Article 5.5. Emergency Permits of California Education Code >> Division 3. >> Title 2. >> Part 25. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 5.5.

(a) Commencing January 1, 1990, the commission may issue or renew emergency teaching or specialist permits in accordance with regulations adopted by the commission corresponding to the credential types specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (b) of Section 44225, provided that all of the following conditions are met:
  (1) The applicant possesses a baccalaureate degree conferred by a regionally accredited institution of higher education and has fulfilled the subject matter requirements of Section 44301.
  (2) The applicant passes the state basic skills proficiency test as provided for in Section 44252.
  (3) The commission approves the justification for the emergency permit submitted by the school district in which the applicant is to be employed. The justification shall include all of the following:
  (A) Annual documentation that the district has implemented in policy and practices a process for conducting a diligent search that shall include, but is not limited to, distributing job announcements, contacting college and university placement centers, advertising in local newspapers, exploring the incentives included in the Teaching As A Priority Block Grant established pursuant to Section 44735, participating in the state and regional recruitment centers established pursuant to Sections 44751, as it read prior to May 5, 2003, and 90530, and participating in job fairs in this state, but has been unable to recruit a sufficient number of certificated teachers, including teacher candidates pursuing full certification through internship, district internship, or other alternative routes established by the commission.
  (B) A declaration of need for fully qualified educators based on the documentation set forth in subparagraph (A) and made in the form of a motion adopted by the governing board of the district or the county board of education at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board or the county board of education. The motion may not be part of the consent agenda and shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting.
  (b) The commission may deny a request for an emergency permit that does not meet the justification set forth in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).
  (c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the commission continue to issue emergency teaching permits to individuals employed by school districts defined in regulations as remote from regionally accredited institutions of higher education.
  (d) The commission may issue and reissue emergency permits corresponding to the credential types specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 44225. The commission shall establish appropriate standards for each type of emergency permit specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 44225.
  (e) The exclusive representative of certificated employees, if any, as provided under Chapter 10.7 (commencing with Section 3540) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code, may submit a written statement to the commission agreeing or disagreeing with the justification submitted to the commission pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).
  (f) A person holding an emergency teaching or specialist permit shall attend an orientation to the curriculum and to techniques of instruction and classroom management, and shall teach only with the assistance and guidance of a certificated employee of the district who has completed at least three years of full-time teaching experience, or the equivalent thereof. It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage districts to provide directed teaching experience to new emergency permitholders with no prior teaching experience.
  (g) The holder of an emergency permit shall participate in ongoing training, coursework, or seminars designed to prepare the individual to become a fully credentialed teacher or other educator in the subject area or areas in which he or she is assigned to teach or serve. The employing agency shall verify that employees applying to renew their emergency permits are meeting these ongoing training requirements.
  (h) Emergency permits for pupil personnel services shall not be valid for the purpose of determining pupil eligibility for placement in a special education class or program.
  (i) This section shall not apply to the issuance of an emergency substitute teaching permit, or of an emergency permit to a teacher who has consented to teach temporarily outside of his or her field of certification, for which the commission shall establish minimum requirements.

(a) Any person who does not hold a valid California teaching credential that requires a baccalaureate degree shall be required to pass the appropriate subject matter competency examination or examinations, as determined by the commission, before he or she may be initially issued an emergency multiple- or single-subject teaching permit, except an emergency substitute teaching permit, authorizing him or her to teach a subject that is specified by the commission.
  (b) The commission may issue an emergency multiple- or single-subject teaching permit to an applicant who has not taken the appropriate subject matter competency test, provided the employing agency certifies all of the following to the commission:
  (1) The applicant has not had the opportunity to take the test.
  (2) The applicant shall take the appropriate subject matter competency test at its next regularly scheduled administration.
  (3) The employing agency shall discontinue employment of the person eight weeks after the date on which the test is administered if he or she does not give the employing agency evidence of having passed the required subject matter competency test on that date.
  (c) The emergency teaching permit issued pursuant to subdivision (b) shall expire on the next regular expiration date for emergency permits, or on a date that is eight weeks after the date on which the required subject matter competency test was administered, whichever date comes first.
  (d) The commission shall waive the requirements of this section for each applicant for each of the following:
  (1) An emergency single-subject teaching permit, if the applicant has successfully completed at least 18 semester units, or nine semester units of upper division or graduate coursework, at a regionally accredited institution of postsecondary education, in the subject area to be taught.
  (2) An emergency multiple-subjects permit, if the applicant has successfully completed at least 40 semester units, or the equivalent, at a regionally accredited institution of postsecondary education, in the subjects that are commonly taught in elementary schools, as determined by the commission.

The Commission on Teacher Credentialing regularly shall notify local educational agencies of the various provisions in current law that allow the assignment of personnel when a fully qualified teacher is not available and a substitute has served for the maximum days permitted by law, including emergency permits under Section 44300, long-term and short-term waivers under subdivision (m) of Section 44225, and intern permits under Sections 44235, 44250, and 44464. When fulfilling the notification requirements of this section, the commission shall utilize a variety of approaches, including, but not limited to, correspondence, annual workshops for credential analysts, a credential handbook, a waiver handbook, the commission website, and special telephone, fax, and e-mail lines for school districts and county offices of education. Additionally, the commission shall provide local educational agencies with information about waiver requests including specific timelines, key steps, and appeal rights.