Existing law establishes the State Board of Education and requires the state board to study educational conditions and needs of the state and to make plans for the improvement of the administration and efficiency of the public schools of the state. Existing law establishes the State Department of Education under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and assigns to the department numerous responsibilities relating to the governance of the public elementary and secondary schools in the state. This bill would require a working group, proposed to be established by Assembly Bill 2225 of the 2025–26 Regular Session, to include as part of a report to the Governor and the Legislature, proposed to be required by Assembly Bill 2225 of the 2025–26 Regular Session, recommendations for the development of a State of the Achievement Gap Dashboard that would be annually updated to assess the state in its progress towards closing pupil academic achievement gaps. The bill would require the recommendations to include, among other things, a series of specified proposed metrics, as provided. This bill would become operative only if AB 2225 of the 2025–26 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2027, and adds Section 52090 to the Education Code.
Existing law establishes the State Council on Developmental Disabilities to, among other things, serve as the state planning council responsible for developing the California Developmental Disabilities State Plan and monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the plan. Existing law requires the council to conduct activities related to meeting the objectives of the state plan. Existing law requires these activities to include, among other things, supporting and conducting technical assistance activities to assist public and private entities to contribute to the objectives of the state plan, and authorizes the activities to include, among other things, supporting and conducting activities to assist neighborhoods and communities to respond positively to individuals with disabilities and their families. This bill would require the council to establish and administer a Statewide Special Education Parent Advocacy Collaborative to build statewide capacity for parent and pupil engagement in special education advocacy, systems change, and policy development. The bill would require the council to conduct a competitive grant process to award $800,000 annually for 3 fiscal years to a statewide advocacy organization. The bill would require the selected grantee to conduct outreach and training through meetings or forums to provide information on statewide special education advocacy, as specified. The bill would also require the grantee to, among other things, (1) identify key challenges and opportunities in state policy relating to improving outcomes for pupils with disabilities, (2) establish and facilitate a statewide collaborative of parents, pupils, and stakeholders to build advocacy and leadership skills for state-level advocacy, and (3) establish measurable outcomes aligned with statewide accountability systems, as provided. The bill would require the grantee to submit an annual report to the council and would require the council to submit a report, on or before December 31, 2030, to the Legislature and the Governor that includes the outcomes achieved, as provided. The bill would make these provisions contingent upon an appropriation for these purposes.
Existing law establishes the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence to advise and assist school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools in achieving their local control and accountability plan goals. Existing law requires a local educational agency to exempt an individual with exceptional needs who satisfies specific eligibility criteria from all courses and other requirements adopted by the governing board or body of the local educational agency that are additional to the statewide course requirements and to award the pupil a diploma of graduation from high school, as provided. The bill would, subject to an appropriation, require the State Department of Education and the collaborative to, on or before July 1, 2027, establish a statewide resource focused on establishing alternate pathways to a diploma for individuals with exceptional needs through capacity building within the state's system of support, training, and technical assistance.
Existing law establishes the State Board of Education and requires the state board to study educational conditions and needs of the state and to make plans for the improvement of the administration and efficiency of the public schools of the state. Existing law establishes the State Department of Education under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and assigns to the department numerous responsibilities relating to the governance of the public elementary and secondary schools in the state. This bill would establish the Closing the Achievement Gap Commission as an advisory body to the state board. The bill would require the membership of the commission to consist of 17 voting members and one nonvoting member with an advisory vote, as provided. The bill would require 11 members of the commission to be appointed by the Governor and one member each to be appointed by the President pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the Assembly, pursuant to a specified application process and would require those members to reflect geographic, demographic, and local educational agency-type diversity. The bill would limit members appointed to the commission to one 4-year term, as provided. The bill would require the commission to annually elect a chair and vice chair and meet at least 2 times annually in the first year after its creation, and as needed thereafter, at the call of the chair or the state board. The bill would require the commission to, among other things, continually assess the extent to which there are gaps in state support for local educational agencies in their efforts to close achievement gaps. The bill would require the commission, on or before December 1, 2028, and every 2 years thereafter, to submit a report to the Governor, the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, the state board, and the department with recommendations and proposed actions that the state can take to help and support local educational agencies in closing the achievement gap. The bill would require the state board to consider those reports as an agenda item at a regularly scheduled public meeting or as provided and would require the department to post those reports on the department's internet website. This bill would become operative only if AB 2225 of the 2025–26 Regular Session is enacted and takes effect on or before January 1, 2027, and adds Section 52090 to the Education Code.
