Education Code § 44400.02

44400.02.

(a) The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall award funding appropriated for this purpose to local educational agencies that host student teachers or teacher residents or that employ teacher apprentices.

(b) (1) Local educational agencies awarded funding pursuant to this article shall provide stipends to prospective educators during their completion of 500 or more hours of student teaching. Stipends for each prospective educator shall be ten thousand dollars ($10,000) and paid during the school year in which the credential applicants are completing their student teaching.

(2) Local educational agencies employing credentialed educator apprentices may use stipend awards to offset the wages paid to those apprentices during the initial phase of the apprenticeship when the apprentice is not yet the educator of record.

(3) Local educational agencies hosting teacher residents may use student teacher stipends in cases where residents are not supported by residency stipends pursuant to Section 44415.5.

(4) Commencing July 1, 2027, local educational agencies awarded funding pursuant to this article shall, consistent with subdivision (d), provide an additional stipend of five thousand dollars ($5,000) to prospective educators pursuing a credential and student teaching in a high-need field.

(c) The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall establish a streamlined online process for local educational agencies to submit the prospective educator’s information, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(1) The prospective educator’s preparation program.

(2) The number of student teaching hours they will complete.

(3) The local educational agency or agencies where they are completing their student teaching.

(4) The schoolsite or schoolsites where they are completing their student teaching.

(5) Their desired credential.

(6) Evidence of their valid certificate or permit issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing that required professional fitness review.

(7) Their demographic information.

(d) (1) Commencing July 1, 2026, to the extent that funds are available for this purpose, up to one hundred twenty-five million dollars ($125,000,000) shall be available annually for the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to award stipends pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b).

(2) Commencing July 1, 2027, to the extent that funds are available for this purpose, up to twenty-seven million five hundred thousand dollars ($27,500,000) shall be available annually for the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to award additional stipends pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b).

(3) To the extent that demand for stipends provided pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) exceeds the amount appropriated by the Legislature, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall prioritize applications on a first-come, first-serve basis. To the extent that the annual demand for stipends provided pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) is less than the annual amount appropriated by the Legislature, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall allocate any excess to stipends described in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b).

(4) To the extent that demand for stipends provided pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) exceeds the amount appropriated by the Legislature, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall prioritize applications pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) based on the local educational agency’s unduplicated pupil count.

(e) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall, on or before January 1, 2027, and each year thereafter, report to the Department of Finance and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature, regarding the state of the grant program, including, but not limited to, the number of prospective educators paid; their education preparation programs; their desired credential; the participating local educational agencies; the demographics of the participants in the program; the percentage of prospective educators who committed to a high-need field; and, to the extent applicable, all required data disaggregated by participants receiving an additional stipend pursuant to subdivision (d). The report submitted to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature shall be submitted consistent with Section 9795 of the Government Code.