(a) The Superintendent shall identify and invite school districts and chartering authorities that have eligible schools to participate in the program established under this article.

(b) The Superintendent shall notify school districts and chartering authorities at the earliest possible date of all of the following:

(1) Schoolsites in the district or of a chartering authority that are eligible to receive funding pursuant to this article.

(2) The program and accountability requirements for schools that receive funding pursuant to this article.

(3) The deadlines for the submission of documents necessary to receive funding pursuant to this article.

(4) Any other information the Superintendent deems necessary to implement this article.

(c) The Superintendent shall specify the manner in which school districts and chartering authorities shall submit applications to receive funding pursuant to this article. It is the intent of the Legislature that this submission process be as simple as possible, use easily available data, and include the requirements of this article.

(d) On or before June 30, 2007, the Superintendent, in consultation with interested parties, shall develop a uniform process that can be used to calculate average experience for purposes of reporting, analyzing, or evaluating the distribution of classroom teaching experience in grades, schoolsites, or subjects across the district. The uniform process shall include an index that uses the 2005–06 California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) Professional Assignment Information Form (PAIF), including any necessary corrections, as the base-reporting year to evaluate annual improvements of the funded schools toward balancing the index of teaching experience. The index shall be approved by the Superintendent. The uniform process shall designate teaching experience beyond 10 years as 10 years.

(e) The Superintendent shall make applications submitted pursuant to subdivision (c) available for review by the president of the state board or his or her designee. The Superintendent, and the president of the state board or his or her designee, shall review the applications and select the schools for recommendation to the state board within 30 days after the date the application is submitted to the Superintendent.

(f) After reviewing applications submitted pursuant to subdivision (c), the Superintendent and the president of the state board or his or her designee, jointly shall submit the recommendations for schools to be funded to the state board for approval. The recommendations shall ensure a wide geographic distribution of funded schools across urban, rural, and suburban areas of the state. Schools selected should also represent a diverse distribution of grade levels. If the Superintendent and the president of the state board or his or her designee cannot complete the review and recommendation process in the time provided, the Superintendent shall submit recommendations to the state board.

(g) To the maximum extent possible the Superintendent and the state board shall recommend and approve sufficient schools to use all available funds. A school selected in the first year shall continue in the program unless it is terminated pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 52055.740, it declines to participate, or there is evidence of fraud or fiscal irregularities.

(h) In approving the recommendations for funding from the Superintendent and the president of the state board or his or her designee, the state board also shall verify that the funded schools represent the required balance, geographic distribution, and diverse distribution of grade levels.

(i) The Superintendent shall perform the duties of a county superintendent of schools pursuant to this article for funded schools in those counties in which a single school district operates. The Superintendent may delegate this responsibility to a county superintendent of schools in the region in which the single district county is located.

(j) The Superintendent and the president of the state board or his or her designee may select not more than two county offices of education to provide regional technical support, document best practices, and provide information regarding those practices and other support information to schools, school districts, and chartering authorities. It is the intent of the Legislature that these activities be merged to the maximum extent feasible with other state and federally funded activities with similar requirements.

(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 347, Sec. 24. (SB 942) Effective January 1, 2012.)