California Education Code CHAPTER 2 - Definitions

Section 22100.
Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions set forth in this chapter govern the construction of this part.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933,...
Section 22101.
“Accumulated annuity deposit contributions” means the sum of all the annuity deposits standing to the credit of the member’s account, together with credited interest.(Repealed and...
Section 22101.5.
“Accumulated Defined Benefit Supplement account balance” means the amount of credits equal to the sum of member contributions, the member contributions picked up by an...
Section 22102.
“Accumulated retirement contributions” means the sum of the member contributions, the member contributions picked up by an employer pursuant to Sections 22903 and 22904, and...
Section 22103.
“Accumulated tax-sheltered annuity contributions” means the tax-sheltered contributions made by a member and standing to the credit of the member’s account, together with credited interest.(Repealed...
Section 22104.
“Actuarial equivalent” means an allowance of equal value when computed upon the basis of such tables and interest rates that are adopted by the board.(Repealed...
Section 22104.5.
“Actuary” means a person professionally trained in the technical and mathematical aspects of insurance, pensions, and related fields who has been appointed by the board...
Section 22104.7.
“Additional earnings credit” means an amount derived from investment income for the plan year as determined by the board by plan amendment and added to...
Section 22104.9.
“Annuitant Reserve” means a segregated account within the retirement fund established and maintained for expenditure on annuities payable under the Defined Benefit Supplement Program.(Added by...
Section 22105.
(a) “Annuity,” with respect to the Defined Benefit Program, means payments for life derived from the “accumulated annuity deposit contributions” of a member.(b) “Annuity,” with respect to...
Section 22105.5.
“Annuity beneficiary” means the person or trust designated by a member pursuant to Section 25011, 25011.1, 25018, or 25018.1 to receive an annuity under the...
Section 22106.
“Annuity deposit contributions” means additional contributions made by a member prior to July 1, 1972, above those required for credited service for the purpose of...
Section 22106.1.
For the purposes of determining supplemental benefits pursuant to Sections 24412 and 24415, except as provided under Section 24410, “base allowance” means a monthly allowance...
Section 22106.2.
“Base days” means the number of days of creditable service required to earn one year of service credit.(Added by renumbering Section 22106.1 by Stats. 2014,...
Section 22106.3.
“Base hours” means the number of hours of creditable service required to earn one year of service credit.(Added by renumbering Section 22106.2 by Stats. 2014,...
Section 22106.5.
“Basis of employment” means the standard of time over which the employer expects service to be performed by an employee in the position during the...
Section 22107.
(a) “Beneficiary,” with respect to the Defined Benefit Program, means any person or entity receiving or entitled to receive an allowance or lump-sum payment under the...
Section 22108.
(a) “Benefit” or “benefits,” with respect to the Defined Benefit Program, means any monthly payment due a retired member, disabled member, or beneficiary, and includes lump-sum...
Section 22109.
“Board” means the Teachers’ Retirement Board.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933, Sec. 3. Effective September 28, 1994.)
Section 22109.8.
“California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013” means the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 (Article 4 (commencing with Section 7522) of...
Section 22110.
“California service” means service performed in California for which credit may be given.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933, Sec. 3. Effective September 28,
Section 22110.1.
“Cash Balance Benefit Program” means the benefit program of the State Teachers’ Retirement Plan as set forth in Part 14 (commencing with Section 26000).(Amended by...
Section 22110.2.
“Credential,” “credentials,” and “certificate” mean any life diploma, credential, certificate, or other document provided for, by, and issued pursuant to the laws of the state...
Section 22110.5.
“Certificated” means the holding by a person of a credential that is required by the laws of the state to be held as a condition...
Section 22111.
“Child’s portion” or “children’s portion” means the amount of a disability allowance, disability retirement allowance, family allowance, or survivor benefit allowance payable for a dependent...
Section 22112.5.
(a) “Class of employees” means a number of employees considered as a group because they are employed to perform similar duties, are employed in the same...
Section 22112.6.
Notwithstanding Section 22112.5, any county office of education that, prior to January 1, 1997, operated a special education program for up to 225 days, and...
Section 22113.
“Comparable level position” means any job in which the member can earn 662/3 percent or more of indexed final compensation.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994,...
Section 22115.
(a) “Compensation earnable” means the creditable compensation a person could earn in a school year for creditable service performed on a full-time basis, excluding service for...
Section 22115.2.
“Concurrent membership” means membership in the Defined Benefit Program by an individual who is credited with service that is not used as a basis for...
Section 22115.5.
