Teacher Standards and Practices Commission 465 Commercial Street NE Salem OR 97301		February 9-11, 2011
ITEM:	LICENSE OF CONDITIONAL ASSIGNMENT (LCA)
ACTION:	ACTION ITEM
RECOMMENDATION:	The Licensure Committee requests adoption of the following resolutions: RESOLVED that, the proposed rule OAR 584-060-0250 License for Conditional Assignment is referred to hearing for adoption at the May 2011 meeting. RESOLVED FURTHER that, the LCA takes effect on September 1, 2011.
INFORMATION:	Staff asked for “volunteer” districts to provide information by email and to also meet with staff to talk through a proposed LCA process. A meeting was held last Tuesday, February 1^st. Following is a list of questions received from school districts, as well as TSPC responses.

Questions from districts and TSPC responses:

1. What are the reasons that TSPC is proposing to change this process?

Response: The current process is essentially just a “permission slip” allowing an educator to teach in a different endorsement area without actually having the proper license. To our knowledge, no other state has a similar process allowing teachers to teach out of endorsement area. Our senior Assistant Attorney General (AAG) advised us that the provision in the current administrative rule for the Conditional Assignment Permit that states: “The CAP is not a license…” is incorrect, that it does indeed have the characteristics of a license.

2. One of the primary concerns expressed by districts is the cost involved in issuing the proposed LCA. Districts stressed that it will be a hardship for educators to pay this fee. Also, districts stated that for those districts which issue a large number of CAPS, this would be a hardship for districts to pay, as well.

Response: TSPC is required to assign a fee for issuance of a license. However, we recognize that this fee may be a burden. Initially, we therefore proposed reducing the fee to $50 from the usual $100. Given the concern expressed at the meeting, The Executive Director is now proposing that this cost be reduced even further, to $25.

3. How would the LCA regulations be different from the current CAPs process?

Response: The fact that a fee is imposed would be the primary difference, in terms of the obligations imposed on districts or educators. We don’t want to impose different time constraints upon districts. For example, districts would STILL have until October 1^st during the fall term to request the LCA.

4. Would districts still have the same amount of time to request an LCA?

Response: Yes! The current CAPs administrative rule requires the district “apply for a CAP by October 1 for the fall term or otherwise within two weeks after the assignment has begun.” (This rule was already amended in December of 2009 and shortened by one month, from October 31^st to October 1^st.) We intend to provide the same amount of time (until October 1^st at the start of the year) for teachers to be “misassigned” while class schedules are being finalized at the beginning of a school year or term. The current ability to misassign teachers up to 10 hours a week, etc., would also apply. Again, we don’t want to further constrain the time that districts have to finalize schedules.

5. How exactly would the LCA process be different and why would TSPC want the process to be different?

Response: It currently takes us several months to issue CAPs. Speaking as the new Director of Licensure, I don’t want the new LCA to take this long to issue. Please know that we want to speed up our processing time regardless of whether we stay with CAPs or move to the new LCA. However, if the new license (LCA) is created, I think we have an additional obligation to improve this process, given the “property right” that is conferred with a license.

At least initially, evaluators would still need to review and issue these licenses by hand. However, to ensure that we would get to them more quickly, we intend to have all of our evaluators issuing LCAs, just as all evaluators issue other licenses. (Right now, only one evaluator is assigned to issue CAPs, time permitting.) Ideally, in the long run, LCAs could be issued online, with only minimal review from our evaluators, resulting in an almost “instant” licensing process. Frankly, we’re not to that point today, since it will take time to build an electronic licensing system that can review any existing endorsement, determine if the new endorsement is allowed, and then determine if a one-year or three-year time period is appropriate.

6. What features could be included in the online licensing system immediately?

Response: Based on previous efforts as well as the discussion at the meeting, Stan Wall indicated that he can work on the following suggestions:

· Paying online with a credit card

· A way for districts to double-check educator’s email information

· Adding a “check box” for districts to indicate that they have already informed the educator of the intention to apply for an LCA

· Adding a “check box” for districts to indicate that they want the educator to know (upfront) of the district’s willingness to pay the fee

o Otherwise, districts can always choose to reimburse educators after educators have paid – this would not require any changes to TSPC’s process

· Provide list of courses applicable to current endorsements

· Option for districts to rescind a LCA (and clarity concern timeframes allowed for rescinding)

· An immediate indication that the educator is not eligible for the LCA because the educator does not hold a “cap-able” license

o However, other reasons for not being eligible for an LCA will take longer to build into the online system (see below)

7. What features could be included in the online licensing system in the long run?

Response: The following features will require more time to develop and will not be immediately available:

· The system telling the district immediately if the educator is not eligible for the license. Reasons include:

o Educator held a CAP previously, but did not successfully complete the CAP.

o Educator does not actually need an LCA – already legal to teach that endorsement area on existing license.

· The system indicating exactly what the educator will need to do to add the new endorsement to a particular license.

