Teachers: exchange programs: local educational agencies.

Existing law, the World Language Teacher Exchange and Recruitment Law of 1963, requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules and regulations under which teachers employed by California school districts may exchange positions with teachers in schools in other countries for a period of one year or less. Existing law requires the arrangements for the exchanges to be made through the State Department of Education and in cooperation with the teacher exchange programs administered by agencies of the federal government.

This bill would revise and recast those provisions by, among other things, (1) no longer requiring the state board to adopt regulations, (2) no longer requiring the department to administer the program or take actions necessary to carry out the program, (3) expressly providing for exchanges with Mexico and Spain, (4) expanding the authorized exchanges to include county offices of education and charter schools, (5) eliminating the one-year time limit on the exchanges, and (6) , if regulations are adopted, requiring those regulations to authorize specified visa sponsors designated by the United States Department of State to sponsor teachers from other countries, including Mexico and Spain, for placement in California school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to promote cultural exchange for specified purposes.