(1) Existing law requires the State Department of Education to issue a request for proposals to contract for the development of standards for professional development for educators and instructional leaders. Existing law requires the standards to serve as guidelines for providers of professional development activities and authorizes them to be used to facilitate coordination among existing professional development programs. This bill, among other things, would require the department, on or before August 31, 2026, to develop a list of recommended professional development and training programs that meet specified requirements relating to effective means of teaching literacy and evidence-based means of teaching foundational reading skills, as described, and to submit the list to the State Board of Education for approval, as provided. The bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2027, to approve a list of those recommended professional development and training programs. The bill would require the department to make the list of those approved professional development and training programs available on its internet website and to update the list as necessary. The bill, commencing September 1, 2027, would require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to ensure participation in, and would require all applicable personnel, as defined, to satisfactorily complete by no later than August 31, 2029, an approved professional development and training program that is listed on the department's internet website, except as specified. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the state board to adopt basic instructional materials for use in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, for governing boards, subject to specified provisions, including, among others, that the state board adopt at least 5 basic instructional materials for all applicable grade levels in each of the specified subject areas, including, among others, language arts, including, but not limited to, spelling, reading, and English language development. In reviewing and adopting or recommending for adoption submitted basic instructional materials, existing law requires the state board to use specified criteria, and to ensure that, in its judgment, the submitted basic instructional materials meet that criteria, including, among others, that the instructional materials are aligned to the content standards adopted by the state board in the subject area and the grade level or levels for which they are submitted. Notwithstanding any other law, existing law authorizes a local educational agency to use instructional materials that are aligned with the academic content standards previously adopted by the state board. This bill would revise and recast provisions relating to adoption of instructional materials for English language arts, English language development, and reading by, among other things, requiring the state board, on or before January 1, 2027, to adopt basic instructional materials, as defined, for transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, in English language arts, English language development, and reading. The bill would require the state board to, among other things, ensure that all basic instructional materials adopted pursuant to these provisions are aligned to the most recently adopted academic content standards and curriculum frameworks and adhere to effective means of teaching literacy and evidence-based means of teaching foundational reading skills. The bill would require the department to publish the complete list of the state board's adopted basic instructional materials on the department's internet website and to distribute the complete list to all local educational agencies, as specified. Upon the state board's adoption of those basic instructional materials, the bill would require all basic instructional materials in English language arts, English language development, and reading for transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and any of grades 1 to 8, inclusive, adopted by each school district, county office of education, and charter school to, among other requirements, adhere to specified evaluation criteria, and would prohibit those local educational agencies from adopting basic instructional materials in English language arts, English language development, or reading that have not been adopted by the state board unless the local educational agency is granted a waiver from the state board, as specified. On or before December 31, 2028, the bill would require each local educational agency to provide to the department, and the department to develop, maintain, and annually update, a current list of basic instructional materials in English language arts, English language development, and reading, adopted by each local educational agency that is publicly accessible on the department's internet website. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) This bill would make Legislative findings and declarations relating to these provisions, conforming changes, and other nonsubstantive changes. (4) 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, notwithstanding the requirement that each person between 6 and 18 years of age who is not otherwise exempted is subject to compulsory full-time education, requires a pupil to be excused from school for specified types of absences, including, among others, if the absence was due to the pupil's illness. This bill would include as another type of required excused absence an absence that is for the purpose of a middle school or high school pupil participating in career technical education enhancement, as defined, provided that the pupil notifies the school ahead of the absence. The bill would require a middle school or high school pupil who is absent from school to engage in career technical education enhancement to be excused for only one schoolday-long absence per school year. The bill would also authorize a middle school or high school pupil who is absent from school to engage in career technical education enhancement to be permitted additional excused absences in the discretion of a school administrator, as provided. To the extent that this bill would impose additional duties on local educational entities, 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 State Department of Education, under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and assigns to the department numerous duties relating to the financing, governance, and guidance of the public elementary and secondary schools in this state. This bill would require the department to, no later than September 1, 2026, identify and post on its internet website a list of inservice professional development programs for effective means of teaching literacy in specified grade levels that may be used by school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools for training teachers. The bill would require the department to ensure that the list includes programs offered in different modalities, including in-person and virtual formats, and ensure that the programs meet specified criteria. The bill would require the department to make specified funds available and the Superintendent to apportion those funds to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools to provide opportunities for professional development for teachers who teach pupils in transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, using one or more of the above-described professional development programs, as provided. Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law sets forth the minimum requirements for a preliminary services credential with a specialization in administrative services, which include, among other requirements, completion of an entry-level program of specialized and professional preparation in administrative services or a one-year internship in a program of supervised training in administrative services, subject to approval by the commission, as provided. This bill would require the commission to, no later than September 1, 2027, ensure that the program standards for the professional preparation of candidates for a preliminary services credential with a specialization in administrative services meets specified criteria, including, among other things, that the program standards include preparation on how to support teachers in delivering instruction through effective means for teaching literacy, as provided. The bill would require the commission to, no later than September 1, 2029, certify that all professional preparation programs and internships for candidates for a preliminary services credential with a specialization in administrative services approved by the commission meet those program standards. Existing law requires the state board to adopt basic instructional materials for use in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, for governing boards of school districts and county boards of education, subject to specified provisions, including, among others, that the State Board of Education adopt at least 5 basic instructional materials for all applicable grade levels in each of the specified subject areas, including, among others, language arts, including, but not limited to, spelling, reading, and English language development. This bill would require the state board, on or before June 30, 2027, and in adherence with specified provisions related to followup adoptions, to adopt instructional materials for kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, in English language arts and English language development, as provided. The bill would require the state board to ensure that instructional materials adopted pursuant to these provisions adhere to specified criteria. This bill would make implementation of its provisions, as described above, contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature.
