Redondo Beach USD Joins LA Early Education Training Program

REDONDO BEACH, CA — Redondo Beach Unified School District is among several local districts working to meet the increased teacher demand created by universal transitional kindergarten.

The Las Virgenes Unified School District is helping local schools meet the anticipated demand following Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent decision to make transitional kindergarten universally available to young learners across the state.

The district hit the ground running with Newsom's October announcement piloting an Early Childhood Educator Permit Program in partnership with 14 other local school districts, including Manhattan Beach; Redondo Beach; Glendale; Lawndale Elementary; Twin Rivers; Conejo Valley; Moorpark; Simi Valley; Wiseburn; Imperial County; Beverly Hills; La Canada; El Segundo; and Palos Verdes Peninsula.

The program will help already credentialed teachers obtain the additional permit necessary to teach transitional kindergarten, according to Ryan Gleason, LVUSD's Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services.

The first cohort will begin in June 2022. Once permitted, teachers can teach anywhere in California.

The goal of the program is to get ahead of an anticipated workforce shortage with the incoming transitional kindergarten demand, Gleason said.

Newsom's decision will necessitate 11,000 additional teachers and 25,000 additional teacher assistants across the state, which has left school districts scrambling, according to CalMatters. Districts will vie for state grant funding opportunities to provide teacher training similar to LVUSD's permit program.

"If we don't find creative and innovative solutions that create broader access [to training] with high quality, we are going to be a victim of that workforce shortage that is looming. We developed these programs, the [Early Childhood Education] permit being one of them, to always be on the leading edge of a trend that is several years away," Gleason said.

LVUSD was uniquely postured to provide such a program; the district already offers three accredited credential programs, which is unique for a school district, Gleason said. This means all the infrastructure was already in place to make the Early Childhood Education permit program happen quickly.

Partnering with so many local districts, though, offers logistical and other benefits, Gleason said. The partnerships are partially logistically motivated to make a more competitive application for statewide grant funding and maintain a high quality program.

"What the partner brings is their thoughts — they help us recruit faculty for the program that are well qualified and leaders in this area. They [also] join with us on a consortia grant application, and we work together to evaluate the quality of the program based on the preparation of candidates that graduate from our center," Gleason said.

Having such a broad range of schools represented in the program will also produce more well-rounded teachers and a more robust program, he said.

"When every district in the state is working towards the same goal, which is quality early childhood education, a partnership of multiple districts provides a more diverse experience for anyone being developed to teach in that setting," Gleason said. He added: "When we work together and not in silos, everyone benefits and ultimately kids benefit."

"We continue to be innovative as we grow the capacity of our staff so that our students excel," LVUSD Superintendent Dan Stepenosky said.