Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/94609
2 Condon submits a New Business Item (NBI) to the State Council of Education. State Council refers the NBI to the Credentials and Professional Development (CPD) Committee. 3 CPD recommends CTA sponsor the legislation. CTA Board of Directors approves. 5 Sen. Noreen Evans asks to co-sponsor bill with CTA. CTA Board of Directors approves. 4 CTA legislative advocate shops the idea around Sacramento; discusses idea with both Houses and the Employment Development Department (EDD). 10 11 SEPT. 7, 2012 Condon's idea becomes a law when the governor signs the bill. Law takes effect Jan. 1, 2013! AUG. 20, 2012 Assembly OKs bill 54-23. I didn't realize how much good work CTA legislative advocates do in the background. It's amazing what they're able to do to make things happen. preparation pipeline, leading many would- be teachers to pursue other professions. That reality made filling positions in short- age fields such as math, science and special education even more difficult in many places. California will need at least 33,000 additional math and science teachers by the year 2017, according to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the state's licensing agency. "In order for California to remain com- Evans. Without enough qualified educa- tors in high-demand subjects, "California's workforce will not be competitive in math or science nationally and internationally, and that's not where California needs to be to recover from this recession." California has the highest ratio of students per teacher in these tough-to-staff subject areas in the U.S., she notes. SB 1291 helps reduce the need for emer- petitive in meeting the educational needs of the future, the state needs qualified teach- ers in high-demand subjects," says Sen. gency permits allowing persons who aren't fully qualified to teach these subjects. Stud- ies find a correlation between higher num- bers of emergency permits in a school with reduced levels of student achievement. Condon recently reconnected with Jasmine Aguila, one of the pink-slipped teachers who inspired her to take the new business item to CTA's State Council. In 2010, Condon taught first grade and Aguila taught kindergarten. Now Condon is an instructional coach and Aguila is a middle school special education teacher. Aguila had to sub and get her special education credential at the same time, and did not collect unemployment benefits. November 2012 www.cta.org 27