8. If an educator does not have a credit card, can TSPC accept payment from bank accounts?

Response: Yes, we will be able to accept payment by check, either electronically, or by paper. At this time, we are still working with the state Office of the Treasurer and U.S. Bank to set up this process. An FYI – there are other licensing agencies that use an electronic “coupon” that can be printed when a license is requested and then mailed in with a check, to facilitate faster processing.

9. Would a district be able to pay the cost, if a district chose that option?

Response: Yes, we will design an online process that would allow a district to decide if they would like to: (a) pay for the LCA completely; (b) split costs with educators; or (c) have educators pay entire cost. Also, districts asked for the ability to make different decisions, case-by-case, as needed.

10. What is the most appropriate way for a district to pay?

Response: Payment by credit card, whether it is the district or the educator paying, will likely be the cleanest and easiest payment method possible for the state. A purchase order would not be the preferred option, as far the state is concerned. Money actually has to be received by the office before a license can be issued; the money is the consideration for the transaction. We are concerned about districts promising, at the time an LCA is requested, to pay by purchase order at a future date.

11. Could a district pay at the same time that an LCA is requested?

Response: No, since the license is legally the property (and responsibility) of the educator, the educator would need to have “accepted” this license before payment is made. However, Stan Wall has indicated that a process could be designed that would allow the educator to accept the license electronically and then send notice of this acceptance back to the district, allowing the district to pay at that time.

12. How would TSPC define “substantial progress” toward completion of requirements for CAP/LCA in order to extend the CAP/LCA?

Response: To be eligible to extend a CAP, an educator currently has to have “made substantial progress” toward completing the requirements. At this time, TSPC proposes to define progress in the same way that it is defined under the current CAP rule. This means that the educator needs to demonstrate that they have made progress toward completing any required courses and/or tests.

13. What if the educator does not respond quickly to the email from TSPC?

Response: TSPC will send the educator a reminder (or multiple reminders) by email, requesting a response. (We would also request that districts also remind educators of the request.) Again, the educator would need to officially “accept” the responsibility of completing the endorsement requirements before the LCA would be issued. The school district group discussed the length of time (days or weeks) that an educator should have to review the LCA request and make a decision. Districts indicated that they (districts) would like to know that once an LCA is requested, the educator can legally be in the classroom until the LCA is formally issued. (This is one issue that was not decided during the meeting.)

14. Districts asked if they would need to wait for TSPC to complete the evaluation to know the duration of the LCA.

Response: Yes, this is correct. When the evaluation is completed, TSPC will inform the district and the educator of the length of time of the LCA – it will either be a three year license, if a program must be completed to add the endorsement area, OR a one year license, if only a test and practicum are required. Ideally, in the long run, the online licensing program would include this information and would be able to immediately indicate whether a person was eligible for the LCA and list the requirements and duration (one year or three year license) associate with the LCA.

15. Would TSPC “grandfather in” existing CAPs that are issued prior to a new LCA rule taking effect?

Response: Yes. Any fees (or any other change in the rule) would only apply to requests that are made after the rule goes into effect. Fees, etc., would not be applied retroactively.

16. Would TSPC consider always allowing an LCA to be issued to the end of a school year?

Response: During the meeting, Vickie indicated that yes, TSPC will definitely look at this. She also stated that TSPC would consider allowing a three-year LCA to “stop out” (perhaps educator works under LCA for one year, takes a year off, and then completes final two years of the LCA).

17. Please provide data concerning the current CAPs:

Response: Here is the requested data:

a. Total # of CAPs currently in the state: 1,443 (involves 1,346 educators, since approximately 100 educators currently have more than one CAP)

b. Total # of CAPs issued during past five years: 3,296 (involves 2,998 educators)

c. Total number of applications received during past five years (bonus data!):

Year	# of Applications	# of Applicants
2010	23,066	21,485
2009	23,741	21,219
2008	20,759	19,387
2007	20,846	19,484
2006	19,991	18,539

This provides some context for the scope of the CAPs/LCA discussion.

d. Total number of CAPs denied, by year:

Year	# Denied
2010	28
2009	35
2008	26
2007	16
2006	13
Total:	118

Note: The usual reasons for denying a CAP include: person had a CAP previously, but did not successfully complete requirements; person doesn’t need a CAP to teach requested endorsement area; or person doesn’t have an active license.

e. List of top 10 districts (actually 12, due to a 3-way tie!) in terms of number of CAPs issued, with the total number of CAPs for each district:

	Name of School District	Number of CAPs
1	Salem-Keizer	338
2	Portland Public	211
3	Eugene	205
4	Beaverton	163
5	Reynolds	103
6	Tigard-Tualatin	87
7	North Clackamas	79
8	Woodburn	72
9	Bend-LaPine	61
10	Redmond	58
10	McMinnville	58
10	Corvallis	58

f. Top 3 endorsement areas for CAPs in the last five years (with number of CAPs for each listed):

Endorsement Area	Number of CAPs
ESOL	647
Special Education	532
Reading	286