Rules Change Should Draw More Teachers

Aiming to replenish chronically thin teacher ranks, California education officials are working to relax regulations for hiring out of state.

“This could certainly help us,” said Eileen Dibb, director of human resources at Garden Grove Unified School District, where officials have been recruiting for teachers in other states the past two years.

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing is evaluating teacher-training programs and academic standards in the other 49 states to see which ones match or are comparable to those in California. Once identified, those states and California will establish “interstate licensing” agreements, allowing schools in this state to draw teachers from those areas more freely.

“We want to attract, not discourage, qualified and experienced teachers from other states to teach in our classrooms,” said Assemblyman Jack Scott (D-Altadena), co-author of a bill passed in September that set off the regulatory changes.

Preliminary analyses show that states such as Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina and Ohio have programs and standards similar to California. A final report, expected to be released in February, will outline which states will partake in a “reciprocity” agreement with California.

Under the new guidelines, experienced teachers will almost automatically be granted a California credential. And newer instructors won’t have to fulfill as many requirements to obtain a full California teaching credential.

Until the new regulations are fully implemented, out-of-state instructors must pass the state teaching exams and fulfill various course requirements before getting a full credential. That process can take up to five years.

“California is considered one of the hardest states,” said Wilma Harvey, Capistrano Unified’s executive director of personnel services.

For example, middle school math teacher Ronalee Nesper came from Wisconsin to California three years ago but still has not earned a full credential. Since then, she has been taking teaching courses--some she completed in her Wisconsin program--and studying for California teaching exams. At the earliest, she could become fully credentialed in one year and, she hopes, tenured.

But until then, she continues to sign annual contracts, which places her on the lower rung of the teacher salary scale. Although she’s taught a total of four years, her pay is equivalent to that of a first-year California teacher.

“As far as the money goes, it’s just really frustrating,” said Nesper, 26, who teaches at Marco F. Forster Middle School in San Juan Capistrano. “I really enjoy my school and where I’m at, but it has been a lot of hoops.”

Nesper said she’s glad California teaching regulations are easing up to help out-of-state instructors get settled.

Likewise, districts that depend on out-of state teachers said the imminent changes will help alleviate classroom crowding and draw experienced instructors.

“To us, it’s a major door opener,” said Bruce Kitchen, teacher recruitment consultant for the San Bernardino County Department of Education. “I’ve seen candidates wilt in front of me as I laid out what’s expected of them in the next four to five years.”

Kitchen added that recent changes could lower the number of untrained teachers hired at school systems like his. Districts often resort to emergency permits or credential waivers to put teachers in training to work.

Orange County, for instance, relied on 1,360 teachers who had not been fully certified in the 1996-97 school year, according to the latest data from the state Department of Education. Statewide, about 10% of California’s nearly 250,000 school instructors were still in training when they entered the classroom.

Much of that has been driven by the state’s class-size reduction programs at the primary level and in ninth grade. The steady student population growth also has sapped the teacher supply.

“California universities do not have the capacity to crank out the number of teachers that we need,” Kitchen said. “This is going to get us in harmony with other talent pools in other states.”