Check out our positions on education-related bills currently being considered at the Capitol in Sacramento.
Addressing California’s Teacher Shortage
AB 169 (O’Donnell – D) – Teaching credential: Teacher recruitment: Golden State Teacher Grant Program
Last Amended: 03/29/2017
Status: 4/5/2017-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.
Location: 3/30/2017- Assembly Appropriations
Would establish the Golden State Teacher Grant Program, which would provide $20,000 in one-time grant funds to educators committed to teaching one of the following areas affected by the teacher shortage – bilingual education, STEM, science, or special education.
Public Advocates supports AB 169.
AB 234 (Steinorth – R) – Student financial aid: Assumption Program of Loans for
Education
Last Amended:
Status: 4/5/2017-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.
Location: 3/15/2017 – Assembly Appropriations
Would enact an urgency statute to restore funding to the Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE) to its 2011-2012 fiscal level. This would allow teachers to earn up to $11,000 for loan relief in return for their commitment of four consecutive years to service in a low-performing school.
Public Advocates supports AB 234.
AB 410 (Cervantes – D) – Teacher credentialing: Beginning teacher induction programs:
Fees
Last Amended:
Status: 4/5/2017-In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file.
Location: 3/16/2017- Assembly Appropriations
Would prohibit Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) from requiring teachers to pay a fee to participate in a state-mandated beginning teacher induction program. Existing law requires prospective teachers to participate in a Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) Program as a prerequisite for obtaining their credential.
Public Advocates supports AB 410.
AB 952 (Gomez Reyes—D) – Teachers: Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program
Last Amended: 04/18/2017
Status: 05/10/2017 In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to Appropriations suspense file
Location: 05/10/2017 Assembly – Appropriations Suspense File
Would establish the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program and would require the State Department of Education to allocate funding to specified entities for purposes of providing professional development services to teachers meeting certain requirements to provide instruction to English learners. The bill would require the department to adopt criteria demonstrating a consortium’s ability to provide professional development services, as provided. The bill would require a consortium selected to receive funding under these provisions to be approved for 3 consecutive years, with funding allocated annually.
Public Advocates supports AB 952.
AB 1217 (Bocanegra – D) – Teachers: California Teacher Corps Act of 2017: Teacher
residency programs
Last Amended: 04/18/2017
Status: 05/03/17 In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to Appropriations suspense file
Location: 05/03/2017-Assembly Appropriations. Suspense file.
Would appropriate $60 million from the General Fund to the Superintendent to provide eligible Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) with grants to be used towards establishing, maintaining, or expanding teacher residency programs. The bill also gives priority to LEAs with residency programs that target teacher shortage areas such as math, science, bilingual education, and special education fields, as well as in hard-to-staff schools.
Public Advocates supports AB 1217.
SB 533 (Portantino—D) – Teacher Credentialing: Governor’s Urgent State of Need: Teacher Shortages
Last Amended: 05/03/2017
Status: 05/15/2017 May 15 hearing: Placed on Appropriations suspense file.
Location: 05/15/2017 Senate – Appropriations Suspense file
Would authorize the Governor to declare an “Urgent State of Need” in response to a teacher shortage in one or more school districts for a shortage of teachers in specific subject areas or a shortage of teachers with an authorization to provide bilingual instruction to limited-English-proficient pupils. The bill would authorize a school district subject to an “Urgent State of Need” declaration to employ as a teacher a person without a valid credential, certificate, or permit otherwise necessary to provide instruction to pupils, as provided.
Public Advocates opposes SB 533.
Standing Up for Vulnerable Students
AB 165 (Cooper – D) – Privacy: electronic communications: exclusions: local educational agencies.
Last Amended: 04/17/2017
Status: 4/28/2017 Failed Deadline pursuant to Rule 61(a)(2). (Last location was Privacy and Consumer Protection on 01/30/2017) (May be acted upon Jan 2018)
Location: 04/28/2017 Assembly – 2 YEAR
Would exempt local educational agencies (LEAs) from the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (CalECPA), allowing LEAs or an individual acting on behalf of an LEA to access a student’s electronic device and communication when investigating alleged or suspected pupil misconduct.
Public Advocates opposes AB 165.
AB 165 was pulled from Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection Committee.
AB 699 (O’Donnell – D) – Educational equity: Immigrant status
Last Amended: 04/24/2017
Status: 05/03/2017 In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to Appropriations suspense file.
