Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, under the administration of community college district governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at the community college campuses they operate. Existing law establishes a statewide baccalaureate degree program that authorizes up to a total of 30 baccalaureate degree programs at community college districts to be approved per academic year, as provided. This bill would require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop a Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing Pilot Program that authorizes select community college districts to offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The bill would limit the pilot program to 10 community college districts statewide and would require the chancellor's office to identify and select eligible community college districts based on specified criteria. The bill would require the chancellor's office to develop a process designed to assist community college districts with nursing programs that are applying for national accreditation for the purpose of qualifying for the pilot program, as provided. The bill would require each participating community college district to give priority registration for enrollment in the pilot program to students with an associate degree in nursing from that community college district. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to conduct an evaluation of the pilot program to determine the effectiveness of the program and the need to continue or expand the program, as specified, to be submitted to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2034. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2036.
(1) The Equity in Higher Education Act states the policy of the state to afford all persons, regardless of their disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other specified characteristic, equal rights and opportunities in postsecondary educational institutions of the state. For purposes of the act, existing law defines "gender" as sex, including a person's gender identity and gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not stereotypically associated with the person's assigned sex at birth. This bill would explicitly add ancestry, national origin, medical condition, marital status, familial status, citizenship, and primary language to the list of specified characteristics for purposes of that policy. The bill would also expand the definition of "gender" for purposes of the act to include pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions. (2) The Equity in Higher Education Act prohibits a postsecondary educational institution from requiring a graduate student to take a leave of absence, withdraw from the graduate program, or limit their graduate studies solely due to pregnancy or pregnancy-related issues. The act requires a postsecondary educational institution to reasonably accommodate pregnant graduate students, as specified, so that they may complete their graduate courses of study and research, including by allowing graduate students to take a leave of absence, as specified. This bill would, commencing September 1, 2027, prohibit a postsecondary educational institution from discriminating against a student or applicant based on the actual or potential familial status or marital status of the student or applicant, or based on the student's or applicant's pregnancy or pregnancy-related conditions, including by prohibiting the institution from requiring a student to take a leave of absence or withdraw from an educational or extracurricular program or activity, and prohibiting the institution from limiting the student's undergraduate or graduate program. The bill would require a postsecondary educational institution to provide reasonable accommodations to an institutional program for a student, including an undergraduate student, experiencing pregnancy or a pregnancy-related condition to ensure the student's equal access to the institution's educational programs and activities, as provided. This bill would, commencing September 1, 2027, require a postsecondary educational institution to designate at least one employee to coordinate its efforts to comply with and carry out its responsibilities under these provisions, as specified, and require certain employees, upon being directly informed by a student of the student's pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, to inform the student of their right to receive reasonable accommodations to maintain access to the educational program and provide the student with the contact information for the designated employee or employees. (3) The Equity in Higher Education Act allows a graduate student who is pregnant or has recently given birth to take a leave of absence for a period consistent with the policies of the postsecondary educational institution, or a period of 12 months, whichever is longer, and have an extension of at least 12 months toward normative time to degree while in candidacy for a graduate degree, unless a longer extension is medically necessary, as specified. The act also allows a graduate student who is not the birth parent to take a leave of absence for a period consistent with the policies of the postsecondary educational institution, or a period of one month, whichever is longer, and have an extension of at least one month toward normative time to degree while in candidacy for a graduate degree, unless a longer extension is medically necessary to care for the student's partner or child, as specified. This bill would, commencing September 1, 2027, also allow any undergraduate student who is pregnant or has recently given birth or who is not the birth parent to take the above-described leave of absence and have an extension toward normative time to degree or certificate, as specified. (4) The Equity in Higher Education Act requires a postsecondary educational institution to have a written policy for graduate students on pregnancy discrimination and procedures for addressing pregnancy discrimination complaints, as specified. Existing law requires a copy of the policy to be made available to all graduate students attending orientation sessions at a postsecondary educational institution. Existing law requires a public postsecondary institution to post on the institution's internet website, and to provide through on-campus medical centers, notice of protections provided under Title IX, as specified. This bill would, commencing September 1, 2027, require a postsecondary educational institution to revise that policy to include undergraduate students, and require a copy of the revised policy to be made available to all students attending orientation sessions. The bill would also require a postsecondary educational institution to post on the institution's internet website, and provide through on-campus medical centers, notice of the protections provided by these provisions. This bill would require the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, on or before July 1, 2027, to adopt regulations for a systemwide policy that include the requirements of these provisions and best practices for implementing those requirements. The bill would require the governing board of each community college district, on or before September 1, 2027, to adopt those regulations, as provided. (5) By imposing additional duties on community college districts, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing federal law, known as Title IX, prohibits a person, on the basis of sex, from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subject to discrimination, which includes sexual harassment, under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Existing law requires, no later than January 