AB 126: Education finance: education omnibus trailer bill.

Existing law separately appropriates, for the 202122 fiscal year, $350,000,000 from the General Fund to the commission for the Teacher Residency Grant Program to support teacher residency programs that recruit and support the preparation of teachers, as specified, and, for the 202223 fiscal year, $184,000,000 from the General Fund to the commission to augment that Teacher Residency Grant Program. Existing law authorizes the commission to allocate up to $25,000,000 and $10,000,000 of those amounts, respectively, as capacity grants that are required to be awarded on a competitive basis to local educational agencies or consortia partnering with regionally accredited institutions of higher education to expand, strengthen, improve access to, or create teacher residency programs, or create school counselor residency programs that lead to more credentialed school counselors that reflect a local educational agency communitys diversity, respectively. Existing law authorizes the commission to determine the number of capacity grants to be awarded and the amount of the applicable grant, up to $250,000 per grant recipient.

This bill would instead authorize capacity and sustainability grants and would require those grant amounts to be between $100,000 and $300,000 per grant recipient, depending on the size of the program. The bill would appropriate $250,000,000 from the General Fund to the commission to augment the Teacher Residency Grant Program to support teacher and school counselor residency programs that recruit and support the preparation of teachers and school counselors, as provided, and would require that funding to be available for those capacity and sustainability grants.

Existing law appropriates funds from the General Fund to the commission to select a local educational agency to serve as a statewide technical assistance center to support teacher residency programs, as provided.

This bill would require the commission to allocate specified funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2026 to the statewide technical assistance center for specified purposes, including, among other things, to support expanded regional technical assistance for teacher residency programs. The bill would require the commission to submit a report to the Governor and appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on the impact of the statewide technical assistance center in providing technical assistance to support educators pursuing and attaining National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification.

(28)Existing law appropriates $1,696,718,000 in the 202526 fiscal year from the General Fund to the department to establish the Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant, for allocation to county offices of education, school districts, charter schools, and the state special schools for discretionary purposes, including, among other things, providing standards-aligned professional development for teachers on the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework, the Literacy Roadmap, and the Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools and addressing rising costs, as provided.

This bill would appropriate, for the 202627 fiscal year, $4,400,163,000 from the General Fund to the department for that block grant, as provided. The bill would expressly authorize funding under the block grant to additionally be used for, among other things, providing professional development to improve the implementation of transitional kindergarten.

(29)Existing law establishes the 21st Century California School Leadership Academy to organize and offer professional learning opportunities for administrators and other school leaders and to provide grants to local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit educational services providers in a manner that ensures the availability of professional learning, free of charge, to local educational agencies, as provided. Existing law requires grantees to identify metrics to measure the effectiveness of professional learning and requires the department and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence to evaluate the professional learning opportunities offered or funded through the 21st Century California School Leadership Academy for their effectiveness.

This bill would require the department to allocate specified funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2026 to support the 21st Century California School Leadership Academy to support statewide professional learning opportunities, as specified.

(30)Existing law requires state funding to be calculated and withheld from a school district or county office of education as a penalty for any fiscal year in which a person renders service as a teacher in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, who does not have a valid certification document, as provided.

This bill would apply the above-described provisions relating to the penalties for a person rendering services as a teacher who does not have a valid credential or certification document to charter schools, as provided.

(31)Existing law requires any entity that has a contract with a school district, county office of education, or charter school to ensure that any employee who interacts with pupils outside of the immediate supervision and control of the pupils parent or guardian or a school employee has a valid criminal records summary, as specified.

This bill would expressly apply the above-described provisions to educational joint powers authorities. The bill would require an entity that has a contract with a local educational agency to instead ensure any employee who interacts with pupils has a valid criminal records summary without regard to whether the interaction takes place outside of the immediate supervision and control of the pupils parent or guardian or a school employee.

(32)Existing law establishes the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program and requires the Superintendent to allocate $2,750 per unit of average daily attendance, as specified, to local educational agencies with a prior fiscal year unduplicated pupil percentage of 55% or more, and requires those local educational agencies, as a condition of receiving that funding, to offer access to expanded learning opportunity programs to all pupils in classroom-based instructional programs in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and to provide access to any of those pupils whose parent or guardian requests their placement in a program. Existing law requires local educational agencies not receiving that funding, as a condition of receiving remaining funding, to offer to at least all unduplicated pupils in classroom-based instructional programs in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, access to expanded learning opportunity programs, and to provide access to any of those unduplicated pupils whose parent or guardian requests their placement in a program. Existing law subjects local educational agencies to an audit, as specified, to determine compliance with those requirements.

