Education governance: Education Commissioner: reporting.

The bill now amends Section 1 of Chapter 66 of the Statutes of 2026, adding extensive legislative findings about California's fragmented education governance history (dating back to 1919) and requiring the Education Commissioner to develop findings and recommendations for a second phase of education governance consolidation and streamlining by October 1, 2027, with an interim report due June 30, 2027 and a follow-up progress report due October 1, 2028.

A new provision requires the Education Commissioner to submit a report by October 1, 2028 on progress toward implementing governance consolidation recommendations, including identification of state actions that can be consolidated or eliminated and recommendations for additional steps requiring statutory or budgetary authority.

The legislative intent was expanded to explicitly state the goal of streamlining state governance under the State Board of Education and empowering the Superintendent to foster alignment of education policies from early childhood through postsecondary education with new governing board roles and responsibilities.

The plan was renamed from 'Closing the Achievement Gap State Operations and Support State Education Alignment and Impact Plan' to simply 'State Education Alignment and Impact Plan,' shortening the title significantly throughout the bill.

The working group was reduced from 20 members to 6: it now consists only of the Speaker's designee, the President pro Tempore's designee, the State Board President's designee, the Education Commissioner's designee, the CHHS Secretary's designee, and the CTC Executive Director's designee. The Superintendent is no longer a member, all 13 locally appointed members (school board members, teachers, parents, county superintendents, charter school educators, etc.) were removed, and the CCEE Executive Director was removed.

The requirement for the Superintendent to select and contract with one or more research or nonprofit organizations to convene the working group was eliminated. The Superintendent now directly convenes the working group.

The requirement that the plan include 'recommendations for appropriate remedial action if the state does not meet those benchmarks and goals' was removed from the plan's required contents.

Provisions requiring the working group to elect a chair and vice chair, prohibiting member compensation (except travel reimbursement), and encouraging remote participation were all removed.

Key deadlines were changed: working group convening moved from July 1, 2027 to October 1, 2027; plan submission moved from March 1, 2028 to October 1, 2028; and the first legislative evaluation moved from September 1, 2028 to March 1, 2029.

The working group composition was restructured from a flat list of 19 members into 20 voting members with explicit appointment authority: 7 ex-officio members (Speaker, President pro Tempore, Superintendent, State Board President, CHHS Secretary, CTC Executive Director, CCEE executive director), 5 appointed by the Governor, 4 by the Senate Rules Committee, and 4 by the Speaker of the Assembly.

A new requirement was added that at the working group's first meeting, its first duty shall be to elect a chair and vice chair from among its members by a majority vote of the voting members.

The prohibition on the plan recommending new local requirements was significantly strengthened. The old version only stated the section would not require additional reports. The new version explicitly prohibits the plan from recommending either (A) new local educational agency mandates or new/revised local accountability structures, or (B) new requirements or additional reports beyond existing federal and state reporting requirements.

Several member categories were refined: 'One parent' became 'One parent of a public school pupil'; 'Two teachers' was split into one high school teacher (Governor) and one elementary or middle school teacher (Senate Rules); 'One school business official' became 'One school district chief business official' (Senate Rules); 'One traditional public school administrator or superintendent' was replaced by 'One school district superintendent' (Governor).

The bill text was reformatted from an official legislative document layout (with line numbers, page headers/footers, and traditional spacing) to a web-based presentation format with website navigation elements (home, accessibility, FAQ, search, version history links).

Website UI elements were added including navigation menus, quick search fields, bill tracking options, and version history links showing all amendment dates.

All major deadlines were pushed back: organization selection moved from March 1, 2027 to July 1, 2027; working group convening moved from April 1, 2027 to September 1, 2027; plan submission moved from December 1, 2027 to March 1, 2028; and legislative evaluation moved from March 1, 2028 to September 1, 2028.

The requirement that the Superintendent 'establish a competitive process to select' an organization was changed to simply 'select' one or more organizations, removing the competitive bidding requirement. The phrase 'in consultation with the department' was also removed from the selection process.

A new provision was added stating that working group members shall not be compensated for their service but may be reimbursed for travel costs, and that members are encouraged to participate in meetings remotely.

Seven specific education entity representatives were removed from the working group composition: California School Boards Association, Association of California School Administrators, California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, California State Parent Teacher Association, California Association of School Business Officials, and California School Employees Association. The California County Superintendents representative was also removed as a separate line item (though a county superintendent of schools remains).

The legislative oversight mechanism was significantly weakened: the Assembly Committee on Budget and Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review changed from being required ('shall hold a joint hearing') to merely 'encouraged to evaluate' the state's progress, removing the mandatory hearing requirement entirely.

Lead responsibility for establishing the competitive selection process shifted from the State Board of Education to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with approval of the state board's executive director.

Twelve new working group seats were added: one school district board member, one county board of education member, one traditional public school administrator or superintendent, two teachers, one parent, one school business official, one classified school employee, one county superintendent of schools, one charter school educator, one representative of a public school equity advocacy organization, one representative of a frontier school district with 2,500 or fewer pupils, and one special education local plan area administrator.

The plan's technical assistance definition was broadened from 'high-quality school district technical assistance' to 'high-quality school district local educational agency technical assistance,' extending the concept beyond school districts to include county offices and charter schools.

The contracted entity changed from a single organization to 'one or more research or nonprofit organizations,' broadening eligibility and allowing multiple contractors.

All major deadlines were pushed later: competitive process from March 1 to July 1, 2027; working group convening from April 1 to September 1, 2027; plan submission from December 1, 2027 to March 1, 2028; and the first joint legislative hearing from March 1 to September 1, 2028.

The joint legislative hearing requirement was softened from 'shall hold a joint hearing' to 'are encouraged to evaluate,' reducing the mandatory nature of legislative oversight.

A new subdivision (g) formally defines 'local educational agency' as a school district, county office of education, or charter school.