(a) “Concurrent retirement” entitles a member of the Defined Benefit Program to retire for service from the State Teachers’ Retirement System and from at least one...
Section 22117.
“Contribution rate for additional service credit” means the contribution rate adopted by the board as a plan amendment with respect to the Defined Benefit Program...
Section 22118.
“County” includes “city and county.”(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933, Sec. 3. Effective September 28, 1994.)
Section 22119.
“County superintendent” means the county superintendent of schools.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933, Sec. 3. Effective September 28, 1994.)
Section 22119.2.
(a) “Creditable compensation” means remuneration that is paid in cash by an employer to all persons in the same class of employees for performing creditable service...
Section 22119.3.
(a) “Creditable compensation” for members who are subject to the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013 means remuneration that is paid each pay period...
Section 22119.5.
(a) “Creditable service” means any of the activities described in subdivision (b) performed for any of the following employers:(1) A prekindergarten through grade 12 employer, including the...
Section 22119.6.
(a) Creditable service shall also include any activities that do not meet the definition of creditable service under Section 22119.5, but were performed for any employer,...
Section 22120.
“Credited interest” means interest that is credited to active members’ and inactive members’ accumulated retirement contributions and accumulated annuity deposit contributions at a rate set...
Section 22121.
(a) “Credited service” means service for which the required contributions have been paid and service for which required contributions would have been paid in absence of...
Section 22122.
“Custodian” as used in Section 22359, means any bank or trust company that serves as custodian for safekeeping, delivery, securities valuation, investment performance reporting, and...
Section 22122.4.
“Death payment” means the amount payable upon the death of a member pursuant to Section 23801, 23851, or 23880.(Added by Stats. 1996, Ch. 634, Sec....
Section 22122.5.
“Defined Benefit Program” means the Defined Benefit Program provided in the State Teachers’ Retirement Plan as set forth in this part.(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch....
Section 22122.7.
“Defined Benefit Supplement contributions” means member contributions and employer contributions that are credited by the system to the member’s Defined Benefit Supplement account pursuant to...
Section 22123.
(a) “Dependent child” or “dependent children” under the disability allowance and family allowance programs means a member’s unmarried offspring or stepchild who is under 22 years...
Section 22123.5.
(a) “Dependent child” or “dependent children” under the disability retirement and survivor benefit allowance programs means a member’s offspring or stepchild who is under 21 years...
Section 22124.
“Dependent parent” means a natural parent of a member, or a parent who adopted the member prior to the earlier of the occurrence of the...
Section 22126.
“Disability” or “disabled” means any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that is permanent or that can be expected to last continuously for at least...
Section 22127.
“Disability allowance” means the amount payable to a disabled member on a monthly basis.(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 634, Sec. 17. Effective January 1, 1997.)
Section 22127.2.
“Disability benefit” means the amount payable under the Defined Benefit Supplement Program based on the balance of credits in a member’s Defined Benefit Supplement account...
Section 22128.
“Early retirement” and “early retirement age” mean the age of 55 years, which is the age upon attainment of which the member becomes eligible under...
Section 22129.
“Educational institution” means any accredited public or private institution whose primary purpose is to provide classroom teaching and includes a high school, trade or vocational...
Section 22130.
“Effective date” means the date upon which the benefit becomes payable.(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 634, Sec. 20. Effective January 1, 1997.)
Section 22131.
(a) (1) “Employer” or “employing agency” means the state or any agency or political subdivision thereof, including, but not limited to, a joint powers authority, for which...
Section 22132.
“Employed” or “employment” means employment to perform creditable service subject to coverage under the Defined Benefit Program or the Defined Benefit Supplement Program, except as...
Section 22133.
“Family allowance” means amounts payable to eligible survivors provided pursuant to Chapter 22 (commencing with Section 23800) after June 30, 1972.(Repealed and added by Stats....
Section 22133.5.
“Final benefit” means the amount payable to a beneficiary under the Defined Benefit Supplement Program upon the death of the member.(Added by Stats. 2000, Ch....
Section 22134.
(a) “Final compensation” means the highest average annual compensation earnable, as defined by Section 22115, by a member during any period of 36 consecutive months of...
Section 22134.5.
(a) Notwithstanding Section 22134, “final compensation” means the highest average annual compensation earnable, as defined in Section 22115, by a member during any period of 12...
Section 22135.
(a) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 22134, “final compensation” means the highest average annual compensation earnable, as defined by Section 22115, by an active member who...
Section 22137.
