Education (K-12 Education)

Existing law establishes a system of elementary and secondary education in this state. Under this system, public and private elementary and secondary schools throughout the state provide instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would improve educational outcomes for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

Existing law establishes a system of elementary and secondary education in this state. Under this system, public and private elementary and secondary schools throughout the state provide instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would improve educational outcomes for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks and the adoption of instructional materials to the State Board of Education. Existing law requires the commission to consider incorporating the Model Library Standards into the next revision of the English language arts/English language development (ELA/ELD) curriculum framework after January 1, 2024, and to also consider incorporating media literacy content at each grade level. Existing law requires the commission to consider including the Model Library Standards, including media literacy content, in its criteria for evaluating instructional materials when the state board next adopts ELA/ELD instructional materials after January 1, 2025. Existing law requires the commission to consider incorporating media literacy content into the mathematics, science, and history-social science curriculum frameworks when those frameworks are next revised after January 1, 2024. Existing law requires the commission to consider including media literacy content in its criteria for evaluating instructional materials when the state board next adopts mathematics, science, and history-social science instructional materials after January 1, 2025. Existing law defines media literacy, for the above-described purposes, as the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and use media and information and encompasses the foundational skills that lead to digital citizenship. This bill would specify that those skills include, but are not limited to, an understanding of, among other things, time management and healthy behaviors on social media, the permanency of sharing material online, and how to maintain personal security and identify cyberbullying, predatory behavior, and human trafficking on the internet.

Under existing law, each school district and county office of education is responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, in cooperation with certain local entities. Existing law requires that the plan include identification of appropriate strategies and programs that will provide or maintain a high level of school safety and address the school's procedures for complying with existing laws related to school safety. This bill would require the Education Commissioner, in consultation with the State Board of Education and specified stakeholders, to develop recommendations on the development and approval processes for school safety plans. The bill would require the Education Commissioner, in consultation with the stakeholders, to review existing comprehensive school safety plans and make recommendations on the development and approval processes for, and the required elements of, a comprehensive school safety plan, as provided. The bill would require the Education Commissioner to, on or before July 1, 2028, submit a report on recommendations on the development and approval of school safety plans to the Department of Finance and appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would authorize the State Department of Education to enter into exclusive or nonexclusive contracts, as provided, with nongovernmental entities to implement these provisions.

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.

Existing law establishes the State Seal of Civic Engagement to recognize pupils who have demonstrated excellence in civics education and participation and have demonstrated an understanding of the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, and the democratic system of government, as provided, and establishes the State Seal of Biliteracy to recognize high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in one or more languages in addition to English. Commencing January 1, 2027, existing law vests all executive and administrative functions of the State Department of Education in an Education Commissioner. This bill would establish the State Seal of Climate Literacy for the purpose of giving high school pupils personal agency to help them and their communities understand and adapt to the effects of climate change. The bill would require the Education Commissioner, on or before December 31, 2027, to recommend to the State Board of Education criteria for awarding a State Seal of Climate Literacy to pupils who have demonstrated mastery in climate literacy disciplines, green skills or technical green skills, as defined, and any and all other best practices for climate literacy. The bill would require the Commissioner, in developing the criteria, to consider including (1) the successful completion of at least 2 approved courses in the area of climate literacy and (2) the successful completion and presentation of a climate literacy final experiential learning project, as provided. The bill would require the state board, on or before January 31, 2029, to adopt, or adopt with modifications, the criteria recommended by the Commissioner. The bill would require the Commissioner to, among other things, prepare and deliver to participating local educational agencies an appropriate insignia to be affixed to the diploma or transcript of the pupil indicating that the pupil has been awarded a State Seal of Climate Literacy by the Commissioner. The bill would make a local educational agency's participation in awarding the State Seal of Climate Literacy voluntary. For a local educational agency that chooses to participate, the bill would require the local educational agency, on or after the date that the state board adopts criteria, to, among other things, establish a process for determining if a pupil has met the criteria necessary to earn a State Seal of Climate Literacy.

Existing law requires the governing board of a school district or the governing body of a charter school that requires a course in health education for graduation from high school to include instruction in performing compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) , as provided. Existing law also encourages those entities to provide to pupils general information on the use and importance of an automated external defibrillators (AED) . Existing law further requires the State Department of Education to provide guidance on how to implement these provisions, including, but not limited to, who may provide instruction. Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education. This bill would require the commission, when the physical education framework is next revised after January 1, 2027, to consider including content on the importance, performance, and use of CPR and AEDs in that framework.

Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education and consider including, when revising the history-social science curriculum framework, age-appropriate information on specified financial literacy topics for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as provided. Existing law requires a pupil to complete designated coursework while in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in order to receive a diploma of graduation from high school. These graduation requirements include, among others, the completion of 3 courses in social studies, including a one-semester course in economics. Commencing with pupils graduating in the 2030–31 school year, existing law requires the completion of a separate, stand-alone one-semester course in personal finance that is prohibited from being combined with any other course. Existing law requires this personal finance course to include information on all of, and only, the above-described financial literacy topics recommended for inclusion in the revised history-social science curriculum framework. Commencing with the 2027–28 school year, existing law requires a local educational agency with pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, to offer a separate, stand-alone one-semester course in personal finance, and also authorizes a local educational agency to exempt a pupil who completes such a course from the graduation requirement to complete a one-semester course in economics. If a local educational agency elects to offer a personal finance course offered as part of an integrated, year-long course that is equivalent in quality and rigor to the stand-alone personal finance course and that has a course scope that includes, at a minimum, the above-described financial literacy topics recommended for inclusion in the revised history-social science curriculum framework, this bill would (1) deem that course to satisfy the above-described graduation requirement to complete a stand-alone personal finance course, (2) additionally authorize the local educational agency to exempt a pupil who completes such a course from the graduation requirement to complete a one-semester course in economics, and (3) deem that course to satisfy the above-described requirement on local educational agencies with pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, to offer a separate, stand-alone one-semester course in personal finance.

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.

This House Resolution encourages California high schools to participate in High School Voter Education Weeks, a designated period from September 14 to 25, 2026. The measure asks school administrators to promote voter preregistration and registration for eligible students, designate coordinators to lead civic engagement activities, and participate in the statewide Student Mock Election. It also reminds schools that students in grades 6 through 12 may take an excused absence to attend civic events with prior notice. The resolution does not change existing laws but serves as a formal recommendation to boost youth participation in the upcoming 2026 general election.