by Len Feldman
Many of the battles CTA wins for students, teachers and public education take place in subcommittee hearings that otherwise get little public notice. One such victory happened in a subcommittee of the Assembly Budget Committee during a discussion of funding for the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC).
At CTA's request, lawmakers agreed to amend the Assembly's version of the pending state budget bill with a provision that will once again require the CCTC to notify credential applicants by certified mail of possible problems with their applications. The amendments also require the CCTC to allow the applicants to appear in person to defend their applications.
Under current law, the CCTC can simply notify the applicant by regular mail and reject the application without speaking to the applicant.
The victory won't be complete until the Senate takes similar action in its version of the spending plan, but CTA is advocating for that change, too.
The discussion of the notification process came amid a preliminary consideration of some controversial proposals that could determine the CCTC's very existence. The non-partisan legislative analyst's office has recommended that the CCTC be abolished and replaced by a new advisory commission. Its credentialing functions would be pushed down to higher education institutions at the local level.
Even though CTA was instrumental in the creation of the CCTC, teachers have become increasingly disenchanted with the agency in recent years. Steady increases in teacher credentialing fees and long delays in credential processing are among the reasons for rising discontent.