1, 2022, except as specified, the governing board or body of a postsecondary educational institution that receives state financial assistance to provide students with procedural protections relating to complaints of sexual harassment, including the requirement to adopt and publish on its internet website grievance procedures providing for the prompt and equitable resolution of sexual harassment complaints filed by a student against an employee or another student. Existing law requires that the grievance procedures afford both student parties the opportunity to each have a support person or adviser accompany the student party during any stage of the process. This bill would instead require that the grievance procedures afford each student party the opportunity to have a support person and an advisor of their choice accompany the student party during any stage of the process, as specified. The bill would also require the governing board or body of a postsecondary educational institution that receives state financial assistance and state student financial aid to allow each complainant or respondent of a sexual harassment complaint to have a support person, in addition to an advisor, accompany the parties of a sexual harassment complaint during the grievance procedures that provide for the prompt and equitable resolution of sexual harassment complaints pursuant to the above-described procedural protections for students or Title IX, as specified. By imposing new duties on community college districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(1) Existing law establishes a single system for providing support to local educational agencies and schools and for specified federal educational programs. Existing law provides that the purpose of the statewide system of support is to build the capacity of local educational agencies, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Education and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence to establish a process, administered by the department, to select, subject to approval by the executive director of the State Board of Education, an expert lead agency based on specific expertise in an area of need to conduct activities and build statewide capacity to address that area of need within the statewide system of support, as well as geographic lead agencies for other specified purposes, as provided. This bill would require the department and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, through contracts or memoranda of understanding with one or 2 county offices of education, to administer the Supporting Inclusive Practices project. The bill would provide that the purposes of the project are, among others, to improve pupil outcomes by increasing opportunities for pupils with disabilities to access education in general education settings, as provided, and to support the educator workforce to serve pupils with disabilities. The bill would require the collaborative, as part of the project, to administer the universal support components, including providing technical assistance to local educational agencies and charter schools focused on supporting evidence-based practices to increase access by pupils with disabilities to education in general education settings. The bill would require the department, as part of the project, to administer the direct support components by deploying targeted technical assistance to support local educational agencies and charter schools, as provided. The bill would require the department and the collaborative to coordinate their respective components, including a shared referral process by which local educational agencies and charter schools receiving assistance from the collaborative may be referred to the department for direct support, as provided. (2) Existing law appropriates $15,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for allocation to the Riverside County Office of Education and the El Dorado County Office of Education in equal amounts in support of the Supporting Inclusive Practices project, as provided. Existing law also appropriates, for the 2026–27 fiscal year, $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the department for allocation to the Riverside County Office of Education and the El Dorado County Office of Education in equal amounts in support of the Supporting Inclusive Practices project, as provided. Existing law requires the Riverside County Office of Education and the El Dorado County Office of Education to submit an expenditure plan to the State Department of Education on or before August 1 of each year that funding is made available, and requires the Supporting Inclusive Practices project to submit a report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction on or before June 30 of each year until the appropriated funds have been fully expended, as provided. This bill would revise those provisions by (A) instead appropriating the $30,000,000 to the department for allocation to the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence for allocation to only the El Dorado County Office of Education for the purposes of implementing the requirements described above in paragraph (1) on behalf of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and (B) limiting those expenditure plan and reporting requirements only for purposes of the $15,000,000 appropriation. By changing the terms of a previous appropriation, the bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law establishes uniform residency requirements for purposes of ascertaining the amount of tuition and fees to be paid by students of public postsecondary educational institutions. Existing law requires a student classified as a nonresident to pay nonresident tuition, in addition to other fees required by the institution, except as provided. Existing law exempts a student enrolled at a campus of the California Community Colleges or the California State University from paying nonresident tuition or any other fee that exclusively applies to nonresident students if the student resides in California, meets the definition of "covered individual" under federal law, and is eligible for education benefits under 4 specified federal GI Bill programs, as the federal law read on January 5, 2022. This bill would add, for purposes of that exemption, the Montgomery GI Bill-Selected Reserve program to the list of federal GI Bill programs and specify that federal law as it read on January 5, 2026, applies. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts to determine eligibility for an exemption from paying nonresident tuition or fees, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes the Strong Workforce Program to provide funding to career technical education regional consortia made up of community college districts and local educational agencies, as specified. Existing law authorizes a community college district to use the funds apportioned directly to the community college district to provide direct support to students, employers, or both, for paid work-based learning to increase employability and employment, as provided. Existing law requires the chancellor's office to revise, no later than June 30, 2026, policies, regulations, and guidance necessary to provide students, employers, or both, with paid work-based learning opportunities, as provided. This bill would extend the deadline for the chancellor's office to revise the policies, regulations, and guidance described above by one year. The bill would additionally authorize funds apportioned directly to regional consortia to be used to provide direct support to students, employers, or both, for paid work-based learning to increase employability and employment, as specified, and would make conforming changes.
Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners, and, to the extent required by federal law, each county office of education and each charter school, to assess the English language development of each pupil in order to determine the pupil's level of proficiency, as specified. Existing law requires the assessment for initial identification to be conducted upon the initial enrollment of a pupil, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to establish procedures for conducting the assessment and for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English proficient. Existing law requires those reclassification procedures to use multiple criteria in determining whether to reclassify a pupil as proficient in English, including, (1) an assessment of language proficiency using an objective assessment instrument, including the English language development test that is developed or acquired by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, (2) teacher evaluation, (3) parental opinion and consultation, and (4) a comparison of the performance of the pupil in basic skills against an empirically established range of performance in basic skills based upon the performance of English proficient pupils of the same age that demonstrates whether the pupil is sufficiently proficient in English to participate effectively in a curriculum designed for pupils of the same age whose native language is English. Existing law provides that parents and guardians of children enrolled in public schools have the right and should have the opportunity, as mutually supportive and respectful partners in the education of their children within the public schools, to be informed by the school, and to participate in the education of their children, as specified, including by, among other things, meeting with their child's teacher or teachers and the principal of the school in which their child is enrolled within a reasonable time of their request. This bill would make the provisions related to reclassification procedures inoperative on July 1, 2027, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2028. Commencing July 1, 2027, this bill would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to communicate to the parent or guardian of a pupil who is determined to be an English learner in a clear, concise, and comprehensible manner specified information regarding the pupil, including, among other things, that the pupil has been classified as an English learner, that the parent or guardian is encouraged to engage as a partner with the school, as provided, and that the pupil will take an assessment each year to measure the pupil's progress toward becoming proficient in English. The bill would instead require that an English learner pupil who, in the 2025–26 school year or any school year thereafter, meets the score established by the state board for purposes of reclassification on an assessment of English language proficiency identified or developed pursuant to specified provisions, or, if applicable, the pupil meets the score established by the state board for purposes of reclassification on the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, as provided, be reclassified as English proficient, as specified. Commencing July 1, 2027, the bill would require the department, as those pupil scores become available, to record the pupils who meet the scores established by the state board as reclassified in the appropriate data system. After a pupil is reclassified, the bill would require a local educational agency to ensure that the pupil's instructional program and placement reflects that the pupil is a reclassified pupil and communicate to the pupil's parent or guardian that their child has been reclassified, as provided. Commencing July 1, 2028, and subject to the availability of rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks described below, the bill would require a pupil who (1) is an English learner, (2) has an individualized education program (IEP) , (3) received English language development instruction but has not achieved the proficiency level required for purposes of reclassification, (4) has used all designated supports and accommodations and any domain exemptions required by the pupil's IEP, and (5) either scored an overall performance level that is one level below the level established by the state board for purposes of reclassification, or, as applicable, received any score on the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, and whose local educational agency determines that the pupil has demonstrated, through the use of specified alternate coursework and performance tasks, that the pupil has reached a level of proficiency that is comparable to the threshold for reclassification on the assessment of English language proficiency or the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, to be reported to the department by the local educational agency as reclassified as English proficient. The bill would require a local educational agency, for a pupil who has been reclassified as English proficient, to monitor the pupil's progress to ensure, among other things, that English proficiency is not a barrier to the pupil's academic success, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would provide that, commencing January 1, 2027, parents or guardians of children enrolled in public schools also have the right to, among other things, meet with their child's teacher or teachers to discuss their child's progress toward reaching proficiency in English, as provided. By imposing new duties on public schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2028, to identify (1) means of monitoring reclassified pupils for 4 years after reclassification and (2) an appropriate instrument to be used for purposes of monitoring the progress of reclassified English learners, as provided. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to identify appropriate interventions for pupils who have been determined as needing additional support for their English language, as provided. Commencing with the 2027–28 school year, and subject to state and federal law regarding the privacy of pupil information, the bill would require the department to annually post on its internet website the reclassification rates of each local educational agency and charter school, statewide reclassification rates, and outcomes of reclassified pupils, as provided. Existing law requires the Sacramento County Office of Education to utilize specified funding appropriated in the Budget Act of 2026 to develop resources and provide technical assistance to support the implementation of alternative pathways and means to a diploma, as provided. This bill would require the Sacramento County Office of Education to utilize the same funding described above to (1) develop rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks to enable pupils who are English learners and have IEPs to demonstrate proficiency for purposes of reclassification, and (2) submit the completed rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks to the department on or before January 1, 2028. By expanding the purposes for which previously appropriated funds may be used, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the department to (1) post the completed rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks submitted by the Sacramento County Office of Education on its internet website on or before June 30, 2028, and (2) , subject to an appropriation for these purposes, contract for an evaluation of the effects of the changes to the reclassification criteria and process required by the bill to be completed and sent to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2032, as provided. This bill would delete obsolete provisions. