teacher misassignments or teacher vacancies for two consecutive years, the next review of that school may be conducted according to the cycle specified in subparagraph (C), unless the school meets the criteria of subparagraph (A).

(C) All other schools on a four-year cycle.

(2) Each county superintendent of schools shall investigate school and district efforts to ensure that a credentialed teacher serving in an assignment requiring a certificate issued pursuant to Section 44253.3, 44253.4, or 44253.7 or training pursuant to Section 44253.10 completes the necessary requirements for these certificates or completes the required training.

(3) The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall be responsible for the monitoring and review of those counties or cities and counties 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. All information related to the misassignment of certificated personnel and teacher vacancies shall be submitted to each affected district within 30 calendar days of the monitoring activity.

(c) County superintendents of schools shall submit an annual report to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and the department summarizing the results of all assignment monitoring and reviews. These reports shall include, but need not be limited to, the following:

(1) The numbers of teachers assigned and types of assignments made by the governing board of a school district under the authority of Sections 44256, 44258.2, and 44263.

(2) Information on actions taken by local committees on assignment, including the number of assignments authorized, subject areas into which committee-authorized teachers are assigned, and evidence of departures from the implementation plans presented to the county superintendent by school districts.

(3) Information on each school district reviewed regarding misassignments of certificated personnel, including efforts to eliminate these misassignments.

(4) (A) Information on certificated employee assignment practices in schools ranked in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, of the base Academic Performance Index, as specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 1240, to ensure that, at a minimum, in any class in these schools in which 20 percent or more pupils are English learners, the assigned teacher possesses a certificate issued pursuant to Section 44253.3 or 44253.4, or has completed training pursuant to Section 44253.10, or is otherwise authorized by statute.

(B) This paragraph shall not relieve a school district from compliance with state and federal law regarding teachers of English learners or be construed to alter the definition of "misassignment" in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 33126.

(5) After consultation with representatives of county superintendents of schools, other information as may be determined to be needed by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

(d) The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall submit biennial reports to the Legislature concerning teacher assignments and misassignments that shall be based, in part, on the annual reports of the county superintendents of schools.

(e) (1) The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall establish reasonable sanctions for the misassignment of credentialholders.

Prior to the implementation of regulations establishing sanctions, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall engage in a variety of activities designed to inform school administrators, teachers, and personnel within the offices of county superintendents of schools of the regulations and statutes affecting the assignment of certificated personnel. These activities shall include the preparation of instructive brochures and the holding of regional workshops.

(2) Commencing July 1, 1989, a certificated person who is required by an administrative superior to accept an assignment for which he or she has no legal authorization, after exhausting existing local remedies, shall notify the county superintendent of schools in writing of the illegal assignment. The county superintendent of schools, within 15 working days, shall advise the affected certificated person concerning the legality of his or her assignment. There shall be no adverse action taken against a certificated person who files a notification of misassignment with the county superintendent of schools. During the period of the misassignment, the certificated person who files a written notification with the county superintendent of schools shall be exempt from Section 45034. If it is determined that a misassignment has taken place, any performance evaluation of the employee under Sections 44660 to 44664, inclusive, in any misassigned subject shall be nullified.

(3) 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 he or she has no legal authorization of the misassignment and shall advise him or her to correct the assignment within 30 calendar days. The county superintendent of schools shall notify the Commission on Teacher Credentialing of the misassignment if the certificated school administrator has not corrected the misassignment within 30 days of the initial notification, or if the certificated school administrator has not described, in writing, within the 30-day period, to the county superintendent of schools the extraordinary circumstances which make this correction impossible.

(4) The county superintendent of schools shall notify the superintendent of a school district in which 5 percent or more of all certificated teachers in the secondary schools are found to be misassigned of the misassignments and shall advise him or her to correct the misassignments within 120 calendar days. The county superintendent of schools shall notify the Commission on Teacher Credentialing of the misassignments if the school district superintendent has not corrected the misassignments within 120 days of the initial notification, or if the school district superintendent of schools has not described, in writing, within the 120-day period, to the county superintendent of schools the extraordinary circumstances that make this correction impossible.

(f) An applicant for a professional administrative service credential shall be required to demonstrate knowledge of existing credentialing laws, including knowledge of assignment authorizations.

(g) The Superintendent shall submit a summary of the reports submitted by county superintendents pursuant to subdivision (c) to the Legislature. The Legislature may hold, within a reasonable period after receipt of the summary, public hearings on pupil access to teachers and to related statutory provisions. The Legislature also may assign one or more of the standing committees or a joint committee, to determine the following:

(1) The effectiveness of the reviews required pursuant to this section.

(2) The extent, if any, of vacancies and misassignments, as defined in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 33126.

(3) The need, if any, to assist schools ranked in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, of the base Academic Performance Index, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 1240, to eliminate vacancies and misassignments.

(Amended by Stats. 2007, Ch. 730, Sec. 15. Effective January 1, 2008.)