Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators
Volume 45 | Number 16 | January 26, 2015
Creditable compensation regs FAQ
The following article was prepared by
Lozano Smith attorney Ashley Emerzian and
ACSA Legislative Advocate Sal Villaseñor.
The California State Teachers Retire
ment System has approved Creditable
Compensation Regulations for the purposes of calculating retirement benefits, and
ACSA aims to provide clarity to members
impacted by the changes.
The new regulations affect only those
CalSTRS members who earn 2 percent
at age 60 and were enrolled in the system
before Jan. 1, 2013. They do not apply to
members enrolled on or after Jan. 1, 2013.
The regulations are effective Jan. 1, 2015,
and in some instances may lower creditable
compensation for some administrators.
Following are
common questions
received by ACSA
and its legal experts
since the regulations were approved
on Sept. 4, 2014. However, it should be
noted that these matters are complex and
often very fact-dependent. ACSA encourages its members to seek legal counsel
before making bargaining changes to compensation with teachers unions or restruc-
turing administrator contracts based on the
information below.
Q: What does “class of employees” mean?
A:
Under the Teacher’s Retirement
Law, compensation must be paid the same
throughout a class of employees.
A class of employees can generally be
described as a group of employees performing similar duties, employed in the same
type of educational program or sharing
similarities related to the nature of the work
they perform. The new creditable compensation regulations provide guidance on the
See CalSTRS, page 8
Commitment builds for ensuring equity
ACSA’s Equity, Achievement and
Diversity for Success Committee has been
busy working to ensure all students have
equal opportunities to succeed.
The EADS Committee has long advocated for an education system where all
students are held to high standards and have
access to rigorous curriculum and quality
instruction supported by practices and policies that lead to excellent delivery of services
for all students.
To that end, the committee, in partnership with ACSA Diversity and Equal
Access Executive Nicole Anderson, has
developed an action plan to make those
goals a reality.
The Equity and Diversity SMART
Goals/Action Plan was created to “bring to
life” the 2005 ACSA Equity Position Paper,
said EADS Committee Chair Kimberly
Hendricks, director of Accountability and
Assessment at Moreno Valley USD.
“As a committee we wanted to ensure
This graphic has been used by school districts to convey the difference between treating people equally
and treating them with equity as an outcome.
that the equity work continued after our
terms,” she said. “We believed it would only
continue if we created a document that was
updated, monitored and revised annually.”
The SMART goals – Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time
Oriented – support ACSA’s beliefs on equi-
ty and achievement and have been created around the focus areas outlined in the
position paper. The focus areas include the
following:
• Membership: Recruitment, Hiring
and Coaching/Mentoring.
• Community
Engagement
and
Relationships.
• Professional Learning and Leadership.
• Standards-based Curriculum and
Assessment.
• Resources and Support Structures.
• Best Practices.
• Communication.
Hendricks said the action plan is aligned
with ACSA’s mission, which states ACSA
will be the driving force of education in
California and beyond. Because California
is a diverse state, equity must be at the forefront in order to ensure academic success for
all students.
“This work is important to public eduSee EQUITY, page 2
Linked Learning transforming Oxnard academies
Students in Oxnard Union High School District are learning the real-world
skills they need for career success through Linked Learning academies, supported by a $6 million grant from the California Career Pathways Trust.
“We are transforming the high school experience for the 21st century learner
in order to prepare students for college and careers leading to a more skilled
workforce,” said Superintendent Gabe Soumakian.
The Linked Learning academy model provides OUHSD with the most
complete curriculum resources, work-based learning, and professional development through the National Academy Foundation. NAF supported OUHSD
to expand from 12 to 22 academies, the most in a single district in California.
The California Career Pathways Trust competitive grant was created in the
2014 state budget and is overseen by the California Department of Education.
The Alliance for Linked Learning grew from the Pathways Grant as a collaborative project of OUHSD and the Ventura County Civic Alliance.
The Linked Learning alliance held a recent program launch at Rio Mesa
High School that was attended by 250 education business and community leaders. Included in the event were tours of academies, information booths and a
display by the PBS show “Road Trip Nation.”
Those in attendance witnessed the transformation of the high school redesign
efforts. Business partners supporting the grant were acknowledged, including
See OXNARD, page 10
Arts conference. Educators are
invited to sign up for California’s inaugural Arts, Media and Entertainment
(AME) Leadership Institute, set for
April 7-8 in San Diego. The event is
an opportunity for teachers, administrators and industry professionals
to share strategies on how to better
prepare students for careers in AME –
the state’s fastest growing industries.
Learn more at www.ca-ameschools.
net/#!events/c1y52. There is room for
only 100 participants.
Summer food sponsors. State
Superintendent of Public In