California Senate Bill SB956 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 956AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 21, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 7, 2010 AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 17, 2010 INTRODUCED BY Senator Romero (Coauthors: Senators Alquist and Oropeza) FEBRUARY 5, 2010 An act to add Section 14025 to the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to workforce development. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 956, as amended, Romero. Workforce development: California School Paraprofessional Teacher Training Program.  Existing law requires the Employment Development Department to implement and administer California'   s unemployment insurance compensation   program, and to oversee various job   , information and   training   program   s   in the state.  The federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 makes funding available to states that offer training and workforce development services through the state and local workforce investment boards. The California Workforce Investment Board, which is the entity responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system, is required to recommend strategies to the Governor for strategic training investments of certain discretionary funding made available under the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998. This bill would require the  California Workforce Investment Board   department  , upon appropriation by the Legislature, to allocate $5,000,000 of the Workforce Investment Act state reserve, as provided for by federal law, to  local workforce investment boards to allocate to  school districts, county offices of education, or charter schools  , on a competitive basis,  to provide intensive examination preparation courses for the purpose of retraining laid off and out-of-field teachers to meet subject matter competency requirements, in accordance with specified procedures. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 14025 is added to the Unemployment Insurance Code, to read: 14025. (a) In accordance with the policies and purposes of the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2801 et seq.), and its implementing regulations, and to the extent that federal funding is made available to the state under the act, the  board   department  , upon appropriation by the Legislature, shall allocate five million dollars ($5,000,000) of the Workforce Investment Act state reserve provided pursuant to Section 2853 of Title 29 of the United States Code to  local workforce investment boards to allocate to school districts, county offices of education, or charter schools  , on a competitive basis,  to provide intensive examination preparation courses pursuant to Section 44401 of the Education Code for the purpose of retraining laid off and out-of-field teachers to meet subject matter competency requirements for teaching science, mathematics, or industrial and technology education. (b) (1) Preferences for examination preparation courses, as prescribed in subdivision (a), shall be based on the following priority system: (A) First priority shall be for retraining laid off teachers in order to prepare them for obtaining subject matter credentials in science or mathematics. (B) Second priority shall be for retraining teachers who have been displaced and are currently working out of their field-of-expertise or competency area. (2) School districts, county offices of education, and charter schools that receive funding  from a local workforce investment board  pursuant to this section shall reimburse each teacher who successfully passes all relevant sections of a subject matter examination and attains an authorization to teach science, mathematics, or industrial and technology education for the cost of that examination and any fees charged by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to add the authorization. (c) Notwithstanding any other law, any Workforce Investment Act funds allocated or expended by local workforce investment boards pursuant to this section shall be expended for the purposes of statewide employment and training activities, and shall not be allocated or expended in any manner inconsistent with the Workforce Investment Act.