Article 13.5 - Educator Recruitment and Retention Initiative

California Education Code — §§ 44400-44400.03

Sections (4)

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 8, Sec. 36. (AB 121) Effective June 27, 2025.

For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(a)“Program” means the Student Teacher Stipend Program established pursuant to Section 44400.01.

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

(c)“Prospective educator” means a candidate enrolled in a program of professional preparation for a preliminary multiple subject, single subject, education specialist, or PK-3 early childhood education specialist instruction credential accredited by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

(d)“Student

teaching” shall align to clinical practice guidance by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, and refers to time spent in the classroom with a cooperating or mentor teacher, and includes, but is not limited to, coplanning, coteaching, guided teaching, and solo teaching. For the purposes of this program, service on an intern credential does not qualify as student teaching.

§ 44400.01

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 8, Sec. 36. (AB 121) Effective June 27, 2025.

(a)The Student Teacher Stipend Program is hereby established to support prospective educators during their completion of 500 or more hours of student teaching as part of their credential program’s clinical practice.

(b)(1) To improve both teacher retention and recruitment in California’s public school system, it is the intent of the Legislature to create a grant program to compensate student teachers, support credential attainment via clinically rich credential pathways, and support the prospective educator’s successful transition into local educational agency employment.

(2)It is further the intent of the Legislature to authorize the Student

Teacher Stipend Program as an ongoing, annual program to support the recruitment and retention of prospective educators.

(3)It is further the intent of the Legislature to increase stipend amounts available, pursuant to this article, for prospective educators who commit to teaching in a priority school or high need field, in future years, subject to an appropriation for this purpose.

(c)Funding shall be provided under this article to the extent that funds have been appropriated for this purpose in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

§ 44400.02

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 8, Sec. 36. (AB 121) Effective June 27, 2025.

(a)The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall award funding appropriated for this purpose to local educational agencies that host student teachers or teacher residents or that employ teacher apprentices.

(b)(1) Local educational agencies awarded funding pursuant to this article shall provide stipends to prospective educators during their completion of 500 or more hours of student teaching. Stipends for each prospective educator shall be ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and paid during the school year in which the credential applicants are completing their student teaching.

(2)Local educational agencies employing credentialed educator apprentices

may use stipend awards to offset the wages paid to those apprentices during the initial phase of the apprenticeship when the apprentice is not yet the educator of record.

(3)Local educational agencies hosting teacher residents may use student teacher stipends in cases where residents are not supported by residency stipends pursuant to Section 44415.5.

(c)The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall establish a streamlined online process for local educational agencies to submit the prospective educator’s information, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(1)The prospective educator’s preparation program.

(2)The number of student teaching hours they will complete.

(3)The

local educational agency or agencies where they are completing their student teaching.

(4)The schoolsite or schoolsites where they are completing their student teaching.

(5)Their desired credential.

(6)Evidence of their valid certificate or permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing that required professional fitness review.

(7)Their demographic information.

(d)(1) Commencing July 1, 2026, to the extent that funds are available for this purpose, up to one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) shall be available annually for the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to award stipends.

(2)To the extent that demand for this program exceeds the amount appropriated by the Legislature, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall prioritize student teacher stipend applications for the year on a first-come, first-serve basis.

(e)Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall, on or before January 1, 2027, and each year thereafter, report to the Department of Finance and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature, regarding the state of the grant program, including, but not limited to, the number of prospective educators paid, their education preparation programs, their desired credential, the participating local educational agencies, and the demographics of the participants in the program. The report submitted to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature shall be submitted consistent with Section 9795 of the Government

Code.

§ 44400.03

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 744, Sec. 4. (SB 147) Effective October 13, 2025.

(a)For 2025–26 fiscal year, the sum of three hundred million dollars ($300,000,000) is hereby appropriated for the General Fund to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to support the Student Teacher Stipend Program established in this article. These funds shall be available for encumbrance until June 30, 2030.

(b)For the 2025–26 fiscal year, of the amount appropriated in subdivision (a), up to six million dollars ($6,000,000) shall be available for the Kern County Superintendent of Schools to do the following:

(1)(A) Conduct a multimedia campaign beginning no later than April 1, 2026, and ending no sooner than July 1, 2028, to encourage students enrolled in California-based institutions of higher education and individuals employed in related fields to pursue a career in public school employment, become a credentialed teacher, and enroll in a program of professional preparation accredited by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

(B)In conducting the multimedia campaign, the Kern County Superintendent of Schools shall consult with the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the Student Aid Commission, the department, and other educator credentialing interestholders to create and disseminate outreach to local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and educator pipeline organizations, including classified employees, expanded learning employees, career

technical education programs, and labor organizations. These multimedia outreach methods and materials shall include state and federal student aid and education loan repayment options for aspiring or current educators and other investments that benefit teachers, including, but not limited to, the Student Teacher Stipend Program, the Golden State Teacher Grant Program, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification Incentive Program.

(2)(A) Develop a grants management system that could be utilized by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to streamline the application and administration process for all teacher recruitment and retention programs that the Commission on Teacher Credentialing administers.

(B)The grant management system shall be available for public use no later than April 1, 2026 for applications for the administration

of the Student Teacher Stipend Program for the 2026–27 school year.

(C)The grant management system shall include program administration for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification Incentive Program beginning no later than April 1, 2027.

(D)Notwithstanding any other law, any work executed pursuant to this paragraph shall be exempt from any provision of law relating to competitive bidding, and shall be exempt from the review or approval of any division of the Department of Technology.

(3)Contract for a comprehensive independent evaluation of the state’s investments in educator recruitment and retention pursuant to this article and Section 44395, and report the evaluation to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2029, consistent with Section 9795 of the Government Code. This evaluation

shall include the programs’ effectiveness in impacting prospective educator decisions to enroll in a student teaching program, increasing the number of individuals completing their student teaching program, increasing the number of individuals completing their student teaching programs in high-need credential areas, and increasing the retention rates of educators after the first two years of employment, and include the demographics of the participants in the programs.

(c)For purposes of making the computations required by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, the appropriation made pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be deemed to be “General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts,” as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 41202 of the Education Code, for the 2024–25 fiscal year, and included within the “total allocations to school districts and community college districts from General Fund proceeds of taxes

appropriated pursuant to Article XIII B,” as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 41202 of the Education Code, for the 2024–25 fiscal year.