CSET Regulatory Compliance & Legal Framework 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) has the authority to:
- Set teacher salary schedules for all districts
- Issue, renew, suspend, and revoke teaching credentials (Correct answer)
- Develop the state's academic content standards
- Administer statewide standardized assessments to students
Correct answer: Issue, renew, suspend, and revoke teaching credentials
The CTC is the state agency that governs educator preparation and licensure, including issuing credentials and taking disciplinary action against educators.
Question 2: The California Williams Act (Education Code §§1240–1240.2) requires school districts to ensure that every student has access to:
- A personal laptop and internet connection
- Sufficient instructional materials, safe school facilities, and qualified teachers (Correct answer)
- Free breakfast and lunch programs
- An after-school tutoring program in every core subject
Correct answer: Sufficient instructional materials, safe school facilities, and qualified teachers
The Williams settlement and resulting legislation guarantee California students the basic conditions for learning: materials, facilities, and credentialed teachers.
Question 3: California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) requires each school district to adopt a:
- Federal Accountability and Progress Report (FAPR)
- Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) (Correct answer)
- Strategic Five-Year Improvement Plan (SFYIP)
- District-Wide Student Achievement Compact (DSAC)
Correct answer: Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP)
Under LCFF, districts must create an LCAP that describes goals, actions, and expenditures to improve student outcomes across eight state priority areas.
Question 4: The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind, primarily shifts authority over school accountability to:
- The federal Department of Education
- Individual states, which must design their own accountability systems (Correct answer)
- Local school boards acting independently of states
- Accreditation agencies approved by Congress
Correct answer: Individual states, which must design their own accountability systems
ESSA deliberately transferred significant accountability and school-improvement authority back to states, reducing federal prescription in those areas.
Question 5: California's Healthy Youth Act requires school districts to provide students with:
- Daily physical education beginning in kindergarten
- Comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention instruction (Correct answer)
- Nutrition counseling and access to a school dietitian
- Mental health screenings at each grade transition
Correct answer: Comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention instruction
The California Healthy Youth Act (Education Code §§51930–51939) mandates age-appropriate, medically accurate comprehensive sexual health and HIV prevention education.
Question 6: Under California Education Code, a teacher acquires 'permanent' (tenured) status after completing how many consecutive years of satisfactory service in the same district?
- One year
- Two years (Correct answer)
- Three years
- Five years
Correct answer: Two years
Under Ed Code §44929.21, a probationary teacher who is reelected for a second consecutive year and serves for two complete years earns permanent status.
Question 7: California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) protects school employees from discrimination based on all of the following EXCEPT:
- Race, religion, and national origin
- Sexual orientation and gender identity
- Political party affiliation and voter registration status (Correct answer)
- Physical disability and medical condition
Correct answer: Political party affiliation and voter registration status
FEHA covers a broad list of protected characteristics, but political party affiliation is generally not a protected class under FEHA for private or public employment.
CSET Regulatory Compliance & Legal Framework 5
The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) has the authority to: