Governor Brown Signs SB 621 Ensuring Exempt Part-Time Teachers in Private Schools Receive Fair Pay

July 21, 2017

SACRAMENTO - Today, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 621 into law. Senator Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) introduced SB 621 to make certain that part-time teachers in private schools receive their justly-deserved compensation at the same rate as full-time teachers.

“I am pleased that California teachers working part-time for private schools will receive fair pay,” said Bradford.

Last year, Assembly Bill 2230 (Chu) established a new salary standard for designating private school teachers as exempt employees. AB 2230 provided that full-time private school teachers must earn a baseline salary that is measured by paying them whichever is the greater of either 100 percent of the lowest salary for their position offered by any school district in the state, or 70 percent of the lowest salary offered for their position by the school district or county in which their private institution is located.

The problem is, these designations left uncertainty regarding implementation, especially concerning the status of part-time private school teachers, whose pay standards were not addressed. This overlooks a large and vital group of educators in California who also deserve equitable pay standards.

SB 621 ensures that part-time teachers in private schools are treated fairly by guaranteeing that they are paid by the same proportional salary standards as their full-time colleagues.

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Senator Bradford represents the Los Angeles County communities of Carson, Compton, West Compton, Gardena, Harbor City, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lennox, West Carson, Watts, Willowbrook, and Wilmington.