With respect to a state employee member who dies or retires on or after July 1, 1991, and who was a managerial or supervisory employee,...
Section 22138.
“Final vesting” means the right of a member or a beneficiary to receive a monthly retirement allowance, disability allowance, a family benefit, or survivor benefits...
Section 22138.5.
(a) (1) “Full time” means the days or hours of creditable service the employer requires to be performed by a class of employees in a school year...
Section 22138.6.
“Full-time equivalent” means the days or hours of creditable service that a person who is employed on a part-time basis would be required to perform...
Section 22139.5.
“Gain and Loss Reserve” means a segregated account within the retirement fund that is established and maintained to do either of the following:(a) Credit interest to...
Section 22140.
(a) “Improvement factor,” with respect to the Defined Benefit Program, means an increase of 2 percent in monthly allowances. The improvement factor shall be added to...
Section 22141.
(a) Notwithstanding Section 22140, “improvement factor” means an increase of 2 percent in benefits provided under Sections 24408 and 24409 for each year commencing September...
Section 22142.
“Indexed final compensation” means final compensation upon which a disability allowance or disability retirement allowance was based, adjusted annually from the school year in which...
Section 22143.
“Investment manager” and “investment adviser” mean any person, firm, or custodian referred to in Section 22359, either appointed by or under contract with the board...
Section 22144.
“Investment transactions” means investment services of an asset management or investment advisory nature and may include advisory services, research material, trading assistance, trading expenses, discretionary...
Section 22144.3.
“Leave of absence” means a period of leave to which a member is entitled that is expressly authorized or required by Chapter 4 (commencing with...
Section 22144.5.
“Liability gains and losses” means the difference between actual noninvestment related experience and the experience expected based upon a set of noninvestment related actuarial assumptions...
Section 22145.
“Local system” means any retirement system, exclusive of this system, in which public school teachers are members, operated by a city, county, or other political...
Section 22146.
“Member” means any person, unless excluded under other provisions of this part, who has performed creditable service as defined in Section 22119.5 or 22119.6 and...
Section 22146.2.
(a) Notwithstanding subdivision (f) of Section 7522.04 of the Government Code, “member subject to the California Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013” means a person...
Section 22146.5.
“Membership” means membership in the Defined Benefit Program, except as otherwise specifically provided in this part.(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 965, Sec. 8. Effective January...
Section 22146.7.
“Minimum interest rate” means the annual interest rate determined by the board by plan amendment at which interest shall be credited to Defined Benefit Supplement...
Section 22146.7.a.
“Minimum interest rate” means the annual interest rate determined by the board by plan amendment at which interest shall be credited to Defined Benefit Supplement...
Section 22147.
(a) “Month” means 20 working days or four weeks of five working days each, including legal holidays, with respect to the computation and crediting of service.(b) “Month,”...
Section 22147.5.
“Nonqualified service” means any time during which a member did not perform creditable service subject to coverage by the plan. Nonqualified service shall not include...
Section 22148.
“Normal retirement” and “normal retirement age” mean 60 years of age, or 62 years of age for a member subject to the California Public Employees’...
Section 22149.
(a) “Option beneficiary” means the person or trust designated by a member to receive a retirement allowance under the Defined Benefit Program upon the member’s death.(b) For...
Section 22150.
“Other public systems” means any of the following:(a) Old age, survivors, disability, and health insurance program, other than the lump-sum death payment, provided by the Social...
Section 22151.
“Overtime” means the aggregate creditable service in excess of one year (1.000) of creditable service that is performed by a member in a school year.(Amended...
Section 22152.
“Parent” means a natural parent of a member or a parent who adopted the member prior to his or her attainment of 18 years of...
Section 22154.
“Pay period” means a payroll period of not less than four weeks or more than one calendar month.(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 965, Sec. 11....
Section 22155.
“Payroll” includes registers, warrants, and any other documents upon which the employer identifies persons to whom compensation is paid.(Amended by Stats. 1997, Ch. 482, Sec....
Section 22155.5.
“Plan” means the State Teachers’ Retirement Plan.(Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 1048, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 1999.)
Section 22156.
“Plan vesting,” with respect to benefits payable under the Defined Benefit Program, means the member has met the credited service requirement for receipt of a...
Section 22156.05.
“Plan year” means the period of time beginning on July 1 of one calendar year and ending on June 30 of the following calendar year....
Section 22156.1.
“Present value,” for purposes of Section 22718, means the amount of money needed on the effective date of retirement to reimburse the system for the...
Section 22156.2.
