AB1904 - Teachers: credentialed educator apprenticeship programs.

Amended IN Senate August 13, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 09, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1904 Introduced by Assembly Members Gipson and Muratsuchi February 12, 2026 An act to amend Section 44225.6 of, and to add Article 10.5 (commencing with Section 44375) to Chapter 2 of Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of of, the Education Code, and to add Sections 3075.4 and 3075.45 to the Labor Code, relating to teachers. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1904, as amended, Gipson. Teachers: credentialed educator apprenticeship programs. Under existing law, it is the public policy of this state to encourage the utilization of apprenticeship as a form of on-the-job training, when such training is cost effective in developing skills needed to perform public services. Existing law requires state and local public agencies to make a diligent effort to establish apprenticeship programs for apprenticeable occupations in their respective workforces. Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other duties, establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials. Existing law requires, as a minimum requirement for a preliminary multiple subject, single subject, or education specialist teaching credential, the satisfactory completion of a program of professional preparation, as specified. This bill would require the commission and the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to partner in the dissemination, approval, and monitoring of credentialed educator apprenticeship programs in California, and to communicate apprenticeship requirements to professional preparation programs, local educational agencies, and other potential sponsors of credentialed educator apprenticeship programs. The bill, notwithstanding any other law, would authorize the commission to issue apprenticeship certificates or permits to educator candidates without a credential who are employed by local educational agencies and participating in commission-approved credentialed educator apprenticeship programs, as specified, and would authorize require the commission to adopt regulations for that purpose. The bill would authorize the commission and the division to enter into a memorandum of understanding to establish processes and procedures for information sharing, application review, and data collection and reporting, and would authorize the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, in consultation with the commission, to issue rules and regulations that govern credentialed educator apprenticeship programs, including the approval and denial of programs, registration of agreements, program administration and procedures, evaluations, working conditions, and minimum standards, as specified. The bill would require an applicant for a new credentialed educator apprenticeship program or for the expansion of an existing credentialed educator apprenticeship program into a new geographic or credential area to submit specified documentation to the chief. The bill would require the division to present the apprenticeship program application to the commission for its review, as provided, and would require the commission, if it is satisfied that specified conditions have been met, to provide written notice of that fact to the chief. The bill would require the commission to, among other things, publish on its internet website guidance for prospective and commission-approved apprenticeship sponsors, commission-accredited professional preparation programs, and employing local educational agencies on the relationship between educator apprenticeships and professional preparation programs, as specified, and to support the development and expansion of educator apprenticeships in credential shortage areas and geographic areas with persistent educator workforce needs, including, but not limited to, through commission-administered grant programs, as applicable. Existing law requires the commission, by April 15 of each year, to report to the Legislature and the Governor information on the availability of teachers in California, including, among other things, the number and percentage of individuals serving pursuant to an emergency permit or credential waiver, as specified. This bill would require that report to also include the number and percentage of individuals serving pursuant to an apprenticeship certificate or permit, as specified. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) Traditional credentialed educator preparation requires candidates to student teach or serve pupils as part of a postbaccalaureate certification program. For most credentialed educator candidates, this service is unpaid and can present an obstacle to entering the profession. (b) Clinically rich pathways, such as educator residencies, are linked to strong preparation and retention. Apprenticeship, which relies on robust on-the-job training, similarly supports a “learning-by-doing” approach, but has not traditionally been associated with credentialed educator preparation. (c) Credentialed educator apprenticeship presents an opportunity for educator preparation programs and local educational agencies, along with their labor and community partners, to leverage state and federal funding to organize apprenticeship programs. Apprenticeship also presents the opportunity for candidates to be compensated for their time and increases their options to enter the profession through clinically rich pathways. In this way, credentialed educator apprenticeships can help remove barriers to recruitment and support retention, particularly in key shortage and growth areas, such as special education, early childhood education, bilingual education, and school counseling. Apprenticeship can also help to cultivate a workforce reflective of the state’s diverse school communities. (d) Apprenticeship should be an option for any existing credentialed educator preparation pathway and sponsored by a variety of entities, including county offices of education, institutions of higher education with credentialed educator preparation programs approved by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, local educational agencies and consortiums of local educational agencies, labor organizations, and nonprofit organizations with experience and expertise in credentialed educator preparation. (e) California requirements for credentialed educator apprenticeships should build upon existing state and federal requirements so that programs can be approved at the state and federal levels and avail themselves of multiple funding opportunities. In order to meet these requirements and align with credentialed educator preparation standards in California, the programs described pursuant to this act should align with competency-based or hybrid-based apprenticeship programs, as described in Section 3078.5 of the Labor Code. (f) The credentialed educator preparation pathway could begin as early as high school with youth apprenticeships in education that bridge high school and college coursework aligned to paid work-based learning. There are already many apprenticeship programs in early care and education, expanded learning, and teacher aide roles that are registered with the Division of Apprenticeship Standards and align with associate degree-level college courses. This act does not impact these existing programs, but rather