News Update

Governor signs executive easing restrictions on child care for essential workers and on teacher credential testing requirements

Governor Gavin Newsom has issued an executive order that waives certain requirements that restrict child care and afterschool programs from serving children of essential workers and that also allows people enrolled in teacher preparation programs during the 2019-20 school year to obtain their preliminary credential without a teaching performance assessment, if they were unable to complete that requirement due to a Covid-19 school closure.

“There remains an increased need for child care for families who may not have previously needed child care, or who may now require additional hours of child care,” the order signed May 29 states. It also notes that “individuals seeking to obtain teacher credentials have been unable to meet certain credentialing requirements, and it is necessary to provide flexibility to minimize the impacts to these individuals and the state’s supply of qualified teachers, while maintaining high teacher credentialing standards.”

Under the order, people otherwise eligible to obtain certain teaching or education specialist credentials or to enroll in teacher preparation programs are permitted to do so without passing certain assessments, if testing was suspended due to the statewide stay-at-home order.