FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SACRAMENTO, CA –Head Start California today applauded Governor Newsom for signing AB 1123, a new law that will modify the composition of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) to include members with early childhood education (ECE) experience and expertise.

“We applaud Governor Newsom for signing this bill, and we appreciate the leadership of Assemblymember Muratsuchi for authoring this measure,” said Melanee Cottrill, Executive Director, Head Start California. “The CTC makes highly consequential decisions affecting the entire ECE sector, workforce, and children and families throughout California. Adding members with ECE content expertise and experience will make the CTC stronger and more effective, and help to support implementation of the Governor’s Master Plan for Early Learning and Care. This will greatly benefit California children and families.”

AB 1123 was authored by Assembly Education Committee Chair Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) and sponsored by PEACH, Child Care Resource Center, and Head Start California. The measure allows for ECE representation on the CTC by authorizing the governor to appoint, as one of the 6 practicing teachers, a teacher with a CTC-issued child development teacher permit who teaches at a licensed state-funded preschool or prekindergarten program. It also requires the Governor to appoint one ECE faculty member representing the ECE higher education systems who teaches at an ECE or child development baccalaureate degree program at one of the California State University (CSU) or University of California (UC) campuses, or an associate degree program in one of the California Community Colleges’ (CCC) ECE programs.

“Adding ECE professionals to the CTC will bring valuable expertise, experience, and perspectives to the CTC,” said Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi. “AB 1123 is a long overdue measure that will ensure that ECE educators, administrators, and the faculty who prepare them have a voice on issues of direct consequence to them and the families they serve.”

“We commend Governor Newsom for signing AB 1123 into law,” said Childcare Resource Center President, Donna Sneeringer. “Under the leadership of bill author Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, this law will end decades of regulation without representation for Early Childhood professionals on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. This law now ensures that the CTC will have voting members on the commission who are experts in the field of ECE. This is an important step forward in realizing the vision set forth in the Governor’s Master Plan for Early Learning and Care, especially as California works to advance and strengthen it’s ECE systems and Universal Prekindergarten initiatives. With this new law, the work of the CTC and the ECE workforce that it oversees will be strengthened, benefiting ECE professionals, California’s families, children, and generations to come. Thank you, Governor Newsom, and Assemblymember Muratsuchi.”

The CTC is the state standards board for educator preparation for California public schools. It oversees the licensing and credentialing of professional educators, the enforcement of professional practices of educators, and discipline of credential holders. The CTC has issued ECE permits for over 60 years, but has never had dedicated voting ECE representation. California began issuing teacher credentials in 1917, and issued its first Child Development Permit in 1961 when it became one of the first states to subsidize public preschool enrollment.

The CTC frequently acts on issues pertaining to the ECE profession. In recent years, the CTC has adopted ECE Teaching Performance Expectations and ECE Program Guidelines, and created a new credential, the PK-3 ECE Specialist Instruction Credential.

“This is a huge win for the children and families of California,” said Anthony Ayala,  Co-Lead of PEACH. “PEACH extends deep gratitude to Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, Senator Monique Limón, and Governor Gavin Newsom for their leadership in making this vision a reality.

“If early childhood education is to move forward in the professionalization of the field, the decisions that govern the profession must include the active participation of those working within it. Early childhood education is a sector primarily staffed by women, most of whom are women of color, and is the only part of the education system where the racial, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds of teachers often reflect those of the children and families they serve. While this is a source of pride, it has also meant that early childhood professionals have too often been excluded from decision-making at the highest levels.”

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Media Contact: Melanee Cottrill, Executive Director, Head Start California, melanee@headstartca.org