Existing law requires the governing board of each school district and county board of education to adopt a local control accountability plan and to update its local control and accountability plan before July 1 of each year. Existing law requires a local control and accountability plan to include, among other things, a description of the annual goals to be achieved for each state priority, as specified, for all pupils and certain subgroups of pupils. The state's delineated priorities include, among others, pupil engagement, as measured by specified attendance, dropout, and graduation rates, and school climate, as measured by pupil suspension and expulsion rates and other local measures, as provided. This bill, commencing with the 2026–27 school year, would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school that serves pupils in any of grades 5 to 12, inclusive, to annually (1) compile a school climate report detailing the pupil engagement and school climate data collected for purposes of their local control and accountability plan, and (2) if the local educational agency identifies any deficiencies in school climate, detail a plan to improve school climate to be included in the report. The bill would require the school climate report, including the plan to improve school climate, if applicable, to be presented at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board or body of the local educational agency and made public accessibly on the local educational agency's internet website, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, 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 system of elementary and secondary education in this state. This system consists of the public and private schools that provide instruction in kindergarten and in grades 1 to 12, inclusive. This bill would enact the School Choice Flex Account Act of 2025 and establish the School Choice Flex Account (SCFA) Trust, to be known as the SCFA Trust, as a fund within the State Treasury to be administered by the SCFA Trust Board. For the 2027–28 to 2030–31, inclusive, school years, the bill would authorize certain children eligible to be enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to establish an SCFA or Special Education Flex Account (SEFA) , based on parent or guardian income. The bill would, beginning with the 2031–32 school year, authorize every child eligible to be enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to establish an SCFA or SEFA. The bill would credit a deposit amount to the account of every eligible student enrolled in an eligible school for tuition and certain school expenses. The bill would specify the deposit amounts for the 2027–28 school year, and require the Department of Finance, beginning on July 1, 2028, to determine the SCFA and SEFA deposit amounts annually for the upcoming school year, as provided. The bill would require the Controller to transfer an amount of money from the General Fund to the SCFA Trust in those amounts. The bill would require any unused funds remaining in an SCFA or SEFA account on June 30 of each school year to be returned to the state for the benefit of elementary and secondary education, upon appropriation by the Legislature. The bill would specify the membership of the SCFA Trust Board and would vest the SCFA Trust Board with certain powers and duties. The bill would establish 2 accounts within the SCFA Trust, the SCFA Trust Program Account and the SCFA Trust Administrative Account, and would continuously appropriate the moneys in the program account to the SCFA Trust Board for purposes of the bill, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a procedure for the parents and legal guardians of eligible students to apply to establish an SCFA or SEFA and submit an executed participation agreement. The bill would authorize the SCFA Trust Board to disburse funds from SCFAs or SEFAs to eligible schools, defined as private full-time day schools accredited by, or, except as provided, awaiting accreditation from, a regional accrediting agency recognized by the state or the United States Department of Education. The bill would specify the procedures for participating eligible schools to receive funds disbursed by the SCFA Trust Board. (2) The Classroom Instructional Improvement and Accountability Act, an initiative approved by the voters as Proposition 98 at the November 8, 1988, statewide general election, amended the California Constitution to, among other things, set forth a formula for computing the minimum amount of revenues that the state is required to appropriate for the support of school districts and community college districts based on one of 3 tests in any given fiscal year, one of which is based on the percentage of General Fund revenues appropriated for school districts and community college districts, respectively, in the 1986–87 fiscal year, and 2 of which are based on, among other things, changes in enrollment. This bill would require the Legislature to recalculate that minimum education funding guarantee by including eligible students not enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school before the operative date of the act in those minimum funding guarantee calculations based on average daily attendance, as provided. The bill would also require the costs of providing SCFA and SEFA deposit amounts for eligible students to be apportioned between the General Fund and the public school district in which those eligible students reside in the same ratio of General Fund and local property tax revenue that would have been used to educate those eligible students in their public school district. (3) The Personal Income Tax Law, in modified conformity with federal law, generally defines "gross income" as income from whatever source derived, except as specifically excluded, and provides various exclusions from gross income for purposes of computing tax liability. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, exclude from gross income any amounts received as distribution from an SCFA or SEFA, as defined, as part of a participation agreement. Existing law requires a bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals, purposes, and objectives the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. (4) These provisions would become operative on January 1, 2027, and only if Senate Constitutional Amendment ____ of the 2025–26 Regular Session is approved by the voters at the statewide general election on November 4, 2026.
Existing law authorizes a school district and the California State University (CSU) to establish and implement programs that address the housing needs of teachers or faculty, as applicable, and school district or CSU employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing, as specified. The act provides that it specifically creates a state policy supporting housing for teachers and school district employees, and for faculty and CSU employees, as described by specified federal law and permits school districts, CSU campuses, and developers in receipt of local or state funds or tax credits designated for affordable rental housing to restrict occupancy to teachers and school district employees, or faculty and CSU employees, as applicable, on land owned by school districts or the CSU, so long as that housing does not violate any other applicable laws. Existing law defines various terms for these purposes. This bill would authorize the University of California to establish and implement a similar program to the school district and CSU programs described above to address the housing needs of University of California faculty or employees who face challenges in securing affordable housing, as specified. The bill would provide that it specifically creates a state policy supporting housing for University of California faculty or campus or medical center employees as described by specified federal law and permits the University of California campuses or medical centers, or developers, in receipt of local or state funds or tax credits designated for affordable rental housing to restrict occupancy to University of California faculty or employees on land owned by the University of California or an auxiliary enterprise, as defined, so long as that housing does not violate any other applicable laws. The bill would define various terms for these purposes.
Existing law establishes a public school financing system that requires state funding for county superintendents of schools, school districts, and charter schools to be calculated pursuant to a local control funding formula, as specified. Existing law requires funding pursuant to the local control funding formula to include, in addition to a base grant, supplemental and concentration grant add-ons that are based on the percentage of unduplicated pupils, defined as those pupils who are English learners, foster youth, or eligible for free or reduced-price meals, served by the county superintendent of schools, school district, or charter school, as specified. Existing law, commencing with the 2021–22 fiscal year, requires the concentration grant add-on to be equal to 65% of the base grant for each school district's or charter school's percentage of unduplicated pupils in excess of 55% of the school district's or charter school's total enrollment. Existing law prohibits a charter school's percentage of unduplicated pupils from exceeding the percentage of unduplicated pupils of the school district in which the charter school is physically located, or the highest percentage of unduplicated pupils of the school districts in which the charter school has a school facility, as applicable. This bill would authorize a charter school subject to the above-described prohibitions to apply to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for a waiver from the applicable limitation and to instead have its concentration grant calculated based on the charter school's percentage of unduplicated pupils in excess of 55 percent of the charter school's total enrollment. The bill would require the Superintendent to develop guidelines and procedures for these purposes and to grant the waiver if specified conditions are met, as specified.
Existing law establishes the California State University and the University of California as 2 of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law requires the California State University, and requests the University of California, to publicly provide labor market outcome information relating to the graduates of their undergraduate programs. This bill would require the California State University, and would request the University of California, to include in admission notifications (1) a hyperlink to the university's internet website that contains the labor market outcome information described above, and (2) information on student loans, as specified.