Location: 05/03/2017 – Assembly Appropriations. Suspense file.
Would require local educational agencies (LEAs) to adopt a policy that prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying on the basis of immigration status. This bill would also protect undocumented students by prohibiting schools from collecting information from students and parents regarding immigrant status and prohibit schools from allowing an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on school grounds without a judicial warrant or court order.
Public Advocates supports AB 699.
AB 830 (Kalra—D) – Educational Equity: High School Exit Examination
Last Amended: 04/20/2017
Status: 05/18/2017 Referred to Committee on Education
Location: 05/18/1017 Senate – Education. Hearing calendared for 06/07/2017
Would eliminate the high school exit examination and would remove it as a condition of receiving a diploma of graduation or a condition of graduation from high school. The bill would also make clarifying, conforming, and non-substantive changes.
Public Advocates supports AB 830.
SB 54 (de León – D) Law enforcement: sharing data
Last Amended: 03/29/2017
Status: 05/18/2017 Referred to Committees on Public Safety and Judiciary
Location: 05/18/2017 Assembly – Public Safety
This bill would ensure that state and local resources are not used for mass deportations, separating families, or dividing Californians on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, immigration status, or national or ethnic origins. This bill repeals provisions in existing law that allows law enforcement to notify deportation agencies when there is reason to believe that a person arrested for violating specified controlled substance provisions are undocumented immigrants.
Public Advocates supports SB 54.
SB 68 (Lara – D) – Public postsecondary education: exemption from nonresident tuition
Last Amended: 03/29/2017
Status: 4/17/17 April 17 hearing: Placed on Appropriations suspense file.
Location: 4/17/17 Senate Appropriations Suspense File
This bill would exempt a student from nonresident tuition from the California State University and the California Community Colleges if the student has a total of three or more years of attendance or equivalent credits at California elementary schools.
Public Advocates supports SB 68.
SB 169 (Jackson—D) – Education: Sex equity
Last Amended: 03/30/2017
Status: 05/15/2017 May 15 hearing: Placed on Appropriations suspense file. .
Location: 05/15/2017 Senate – Appropriations Suspense File
Current 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. Based on the federal regulations, this bill would define “sexual harassment” to include “sexual violence,” as defined, for the purposes of those state laws.
Public Advocates supports SB 169.
SB 257 (Lara—D) – School admissions: pupil residency: pupils of deported parents
Last Amended: 05/03/2017
Status: 05/15/2017 May 15 hearing: Placed on Appropriations suspense file.
Location: 05/15/2017 Senate – Appropriations Suspense File
Would require that a person, otherwise eligible for admission to a class or school of a school district, whose parent or parents were residents of this state and have been deported, or voluntarily departed pursuant to a specified federal law, and who seeks admission to a class or school of a school district be admitted by the governing board of the school district if that person meets specified requirements. By requiring school districts to admit this class of pupils, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Public Advocates supports SB 257.
SB 354 (Portantino—D) – Special education: Translation Services
Last Amended: 04/26/2017
Status: 05/15/2017 May 15 hearing: Placed on Appropriations suspense file
Location: 05/15/2017 Senate – Appropriations Suspense file
Would revise the definition of “parent” to specify that it also includes the educational rights holder and the conservator of a child. The bill would require a local educational agency (LEA) to communicate in the native language of the parent, or in another mode of communication used by the parent, during the planning process for the individualized education program, as provided, and to provide alternative communication services, including by providing translation services for a pupil’s parent, as specified.
Public Advocates supports SB 354.
SB 527 (Galgiani—D) – Educational equity: Transportation funding
Last Amended:
Status: 04/17/2017 – April 17 hearing: Placed on appropriations suspense file.
Location: 04/17/2017 – Senate Appropriations. SUSPENSE FILE.
This bill would, commencing with the 2018–19 fiscal year, require funds received through LCFF for specified pupil transportation programs to be adjusted by a specified cost-of-living calculation.
Public Advocates supports SB 527.
SB 805 (Galgiani—D) – Pupil discipline: suspensions and expulsions: assault or battery
Last Amended: 03/30/2017
Status: 05/15/2017 May 15 hearing: Placed on Appropriations suspense file.