“Present value factor,” for purposes of Section 22156.1, means an overall average rate based upon the demographics of members who recently retired under the Defined...
Section 22156.5.
“Prior year’s compensation earnable” means the compensation earnable for the most recent school year in which the member earned service credit that precedes the last...
Section 22157.
“Projected final compensation” means the final compensation used in computing the disability or family allowance increased by 2 percent, compounded annually to the earlier of...
Section 22158.
(a) “Projected service” means the sum of credited service plus the credited service that would have been earned for the school years during which a disability...
Section 22159.
“Proof of death” means providing to the system any evidence of death required by the system.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933, Sec. 3....
Section 22160.
“Provisional vesting” means the member has reached the minimum age requirement and has attained the credited service required under the Defined Benefit Program for eligibility...
Section 22160.5.
“Public employer” means a public employer as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 7522.04 of the Government Code.(Added by Stats. 2013, Ch. 559, Sec. 11....
Section 22161.
“Public school” means any day or evening elementary school, any day or evening secondary school, community college, technical school, kindergarten school, and prekindergarten school established...
Section 22161.3.
Qualified military service is military service as defined in Section 414(u) of Title 26 of the United States Code.(Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 703, Sec....
Section 22161.5.
“Refund” means the lump-sum return of a member’s accumulated retirement contributions under the Defined Benefit Program and does not include the balance of credits in...
Section 22162.
“Regular interest” means interest that is equal to the actuarially assumed rate of return on investments on assets of the Defined Benefit Program. The regular...
Section 22162.5.
“Regular meeting” means a meeting of the board held in accordance with a schedule of meetings that states the dates and places of the meetings...
Section 22163.
“Reinstatement” means the change in status with respect to the Defined Benefit Program under this part from a disabled or retired member to an active...
Section 22164.
“Replacement benefits program” means the program established pursuant to Chapter 27.5 (commencing with Section 24250) in compliance with the provisions of Section 415(m) of the...
Section 22164.5.
(a) “Retired member activities” means one or more activities identified in subdivision (b), (c), or (d) of Section 22119.5 or subdivision (b), (c), or (d) of...
Section 22165.
“Retirement” means termination of employment subject to coverage by the plan and a change in status from an inactive member, an active member, or a...
Section 22166.
“Retirement allowance” means the amount payable to a retired member or an option beneficiary on a monthly basis.(Amended by Stats. 1996, Ch. 634, Sec. 40....
Section 22166.5.
“Retirement benefit” means the amount payable under the Defined Benefit Supplement Program, based on the balance of credits in the member’s Defined Benefit Supplement account,...
Section 22167.
“Retirement fund” means the Teachers’ Retirement Fund.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933, Sec. 3. Effective September 28, 1994.)
Section 22168.
“Return on investments” means income received or receivable from the system’s investments.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933, Sec. 3. Effective September 28, 1994.)
Section 22168.5.
“School term” means a minimum period of 35 weeks beginning the first day and ending the last day creditable service is required to be performed...
Section 22169.
“School year” means the fiscal year or the academic year.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933, Sec. 3. Effective September 28, 1994.)
Section 22170.
“Service” means work performed for compensation in a position subject to coverage under the Defined Benefit Program, except as otherwise specifically provided in this part,...
Section 22170.5.
(a) “Sick leave days” means the number of days of accumulated and unused leave of absence for illness or injury.(b) “Basic sick leave day” means the equivalent...
Section 22171.
(a) “Spouse” means a person who was continuously married to the member for the period beginning at least 12 months prior to the death of the...
Section 22172.
“Survivor allowance” means the allowance provided for in Section 23804 as it read under the law in effect on June 30, 1972.(Repealed and added by...
Section 22173.
“Survivor benefit allowance” means the monthly allowance that a surviving spouse may elect to receive pursuant to Chapter 23 (commencing with Section 23850).(Repealed and added...
Section 22174.
“System” means the State Teachers’ Retirement System.(Repealed and added by Stats. 1994, Ch. 933, Sec. 3. Effective September 28, 1994.)
Section 22175.
“System’s headquarters office” means the office building established as the permanent headquarters facility for the system, pursuant to Section 22375. (Added by Stats. 2013, Ch....
Section 22176.
“Termination benefit” means a benefit equal in amount to the balance of credits in the member’s Defined Benefit Supplement account that is payable to the...
Section 22177.
(a) “Unfunded actuarial obligation,” with respect to the Defined Benefit Program, means that portion of the actuarial present value of benefits that is not provided for...

Last modified: October 22, 2018