California Commission on Teacher Credentialing
The Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools Office provides a variety of services to our local school districts. Two of the services we provide in particular are required by California Education Code and the California Constitution. One required task is fiscal oversight of school districts in Tuolumne County. The second required activity is to monitor teaching credentials. The rules governing teaching credentials and hiring of certificated staff are cumbersome and confusing at times. This article is meant to provide a brief overview of credentials in general and ways in which the County Schools Office works with our local school districts to ensure that students are taught by highly qualified staff members.
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) issues many types of documents that authorize service in California K-12 schools and preschools. Just a few of the documents issued by CTC include: Administrative Services Credentials for principals and superintendents; Career Technical Education Credentials for vocational education teachers; Pupil Services Credentials for counselors; Education Specialist Credentials for special education teachers; and Multiple and Single Subject Credentials for classroom teachers. Each of these documents has their own education and/or experience requirements. Each County Office of Education in California has a County Credential Analyst who is trained on every document issued by CTC. The County Credential Analyst works closely with local school districts to ensure proper assignment of certificated staff and with credential applicants who are looking to teach in our schools.
Monitoring of credentials happens in two ways. The first monitoring duty for the County Office is to ensure that each person who is paid by a school district as a certificated employee has a valid credential or permit. Certificated employees include classroom teachers, counselors, principals, superintendents, speech therapists, reading specialists, etc. Payroll checks are held for anyone who does not have a valid credential. School districts and county offices can be fined for allowing someone to be paid with out a valid credential.
Each credential issued by CTC comes with a specific authorization, or types of duties that can be performed with a specific document. The second type of mandated credential monitoring that is performed by the County Office is for appropriate assignment. In other words, does someone hold the appropriate credential for the job they are hired to do. The State of California requires the County Office to maintain a four year monitoring cycle with one fourth of all teaching assignments being monitored each year.
Members of the public should have confidence that the educational professionals who work in our schools are highly trained and have specific qualifications to meet the needs of our student population. There are highly trained staff members at every County Office of Education to assist local school districts with hiring appropriate staff members.
