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In the 2021-22 State Budget, Governor Gavin Newsom committed to expanding Transitional Kindergarten (TK) to serve all 4-year-olds by the 2025-26 school year. This budget also included several workforce development, recruitment, and retention program investments to help support Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) as they work to increase the number of teachers qualified to teach TK in order to meet the demand of a growing TK student population. Read our summary of the key investments and policy changes included in the 2021-22 State Budget that support the professional development and recruitment of the TK workforce.

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California Pre-Kindergarten Planning and Implementation Grant: $300 million

• Establishes a state Early Learning initiative with the goal of expanding access to classroom-based TK and the California State Preschool Program (CSPP) at LEAs.
• Requires the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI) to allocate $200 million to LEAs and County Offices of Education (COEs) as base grants, enrollment grants, and supplemental grants for specified purposes based on 2021-22 kindergarten enrollment numbers included in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System. 
• Remaining $100 million of apportionment will go towards a competitive grant program for LEAs to increase the number of highly qualified teachers. The Request for Application is currently being developed by the California Department of Education (CDE) for districts to apply to.
• Can be used for costs associated with:
  • CSPP or TK programs
  • Establishing or strengthening partnerships with other Pre-Kindergarten providers, including Head Start
  • Recruitment and hiring, training, professional development, materials, and supplies
• LEAs must develop plans by June 30, 2022 for board consideration.
• Funds available until June 30, 2024.

Educator Effectiveness Block Grant: $1.5 billion

• Requires the SSPI to apportion funds to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools to provide professional learning for teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals who work with pupils, and classified staff that interact with pupils.
• Funds can be used to provide support to educators, including:
  • Coaching and mentoring
  • Instruction and education to support implementing effective language acquisition programs for English Learners
  • New professional learning networks for educators
  • Instruction, education, and strategies for certificated and classified educators in early childhood education, or childhood development
• Funds can be expended through the 2025–26 fiscal year.

Teacher Residency Grant Program: $350 million

• The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) can make one-time grants to develop new, or improve access to existing, teacher residency programs that support:
  • Designated shortage fields, including Transitional Kindergarten and bilingual education.
  • Local efforts to recruit, develop support systems for, provide outreach and communication strategies to, and retain a diverse teacher workforce that reflects an LEA community’s diversity.
• A grant applicant may consist of:
  • A school district
  • A county office of education
  • A charter school
  • A regional occupational center or program operated by a joint powers authority or a county office of education
• Grants can be up to $25,000 per teacher candidate in the residency program of the jurisdiction of the grant recipient, matched by that grant recipient at a rate of 80 percent of the grant amount received per participant. Residents are also eligible for other forms of federal, state, and local educational agency financial assistance to support the cost of their preparation. 
• Grant program funding shall be used for, but is not limited to, any of the following:
  • Teacher preparation costs
  • Stipends for mentor teachers, including, but not limited to, housing stipends
  • Residency program staff costs
  • Mentoring and beginning teacher induction costs following initial preparation
  • A grant recipient shall not use more than 5 percent of a grant award for program administration costs.
• A grant recipient shall provide a match of grant funding in the form of one or both of the following:
  • Eighty cents for every one dollar of grant funding received per participant, to be used in a manner consistent with allowable grant activities.
  • An in-kind match of program director personnel costs, mentor teacher personnel costs, or other personnel costs related to the Teacher Residency Grant Program, provided by the grant recipient.
• Requires teacher residency program candidate to serve in a school within the jurisdiction of the school district that sponsored the candidate for at least 4 school years after completing an initial year of preparation and obtaining a preliminary teaching credential.
• Requires residents be with the mentor teacher 50 percent of the school week, allowing the resident teacher to blend their residency with other jobs, such as part-time teaching or paraeducator work.
• Funds available until June 30, 2026.

California Classified School Employees Teacher Credentialing Program: $125 million

• Recruits classified school employees to participate in a program designed to encourage them to enroll in teacher training programs and to provide instructional service as teachers in the public schools. 
• The maximum grant to an LEA will be $24,000 over five years per participant teacher candidate.
• Requires the CTC to: 
  • Allocate grants for at least 5,208 new participants. 
  • Give priority to LEAs that meet any of the following: 
    • Have not previously received funding for this program. 
    • Have a higher share than other applicants of unduplicated pupils. 
    • Have a plan to create a new, or expand an existing, program that recruits and supports expanding learning and Pre-Kindergarten program staff and address Kindergarten and Early Childhood Education teacher shortages.
• Funds available until June 30, 2026.

Golden State Teacher Grant Program: $500 million ($100 million per fiscal year between now and 2026)

• Teacher preparation and workforce pipeline grant
• Provides one-time grant funds of up to $20,000 to each student enrolled on or after January 1, 2020, in a professional preparation program leading to a preliminary teaching credential, approved by the CTC, if the student commits to working in a high-need field at a priority school for four years after the student receives the teaching credential. 
• Grant recipients must:
  • Be enrolled in or have successfully completed a teacher preparation program approved by the CTC.
  • Maintain good academic standing.
  • Upon completion of the teacher preparation program, satisfy the state basic skills proficiency test requirement.
  • Complete the required teaching service following completion of the recipient’s teacher preparation program.
  • Teach in a high-need field at a priority school.
  • Complete obligations within 5 years.
• Expands the Golden State Teacher Grant Program to include Transitional Kindergarten as a high-need field.
• “Priority school” is defined as a school with 55 percent or more of its pupils being unduplicated pupils.
• Funds available until June 30, 2026.

Dual Language Immersion Grant Program: $10 million

• $10 million for 25 grants at up to $380,000 each for three-year implementation of multilingual programs. 
• CDE will identify criteria for evaluation of applicants and awarding grants.
• Grants will support:
  • Development of Instructional materials and resources​ 
  • Professional development for teachers and school administrators, teacher recruitment, development of instructional materials
  • Development of curriculum, and family and pupil outreach​
  • Teacher recruitment

Additional Workforce Supports

Removing Teacher Pipeline Barriers

• The 2021-22 State Budget exempts teacher candidates who earn at least a letter grade of B in qualifying coursework from taking the basic skills proficiency test requirement.
  • It also exempts an applicant who has demonstrated proficiency in the basic skills through a combination of qualifying coursework, passage of components of the state basic skills proficiency test, and scores on certain tests.