it creates alignment between the Education Code and Labor Code to allow for apprenticeships that culminate in credentials and credentialed educator roles. SEC. 2. Section 44225.6 of the Education Code is amended to read: 44225.6. (a) By April 15 of each year, the commission shall report to the Legislature and the Governor on the availability of teachers in California. This report shall include all of the following information: (1) The number of individuals recommended for credentials by institutions of higher education and each type of credential, certificate, or authorization for which they were recommended, including authorizations issued pursuant to Sections 44253.3 and 44253.4. (2) The number of individuals recommended for credentials by school districts operating district internship programs and each type of credential, certificate, or authorization for which they were recommended, including authorizations issued pursuant to Sections 44253.3 and 44253.4. (3) The number of individuals receiving an initial credential based on a program completed outside of California and each type of credential, certificate, or authorization for which they were recommended, including authorizations issued pursuant to Sections 44253.3 and 44253.4. (4) The number of individuals receiving an emergency permit or credential waiver. (5) The number of individuals receiving the certificate of completion of staff development in methods of specially designed content instruction delivered in English pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 44253.11. (6) Statewide, by county, and by school district, the number of individuals serving in the following capacities and as a percentage of the total number of individuals serving as teachers statewide, in the county, and in the school district: (A) University internship. (B) District internship. (C) Emergency-style permit, including any emergency permit, short-term staff permit, or provisional intern permit. (D) Waiver of certification. (E) Teaching permit for statutory leave issued pursuant to Division 8 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations. (F) Preliminary or clear credential. (G) An authorization issued pursuant to Section 44253.3. (H) Certificates or authorizations issued pursuant to Section 44253.3, 44253.4, 44253.10, or 44253.11, if available. (I) The number of individuals serving English learner pupils in settings calling for English language development, in settings calling for specially designed academic instruction in English, or in primary language instruction, without the appropriate authorization under Section 44253.3, 44253.4, 44253.10, or 44253.11, or under another statute, if available. The commission may use data from the department’s Annual Language Census Survey to report the data required pursuant to this paragraph. (J) Apprenticeship certificate or permit pursuant to Section 44378. (7) The specific subjects and teaching areas in which there are a sufficient number of new holders of credentials to fill the positions currently held by individuals with emergency permits. (b) The commission shall make this report available to school districts and county offices of education to assist them in the recruitment of credentialed teachers and shall make the report and supporting data publicly available on the commission’s internet website. (c) A common measure of whether teacher preparation programs are meeting the challenge of preparing increasing numbers of new teachers is the number of teaching credentials awarded. The number of teaching credentials recommended by these programs and awarded by the commission are indicators of the productivity of teacher preparation programs. The commission shall include in the report prepared for the Legislature and the Governor pursuant to subdivision (a) the total number of teaching credentials recommended by all accredited teacher preparation programs authorized by the commission and the number recommended by each of the following: (1) The University of California system. (2) The California State University system. (3) Independent colleges and universities that offer teacher preparation programs approved by the commission. (4) Other institutions that offer teacher preparation programs approved by the commission. (d) The commission shall periodically provide reports and recommendations to the Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code, regarding the state’s teacher workforce for purposes of developing and reviewing state policy, identifying workforce trends, and identifying future needs. These reports shall be made publicly available on the commission’s internet website. The commission may make use of information obtained from the department, including, but not necessarily limited to, information obtained pursuant to Section 44258.9, for these purposes. (e) The commission may use information obtained from the department garnered through the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System to facilitate the development of the annual Teacher Supply Report as outlined in subdivision (a) and to analyze and publicly report educator workforce trends, including, but not limited to, recipients of commission-issued grants, teacher shortage indicators defined in subdivision (b) of Section 44258.9, preparation program workforce placements, and workforce mobility, retention, and attrition. (f) For purposes of this section, “authorization” has the same meaning as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 44203. SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Article 10.5 (commencing with Section 44375) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read: Article 10.5. Credentialed Educator Apprenticeships Act 44375. This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Credentialed Educator Apprenticeships Act. 44376. For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply: (a) “Division” means the Division of Apprenticeship Standards. (b) “Educator of record” means an individual with a credential issued by the commission demonstrating at least current enrollment in, and partial completion of, a professional preparation program and who is responsible for the delivery of instruction or services authorized by that credential to a class or caseload of pupils. (c) “Regionally accredited institution of higher education” means any institution of higher education accredited by any of the following accrediting bodies or their successor organizations: (1) The Higher Learning Commission. (2) The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. (3) The Middle States Commission on Higher Education. (4) The New England Commission of Higher Education. (5) The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. (6) The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. (7) The Western Association of Schools and Colleges-Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. (8) The Western Association of Schools and Colleges-Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities. 44377. (a) The commission shall partner with the division in the dissemination, approval, and monitoring of credentialed educator apprenticeship programs in California, as described in Section 3075.45 of the Labor Code. (b) The commission shall partner with the division to communicate apprenticeship requirements to professional preparation programs, local educational agencies, and other potent [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]