Location: 05/15/2017 Senate – Appropriations Suspense File
Would delete the act of assault or battery upon any school employee from the category of acts where the principal or superintendent has the discretion to recommend expulsion or an alternative means of correction. The bill would expand the act of assault or battery upon any school employee to include assault or battery upon a staff member contracted to provide services to pupils and would place that expanded act in the category of acts for which immediate suspension and a recommendation of expulsion is required.
Public Advocates opposes SB 805.
School Finance and Accountability
AB 261 (Thurmond—D) – School Districts: governing boards: pupil members: preferential voting
Last Amended: 03/23/2017
Status: 05/18/2017 Referred to Com. on Education
Location: 05/18/2017 Senate – Education
This bill would require a pupil member of the governing board of a school district to have preferential voting rights, and would make conforming and non-substantive changes. Because the bill would require school districts to provide a higher level of service, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Public Advocates supports AB 261.
AB 842 (Gipson – D) California community schools
Last Amended: 03/23/2017
Status: 05/17/2017 In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Location: 04/27/2017 – Assembly Appropriations
This bill would establish the California Community Schools Act, which would provide grants to qualified local educational agencies (LEAs) to establish and operate a community schools program. The bill defines a community school as a school implementing a curriculum that is engaging, culturally relevant, and challenging, as well as providing services to support English learners and special education students. Community schools have a high emphasis on high-quality teaching, not high-stakes testing, emphasizes positive discipline practices, and promotes parent and community engagement.
Public Advocates supports AB 842.
AB 1661 (Limón—D) – School Accountability: multiple measures accountability system
Last Amended: 04/17/2017
Status: 05/18/2017 Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
Location: 05/18/2017 Assembly – Third reading
Would repeal the Academic Performance Index and instead require the Superintendent to develop, subject to approval by the state board, a multiple measures public school accountability system, based on the specified state priorities, for school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and individual school sites. The bill would require the multiple measures accountability system to be based on specified performance standards and to address the accountability requirements in the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as specified.
Public Advocates supports AB 1661.
SB 78 (Leyva – D) – After school programs: grant amounts
Last Amended: 04/25/2017
Status: 05/15/2017 May 15 hearing: Placed on Appropriations suspense file.
Location: 05/15/2017 Senate – Appropriations Suspense File
This bill would appropriate an additional $99,135,000 to the Department of Education to provide increased funding for the After School Education and Safety Program to serve students grades TK-9 participating in before or after school programs.
Public Advocates supports SB 78.
SB 751 (Hill—D) – School finance: school districts: annual budgets: reserve balance
Last Amended: 05/02/2017
Status: 05/09/2017 In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
Location: 05/08/2017 – Assembly Desk
Would require the governing board of a school district that proposes to adopt a budget that includes unassigned ending balances in the school district’s general fund and special reserve fund for other than capital outlay projects in excess of the minimum recommended reserve for economic uncertainties to provide specified information for public review and discussion. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Public Advocates supports SB 751.
Charter School Accountability
AB 1360 (Bonta—D) – Charter Schools: pupil admissions, suspensions, and expulsions
Last Amended: 03/30/2017
Status: 05/17/2017 In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to Appropriations suspense file.
Location: 05/17/2017 Assembly – Appropriations Suspense File
This bill would require the charter school’s admission, suspension, and expulsion procedures to comply with specified minimum procedural requirements, including that the procedures comply with federal and state constitutional due process requirements.
AB 1478 (Jones-Sawyer—D) – Charter Schools: Governing boards
Last Amended: 05/01/2017
Status: 05/10/2017 Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
Location: 05/10/2017 Assembly – Third Reading
Would expressly state that charter schools and entities managing charter schools are subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act, unless the charter school is operated by an entity governed by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, in which case the charter school would be subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Public Advocates supports AB 1478.
Positive Student Outcomes and Engagement
SB 328 (Portantino—D) – Pupil Attendance: School Start Time
Last Amended: 04/26/2017
Status: 05/15/2017 May 15 hearing: Placed on Appropriations suspense file.
Location: 05/15/2017 Senate – Appropriations Suspense file
This bill would require the school day for middle schools and high schools to begin no earlier than 8:30 a.m. To the extent the bill imposes new duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other current laws.
Public Advocates supports SB 328.
*This bill list was last updated on May 19, 2017. Public Advocates will periodically update this list to reflect the latest changes in statuses, amendments, and progress of the bills. Please contact our Sacramento office at (916) 442-3385 if you have any questions about our positions on any of the bills.
