An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 3 – Hiring

The background investigator should ask follow up questions of the current or former employer, and possibly, the applicant, if the examiner is uncertain about any information, including records in a personnel file or responses from the current or former employer. 6. V ERIFY E DUCATION , L ICENSES , A ND C ERTIFICATIONS If the job position has specific educational requirements, the background investigator should contact the college, university or trade school identified on the application. A school should verify that the candidate actually achieved the required degree in the required subject matter and the applicable date. Requiring that the applicant provide an official transcript is a common and recommended practice for doing so. If the candidate is applying for a position which requires a special license or certification, the school should contact the pertinent licensing/certification school to verify whether the applicant’s license or certification is still valid, whether it has ever been suspended or revoked, and if so, why. Schools may verify licenses and certifications by accessing the Internet and/or calling the pertinent agencies. Some helpful websites are:

 Commission on Teacher Credentialing: http://educator.ctc.ca.gov/  National Board of Certified Teachers: http://www.nbpts.org/  Board of Behavioral Sciences (social workers, therapists, educational psychologists): http://www.bbs.ca.gov/  State Bar of California: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/  California Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors: http://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/  Department of Consumer Affairs, California Architects Board: http://www.cab.ca.gov/consumers/license_verification.shtml  Contractors State License Board: http://www.cslb.ca.gov/

Schools should check the Commission on Teacher Credentialing website when running a background check on teachers with credentials. (http://educator.ctc.ca.gov/) If a teacher has had a credential revoked, or if he or she was investigated for misconduct, the website would reflect that.

LCW Practice Advisor

E. C REDIT C HECKS /C ONSUMER R EPORTS The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) 130 and the California Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act 131 restrict the acquisition and use of credit history information about applicants and employees as follows:  The scope of any credit history inquiries should be job related. 132

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 61