Existing law establishes the California Serves Program under the administration of the State Department of Education, in collaboration with CaliforniaVolunteers, for purposes of promoting access to effective service learning for pupils in grade 12 who are enrolled at participating local educational agencies. Existing law requires the department, in partnership with CaliforniaVolunteers, to review available evidence on ways to incorporate effective service learning for pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, and provide recommendations to the Legislature on, and post on the department's and CaliforniaVolunteers' internet websites information related to, evidence-based strategies to expand access to high-quality service learning programs, as provided. Existing law, commencing with the 2022–23 fiscal year, appropriates $5,000,000 from the General Fund, each fiscal year, to the department to award grants of up to $500,000 annually to local educational agencies in which at least 55% of enrolled pupils are unduplicated pupils, as defined, to be used for, among other things, the purchase of instructional materials and participation and personnel costs, as provided. This bill would expand the California Serves Program to promote access to effective service learning for pupils in grades 6 to 12, inclusive, who are enrolled at participating local educational agencies. By expanding the purposes of ongoing appropriations, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the department, in partnership with CaliforniaVolunteers, on or before January 1, 2028, to (1) review available evidence on ways to incorporate effective service learning for pupils in grades 6 to 12, inclusive, and (2) provide recommendations to the Legislature on, and post on the department's and CaliforniaVolunteers' internet website information related to, evidence-based strategies to expand access to high-quality service learning programs for grades 6 to 12, inclusive, as provided.
Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law establishes various programs for the recruitment of teachers. Existing law establishes the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program, administered by the State Department of Education in consultation with the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, for teachers seeking to provide instruction in bilingual and multilingual settings. This bill, which would be operative upon appropriation by the Legislature, would establish the Pathways to Bilingual Teaching Program and would require the commission to develop and implement a program to award, on a competitive basis, grants of up to $600,000 to local educational agencies to form consortia with 4-year institutions of higher education, or 4-year institutions of higher education and community colleges, to establish or expand pathways to bilingual teaching to enable bilingual pupils to earn a multiple subject, single subject, PK-3 early childhood education specialist, or education specialist teaching credential, with a bilingual authorization, as provided. The bill would require the commission to annually report to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on any grants funded until funds are fully expended, as specified.
Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary education in this state. Under this system, local educational agencies throughout the state provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and existing law establishes courses of study for those pupils. This bill would encourage school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to integrate outdoor learning into standards-aligned instruction across all grades and subject areas, as provided. Existing law establishes the State Department of Education under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and assigns the department numerous duties relating to the governance and funding of local educational agencies. This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2028, to curate and maintain on its internet website resources for educators on outdoor learning. The bill would also encourage the department, in carrying out these provisions, to consult with county offices of education, classroom educators, tribal partners, mental and physical health professionals and researchers, environmental literacy experts, and community organizations with experience in outdoor learning. The bill would authorize the department to provide resources to address the particular needs of each local educational agency. The bill would authorize the department to accept voluntary contributions to be deposited into the Outdoor Learning and Environmental Literacy Account, which the bill would create in the State Treasury, to fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the costs of these provisions.
Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to give diligent care to the health and physical development of pupils and authorizes the governing board of a school district to employ properly certified persons for this purpose. Existing law requires a school of a school district or county office of education and a charter school to notify pupils and parents or guardians of pupils no less than twice during the school year on how to initiate access to available pupil mental health services on campus or in the community, or both, as provided. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2027, the State Department of Education to enter into a contract with one or more local educational agencies with capacity and established expertise, as provided, to serve as lead entities in providing support for the implementation of integrated, universal social-emotional learning, behavioral health, and restorative practices for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2028, the lead entities, selected pursuant to a competitive process, to make available guidance, resources, and technical assistance to local educational agencies to expand the statewide implementation of integrated, universal social-emotional learning, behavioral health, and restorative practices, as provided. The bill would make the implementation of these provisions contingent upon an appropriation, as provided.
Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools operated and maintained by local educational agencies throughout the state. Existing law establishes the State Department of Education in state government, and vests the department with specified powers and duties relating to the state's public school system. This bill would require the department to establish a California Excellence in Service Learning Designation Program to publicly recognize and designate schoolsites, as defined, that meet certain requirements related to service learning, as provided. The bill would require the department to develop an annual application process and adopt application criteria for the California Excellence in Service Learning Designation Program, as specified, and would require a California Excellence in Service Learning designation to be valid for 3 years, after which a schoolsite seeking to renew its designation would be required to reapply pursuant to a renewal process and criteria determined by the department.
Existing law establishes the State Department of Education in state government, and vests the department with specified powers and duties relating to the state's public school system. Existing law declares the policy of the state to ensure that all local educational agencies work to reduce violence, improve pupil safety at schools, and improve the connections between pupils and supportive adults, schools, and communities. This bill would require the department, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, to establish and administer the Violence Prevention, Pupil Wellness, and School Safety Grant Program to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, award grants to eligible school districts, county offices of education, or charter schools for evidence-based violence prevention, pupil wellness, and public safety initiatives, as specified. The bill would require the department to consult with representatives of the office, local educational agencies, county behavioral health departments, community-based organizations, and public safety agencies when it develops guidelines for the program. The bill would require each grant recipient to submit findings to the department on the effectiveness of its activities funded by the grant and would require the department to use those findings to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature on or before January 1, 2029, evaluating the effectiveness of the grant program and providing recommendations regarding violence prevention, pupil wellness, school safety, and behavioral health investments.
