AB 2609: Teachers: California Scientist-to-Teacher Pathway Program.

Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law establishes the State Department of Education, under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and assigns to the department numerous duties relating to the financing, governance, and guidance of the public elementary and secondary schools in this state.

This bill would establish the California Scientists-to-Teacher Pathway Program for the purpose of recruiting, training, supporting, and retaining qualified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) scientists as STEM teachers in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, under the administration of the department, as specified. The bill would require the department, commencing with the 201819 fiscal year, to allocate a one-time grant to an institution of higher education, nonprofit public benefit corporation, county office of education, or a partnership among multiple organizations of these types, for the purposes of the program, as specified, and for subsequent fiscal years if specified conditions are met. The bill would require the department to evaluate the impacts of the program and include that information in a specified report. The bill would require its provisions to be implemented only upon the enactment of an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute for its purposes.