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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

94

Introduced by Assembly Member Valencia

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Patel)

February 20, 2026

An act to amend Section 44300.5 of the Education Code, relating to teachers.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish standards and procedures for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Under existing regulations, the requirements for the initial issuance of an emergency career substitute teaching permit include, among other requirements, verification by an employer that the applicant has completed at least 90 days of substitute teaching in each of the 3 years immediately preceding the date of the application either in the school district or, if the county office of education assigns substitute teachers, in one or more school districts in the county, as provided.

This bill would require the commission to accept, as an alternative to verification of 90 days of substitute teaching described above, verification that the substitute teacher has received at least 5 hours of professional development, an orientation training, and an assigned teaching mentor program, as provided. The bill would authorize a holder of an emergency career substitute teaching permit who was issued the permit based on the alternatives pursuant to these provisions to serve up to 70 cumulative days in a single classroom, including for special education teachers. The bill would require, the first time a permitholder who was issued a permit issued pursuant to these provisions has their permit renewed, the permitholder to provide verification of 30 hours of professional development, as provided. The bill would require a permit issued or renewed pursuant to these provisions to be valid for 12 months. The bill would require a local educational agency to follow specified procedures before assigning a substitute who holds a career substitute permit and to annually report specified information to its governing board or governing body and additional information to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing related to those assignments.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) California’s public education system continues to experience teacher shortages, particularly in high-need subject areas and schools serving low-income pupils, English learners, and pupils with disabilities.

(2) (A) In recent years, the state has sustained the number of pathways available to help local educational agencies fill classrooms when fully credentialed teachers are not available, including, but not limited to, the short-term staff permit, provisional internship permit, teaching permit for statutory leave, emergency career substitute permit, and internship programs.

(B) These pathways generally require evidence of recruitment efforts, governing board approval, and some form of professional preparation, support, or training which reflects California’s longstanding commitment to ensuring that flexibility in staffing is accompanied by safeguards for instructional quality.

(3) The Legislature affirms that the long-term solution to staffing shortages must be a sustained commitment to fully credentialed, appropriately assigned teachers in every classroom.

(4) This act is not intended to replace or diminish California’s commitment to educator quality, but to provide limited, time-bound flexibility while the state strengthens and modernizes the substitute permitting framework.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the flexibility provided by this act that allows certain substitute teachers to serve up to 70 cumulative days per assignment be used only as a stopgap in rare circumstances where a higher quality option is not viable or not immediately available.

SEC. 2.

Section 44300.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:

44300.5.

(a) As an alternative to the employment verification required pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 80025.1 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations for the initial issuance of an emergency career substitute teaching permit, the commission shall accept any of the following:

(1) Verification by an employer or employers of, in the three years immediately preceding the date of application, at least 90 days per year of day-to-day substitute teaching accumulated from one or more California school districts participating in a consortium with the school district requesting the permit.

(2) Verification by a local educational agency of all of the following for a permitholder serving in special education classrooms:

(A) At least five hours of professional development focused on special education.

(B) An orientation training focused on special education that includes, but is not limited to, classroom management, academic instructional strategies, curriculum, teaching English learners, individualized education programs, and pupil and staff safety protocols. The orientation shall incorporate opportunities for participant engagement, which may include interactive questions and answers, reflection, or other active learning activities.

(C) An assigned mentor to provide ongoing support for the duration of the permitholder’s assignment. It is recommend that mentoring occurs, on average, two hours per week, or as otherwise appropriate to provide meaningful support aligned to the areas identified in subparagraph (B). The mentor shall be an education specialist credentialholder or credentialed school administrator with an education specialist credential. The assigned mentor shall have a record of successful teaching as demonstrated, at a minimum, by satisfactory annual performance evaluations for the preceding three years. If an education specialist credentialholder or credentialed administrator with an education specialist credential with a record of successful teaching is not available, a credentialed administrator with 3 years of experience in a special education setting, including, but not limited to, an inclusion specialist, program specialist, or behavioral specialist, may be an assigned mentor. The assigned mentor may be employed by the local educational agency or another local educational agency.

(3) Verification by a local educational agency of all of the following for a permitholder serving in general education classrooms:

(A) At least five hours of professional development.

(B) An orientation training that includes, but is not limited to, classroom management, academic instructional strategies, curriculum, teaching English learners, individualized education programs, and pupil and staff safety protocols. The orientation shall incorporate opportunities for participant engagement, which may include interactive questions and answers, reflection, or other active learning activities.

(C) An assigned mentor to provide ongoing support for the duration of the permitholder’s assignment. It is recommend that mentoring occurs, on average, two hours per week, or as otherwise appropriate to provide meaningful support aligned to the areas identified in subparagraph (B). The mentor shall be a multiple or single subject credentialholder or administrative credentialholder. The assigned mentor shall have a record of successful teaching as demonstrated, at a minimum, by satisfactory annual performance evaluations for the preceding three years. The assigned mentor may be employed by the local educational agency or another local educational agency.

(b) (1) A permit issued pursuant to paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) or renewed pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be valid for 12 months.

(2) The first time a permitholder who was issued a permit based on the alternatives to employment verification authorized by paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) has their permit renewed, the permitholder shall provide verification of 30 hours of professional development that includes, but is not limited to, classroom management, academic instructional strategies, curriculum, teaching English learners, individualized education programs, and pupil and staff safety protocols.

(c) A local educational agency may use existing training and documented hours of mentorship to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) or paragraph (2) of subdivision (b).

(d) Notwithstanding Section 56061, a career substitute permitholder who was issued a permit based on the alternatives to employment verification authorized by paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) or paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) shall qualify to serve up to 70 cumulative days in a single classroom, including a special education classroom.

(e) A local educational agency shall notify the parent or guardian of pupils assigned to an emergency career substitute teaching permitholder who was issued a permit based on the alternatives to employment verification authorized by paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) or paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) within 10 schooldays of the placement of the permitholder being placed in the classroom.

(f) Before assigning an emergency career substitute teaching permitholder who was issued a permit based on the alternatives to employment verification authorized by paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) or paragraph (2) of subdivision (b), a local educational agency shall do all of the following:

(1) If the permitholder will serve in a position in which the teacher on record is currently on statutory leave, employ all available and suitable substitute teachers who hold a teaching permit for statutory leave, as described in Section 80022 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.

(2) For assignments in vacant positions, or where the use of a teaching permit for statutory leave is not allowed under existing law, make reasonable efforts to recruit an individual for the assignment pursuant to Section 44225.7.

(g) (1) At the end of each school year, a local educational agency shall report to its governing board or governing body at a regularly scheduled public meeting the number of substitute assignments 31 days or longer for each certificated employee in general education, or 21 days or longer for each certificated employee in special education. The report shall identify these assignments by setting, in either general education or special education, and identify placements where a substitute teacher served due to a vacant teaching position where no teacher of record exists or due to a teacher leave where a teacher of record exists but is absent. Data shall be presented to the board in a way to protect any personally identifiable information.

(2) A local educational agency shall annually report to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing the number of assignments of an emergency career substitute teaching permitholder who was issued a permit based on the alternatives to employment verification authorized by paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) or paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) through the California Statewide Assignment Accountability System.

(h) (1) This section does not constitute a change in existing law, which provides that emergency credentialed substitute teachers serving in assignments beyond their authorized period or substitute teachers serving in vacant teaching positions are not considered properly assigned as described in Sections 33126, 35186, and 44258.9.

(2) This section does not amend the definition of a vacant teacher position pursuant to Section 33126 or a teacher vacancy pursuant to Section 35186.

(i) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.