(a) The California Community College Teacher Credentialing Partnership Pilot Program is hereby established for both of the following purposes:

(1) To encourage accredited degree-granting institutions of higher education with a physical presence in this state to collaborate with one or more community colleges to offer teacher credentialing coursework remotely at the participating community college or colleges.

(2) To bring opportunities to earn teacher credentialing degrees to areas with low college-going rates or limited access to teacher-credentialing, degree-granting higher education institutions.

(b) (1) The Commission on Teacher Credentialing, in coordination with the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, may award up to three grants, not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) each, to collaboratives formed for the purpose of offering teacher credential coursework remotely at a participating community college or colleges. For the purposes of this section, a collaborative shall be comprised of at least one community college and at least one accredited degree-granting institution of higher education.

(2) (A) Priority for the receipt of grant funds may be given to a collaborative that meets all of the following:

(i) Is located in areas of the state with low rates of K-12 credentialed public school teachers.

(ii) Demonstrates that its teacher credentialing degree program or programs meet a documented labor market demand of the collaborative’s target region.

(iii) Identifies the resources necessary to offer a teacher credentialing degree program or programs.

(B) The funds granted under this subdivision shall be for one-time startup costs of the collaborative for the purposes of developing and implementing its pilot program. These costs may include any, or any combination, including all, of the following:

(i) Professional development for effective distance learning.

(ii) Deploying a teaching assistant for the community college classroom or classrooms where courses are offered via distance learning.

(iii) Technology upgrades for the community college classroom or classrooms where the distance learning courses are offered.

(iv) Student retention, outreach, or engagement.

(v) Data monitoring and systems infrastructure.

(vi) Cross system alignment.

(vii) Other startup costs that are necessary for developing and implementing its pilot program.

(C) Each pilot program implemented under this section shall do all of the following:

(i) Utilize courses currently offered by the collaborating accredited degree-granting institution or institutions of higher education, which may be one or more California State University or University of California campuses, or one or more independent institutions of higher education, as defined in Section 66010, with a physical presence in this state.

(ii) Include, as a primary target population to take courses under the pilot program, teachers who hold a baccalaureate degree and are currently teaching on a short-term staff permit or a provisional internship permit.

(iii) Charge no more than the standard tuition and fees of the collaborating accredited teacher-credentialing, degree-granting institution or institutions of higher education.

(iv) Involve current faculty from the collaborating accredited degree-granting institution or institutions of higher education as faculty for courses offered under the pilot program, which shall be current courses of that institution or institutions.

(c) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that no collaborative funded under this section may be terminated abruptly, thus leaving its enrolled students without a way to earn a teaching credential under this section.

(2) As a condition of an agreement for the receipt of a grant under this section, each collaborative shall ensure that every student who enrolls in its pilot program before an announcement of the termination of the collaborative has an opportunity to complete the coursework necessary to obtain a teaching credential under this section.

(d) A collaborative shall not offer a teacher credentialing degree program under this section unless that program has been accredited by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s Committee on Accreditation on the basis of standards of program quality and effectiveness.

(e) Grants awarded under this section shall be awarded only to the extent that funding for this section is provided in the annual Budget Act.

(f) (1) On or before April 1, 2023, the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall submit a report to the Legislature, pursuant to § 9795 of the Government Code, and to the Department of Finance on the implementation of the program established pursuant to this section.

(2) The requirement for submitting a report imposed under paragraph (1) is inoperative on April 1, 2027, pursuant to § 10231.5 of the Government Code.

(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 603, Sec. 3. (SB 577) Effective January 1, 2019.)