(1) Existing law establishes a public school financing system that requires state funding for school districts and charter schools to be calculated pursuant to a local control funding formula, as specified. Existing law requires funding pursuant to the local control funding formula to include a base grant that in each fiscal year is adjusted for inflation by the percentage change in the annual average value of the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services for the United States, as specified. If the inflation adjustment for the base grant for a school district or charter school is calculated to be less than 4%, this bill would require the inflation adjustment for the base grant for a school district or charter school to instead be 4%. The bill would require the State Department of Education, on or before January 1, 2030, to establish and publish on its internet website regional cost adjustment factors in order address regional cost differences in housing and labor, and, commencing with the 2030–31 fiscal year, would require the adjustment to the base grant, whether calculated by the inflation adjustment or 4%, as applicable, to be further adjusted by multiplying that calculation by the applicable regional cost adjustment factor. (2) Existing law requires the local control funding formula to include, in addition to the base grant, supplemental and concentration grant add-ons that are based on the percentage of pupils who are unduplicated pupils, as defined to include English learners, pupils eligible for free or reduced-price meals, and foster youth, as specified. Existing law requires school districts and charter schools to annually report their enrollment of unduplicated pupils to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as specified, and requires county superintendents of schools to review and validate that pupil data, as provided. Existing law requires pupils who are classified in more than one of these groups to be counted only once for these purposes. The bill would add pupils experiencing homelessness, as defined, to the categories of pupils who are unduplicated pupils for purposes of determining eligibility for supplemental and concentration grants. The bill would place reporting requirements on school districts and charter schools to implement these provisions. By imposing additional duties on county superintendents of schools, school districts, and charter schools related to reporting unduplicated pupils, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law requires the supplemental grant add-on to be equal to 20% of the base grants, as adjusted, for each school district's or charter school's percentage of unduplicated pupils, as specified, and requires the concentration grant add-on to be equal to 65% of the base grants, as adjusted, for each school district's or charter school's percentage of unduplicated pupils in excess of 55% of the school district's or charter school's total enrollment, as specified. Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt regulations that govern the expenditure of funds apportioned on the basis of the number and concentration of unduplicated pupils, as provided. This bill, commencing with the 2030–31 fiscal year, would require the supplemental grant add-on to instead be equal to 35% of the base grants, as adjusted, for each school district's or charter school's percentage of unduplicated pupils, as specified, and would require the concentration grant add-on to instead be equal to 65% of the base grants, as adjusted, for each school district's or charter school's percentage of unduplicated pupils in excess of 45% of the school district's or charter school's total enrollment, as specified. The bill would establish transition adjustments for the 2025–26 fiscal year to the 2029–30 fiscal years, inclusive, to be calculated by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for each school district and charter school based on increased funding that would have been generated by the changes to supplemental and concentration grant eligibility and percentages described above, as provided. The bill would continuously appropriate the moneys necessary to implement those adjustments and would require the Superintendent to add those transition amounts to the school district's and charter school's local control funding formula amounts. The bill, notwithstanding any other law, would require any increase in apportionment to a school district or charter school due to the bill's changes to the local control funding formula to be demonstrated to be used to support additional services for the targeted pupil group. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on school districts and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill, commencing with the 2025–26 fiscal year, would prohibit each school district and charter school from receiving less state aid under the local control funding formula for the then current fiscal year than they received in the 2024–25 fiscal year under the local control funding formula, as calculated on a per average daily attendance basis. (4) Existing law requires the Legislative Analyst's Office, on or before January 1, 2026, to submit a report to the Legislature on the effects of changing the pupil count methodology of the local control funding formula from average daily attendance to pupil enrollment, as provided. This bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office, on or before January 1, 2027, to submit a report to the Legislature that studies the impact of the changes to the local control funding formula made by the bill within and between geographic regions of the state. (5) This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to develop recommendations for adequacy adjustments to the grade span adjusted base grants in order to address the unique costs for each grade span and to account for the revisions to supplemental and concentration grants described above, and to report those recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, as provided. The bill would state the intent of the Legislature to fully transition the local control funding formula commencing with the 2030–31 fiscal year consistent with those recommendations. (6) 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. (7) Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law requires the commission to issue a single subject teaching credential only in specified subjects and authorizes the commission to issue an authorization to teach a subject other than the one authorized by a single subject teaching credential if the holder of the credential meets certain requirements. Existing law, upon appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, requires the commission, on or before July 1, 2024, to convene a workgroup on credentialing for instruction in computer science, as provided. Existing law also requires the commission, on or before July 1, 2025, to provide a report of the workgroup's findings and recommendations, as provided. Existing law repeals these provisions as of January 1, 2028. This bill would extend the above-referenced deadlines by 2 years and delay the repeal date of those provisions by 2 years.
