TO: Members of the Senate Education Committee

FROM: Pupil Services Coalition
California Association of School Psychologists
California School Counselors Association
California Association for Counseling and Development
California Association of School Counselors
California Association of Resource Specialists
California School Nurses Organization
California Speech-Language-Hearing Association
National Association of School Social Workers, CA Chapter

DATE: April 10, 2002

RE: SB 1944 (O'Connell) - Expansion of Definition of Teacher - SUPPORT

For a number of years, it has been a priority of credentialed school personnel to expand the definition of teacher to include all pupil support services personnel.

State statute is unclear as to the definition of teacher. When Legislators and Governors enact teacher retention and recruitment programs, state regulators at times define "teacher" only to be classroom teachers, even though many Legislators assumed they were supporting all personnel who are credentialed and who work on the school site.

SB 1944 will clarify this by creating a code section that is prospective only. This section will expand the definition of teacher to include certificated persons holding a teaching credential as well as persons holding services credentials and providing a wide variety of education, health, mental health, and social services at a school site.

An example where this has been a problem is the recently enacted teacher tax credit program. When implementing this bill, the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) has concluded that the program is only relevant for those persons possessing a classroom teaching credential, even though the legislation clearly stated that it applied to any "credentialed teacher."

By creating a new code section, SB 1944 will allow legislators to tie future teacher recruitment and retention efforts to this broader definition if it is deemed appropriate. Sometimes these efforts are only appropriate to a classroom teacher. But if any program has as its goal to recruit and retain more teachers, school psychologists, counselors, nurses, speech therapists, social workers, and resource specialists, this code section will allow that to happen.

We respectfully request your support on SB 1944.