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 51101 of the Education Code proposed by SB 1412 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1412 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law, the Teachers' Retirement Law, establishes the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and creates the Defined Benefit Program of the State Teachers' Retirement Plan, which provides a defined benefit to members of the program, based on final compensation, credited service, and age at retirement, subject to certain variations. That law requires the Teachers' Retirement Board to administer STRS and requires employers and employees to make contributions to STRS based on the member's creditable compensation. Existing law, among other things, defines "position subject to membership" to mean prescribed positions at various educational institutions, including, among other positions, a position at a county office of education or school district, not including a charter school, where the position requires the holding of a valid credential, license, or certificate authorized by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing or the State Department of Health Care Services, as prescribed. This bill would expand the above-described definition to also include permitholders. The bill would additionally include as a "position subject to membership" a comparable position at a charter school eligible to receive state apportionment that is performing, directing, coordinating, supervising, or administering one or more prescribed functions, as specified. Existing law requires the board to determine the date that specified provisions related to this definition become operative based on when STRS has the capacity to implement those provisions and to post that date on the internet website of STRS no later than July 1, 2027. This bill would delete that requirement and would, instead, make this definition of "position subject to membership" operative on July 1, 2027. Existing law creates the Teachers' Retirement Fund, which is continuously appropriated for specified purposes, into which certain moneys are deposited, including employee contributions. By expanding the category of positions subject to membership under STRS and affecting the contributions to the retirement fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
Existing law creates the Office of Farm to Fork within the Department of Food and Agriculture, and requires the office, to the extent that resources are available, to work with various entities, including, among others, the agricultural industry and other organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state. This bill would require the office, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to establish the Healthy Food for California Public Institutions Program for the purpose of identifying vendors in California that have the capacity to provide healthy foods to California public institutions, as defined. The bill would require the office, to the extent that funding is available, to implement initiatives under the program, including, but not limited to, an initiative to develop a list of approved vendors that public institutions can use to procure food products that are whole or minimally processed and are grown or produced in California using climate-smart agriculture practices and climate-smart agriculture production systems.
(1) Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to issue district intern credentials authorizing persons employed by specified school districts to provide classroom instruction to pupils, as provided. Existing law makes a district intern credential valid for 2, 3, or 4 years, as provided, and authorizes the commission to grant a one-year extension of that credential upon the recommendation of the school district. Existing law requires the commission to require each applicant for a district intern credential to demonstrate that the applicant meets specified minimum qualifications for that credential. This bill would instead authorize the commission to grant a one-year extension of a district intern credential upon the recommendation of a commission-approved program sponsor. The bill would additionally require the commission to require that an applicant for a district intern credential demonstrate verified employment in a teaching position at a school district, county office of education, or charter school in the state. Existing law requires an internship program to provide interns who meet entrance criteria and are accepted to a multiple subject teaching credential program, a single subject teaching credential program, or certain education specialist credential programs the opportunity to choose an early program completion option, culminating in a 5-year preliminary teaching credential. Existing law requires that this early program completion option be made available to interns who meet specified requirements. This bill would clarify that the early program completion option is for interns who are enrolled in a multiple subject teaching credential program, a single subject teaching credential program, or certain education specialist credential programs. The bill would also limit the availability of the early program completion option to interns seeking their initial preliminary credential who meet those requirements. Existing law prescribes the minimum requirements for a clear multiple or single subject teaching credential, including, among other requirements, possession of a valid preliminary teaching credential and completion of a program of beginning teacher induction. This bill would apply the above-described minimum requirements to the clear education specialist teaching credential. (2) Existing law transfers, effective July 1, 2021, responsibility for certain childcare-related programs, responsibilities, services, and systems from the State Department of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the State Department of Social Services, as provided. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in cooperation with postsecondary educational institutions, to establish rules and regulations governing specified childcare and development programs established on or near those postsecondary educational institutions, as provided. (3) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district, or 2 or more school districts governed by governing boards of identical personnel, having an average daily attendance of 400,000 or more, as specified, to change or alter a contract for reconstruction or rehabilitation work, without the formality of securing bids, if the cost of the change or alteration does not exceed 25% of the original contract price, the change or alteration is a necessary and integral part of the work under the contract, and the taking of bids would delay contract completion. This bill would extend the authorization to change or alter a contract for reconstruction or rehabilitation work, as described above, to the governing board of any school district, or 2 or more school districts governed by governing boards of identical personnel, having an average daily attendance of 250,000 or more. (4) This bill would also delete obsolete provisions, correct cross-references, and make other nonsubstantive changes. (5) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 44252, 44259, and 44325 of the Education Code proposed by AB 2206 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2206 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
