Dive Brief:
- California's Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) is asking the state legislature to create and fund a state database of teachers in order to address teacher shortages.
- In 2006, the legislatire passed a measure to create the California Longitudinal Teacher Integrated Data Education System, which would collect info on teachers, but former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger froze its funding in 2010.
- Current CA Gov. Jerry Brown is opposed to the measure, describing it as a "costly technology program that is not critical."
Dive Insight:
Two information systems exist in the state, and they don't speak to one another: one operated by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and another by the California Department of Education. Right now, according to the LAO, it's nearly impossible to track teacher turnover and transfers to other districts in the state. It's also not possible to check whether teachers are working in subjects they’re credentialed to teach.
No other state appears to have a teacher database, though many do keep databases of teacher misconduct. A recent investigation by USA Today found that since no federal database exists, bad teachers can skip out on a state where misconduct happened, and teach in a new place without raising eyebrows. Gaps also exist in teacher screening systems.