This bill would prohibit a local educational agency that receives an allocation from the remaining funding described above from receiving less than a per-unit rate of $1,800, as provided.

Existing law authorizes the department to allocate up to $5,000,000 of moneys appropriated for purposes of the program to county offices of education to provide technical assistance, evaluation, and training services to support program improvement, in coordination with specified activities.

This bill, commencing with the 202627 fiscal year, would, among other things, increase that amount by $2,500,000 to instead be $7,500,000, and require the coordination to also include state transformation assistance center activities.

(33)Existing law, the After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002, an initiative statute approved by the voters as Proposition 49 at the November 5, 2002, statewide general election, establishes the After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program under which participating public schools receive grants to operate before and after school programs serving pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 9, inclusive. The act requires an amount not to exceed $550,000,000 to be continuously appropriated to the department from the General Fund in each fiscal year for purposes of the program, and requires the amount to be allocated to public elementary, middle, and junior high schools according to a specified priority scheme that requires funding under the act to be given to schools where a minimum of 50% of the pupils in elementary schools and 50% of the pupils in middle and junior high schools are eligible for free or reduced cost meals and requires the department, for purposes of selecting schools below those thresholds, to consider the percentage of pupils eligible for free and reduced-price lunch and other indicators of need for the program, including, but not limited to, socioeconomic status of the neighborhoods in which participating pupils reside, the percentage of English language learners at the school, and the availability of programs in the community in which participating pupils reside.

This bill, among other things, would require the department, for schools below the above-described thresholds, to prioritize, instead of consider, those factors and would include schoolsites not receiving funds for expanded learning opportunity programs and schoolsites participating in the California Community Schools Partnership Act as additional priority factors. The bill would prohibit funding pursuant to act from supplanting funding for expanded learning opportunity programs, as specified. The bill would include a legislative finding and declaration that the bill furthers the purposes of the After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002.

(34)Existing federal law establishes the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program to provide pupils with academic enrichment and other activities during nonschool hours or periods when school is not in session, as provided. Under the program, of the total amount appropriated for after school grants to community learning centers, at least 50% is required to be allocated on a priority basis to community learning centers serving high school pupils and at least 40% is required to be allocated on a priority basis to community learning centers serving elementary and middle school pupils, as provided. For centers serving elementary and middle school pupils, existing law requires priority to be given to grant applications that will provide year-round expanded learning programming, including programs that complement existing funded programs, as provided. Existing law authorizes the department to use any funds remaining after the priority allocations for additional after school grants to community learning centers serving high school pupils.

This bill would instead require up to 40% of the total amount appropriated to be allocated on a priority basis to community learning centers serving elementary and middle school pupils and receiving funds pursuant to the Community Schools Partnership Act, as provided, and would require that priority be given to applicants that provide expanded learning programs on schoolsites not receiving funds for expanded learning opportunity programs, as provided. The bill would prohibit funding pursuant to the program from supplanting funding for expanded learning opportunity programs, as specified.

(35)Existing law provides that the minimum schoolday in a high school is 240 minutes, except as provided, including that a day of attendance for a pupil enrolled in grades 11 and 12 at an early college high school or middle college high school is 180 minutes of attendance if the pupil is also enrolled in a community college, classes of the California State University, or classes of the University of California, as provided.

This bill would reduce the 240-minute minimum schoolday to instead be 180 minutes of attendance for a pupil enrolled under a dual enrollment program that is part of a College and Career Access Pathways dual enrollment partnership agreement, as provided.

(36)Existing law, upon appropriation by the Legislature, establishes the California Teachers Collaborative for Holocaust and Genocide Education to establish a statewide teacher professional development program on genocide, including the Holocaust, for school district, county office of education, and charter school teachers, and provides that the collaboratives mission is to ensure that genocide, including Holocaust, education is taught consistent with, among other things, content standards, curriculum frameworks, and instructional materials adopted by the state board, in ways that are interdisciplinary and age appropriate to pupils of different grade levels.

Existing law requires the Superintendent to establish the Holocaust and Genocide Education Grant Program to provide direct allocations to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools for the purposes of providing Holocaust and genocide education and professional development on Holocaust and genocide education, as provided. Existing law establishes the Holocaust and Genocide Education Grant Program Fund in the State Treasury, and requires moneys in the fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Superintendent for purposes of the grant program.

This bill would require the collaborative to administer the grant program, and would provide for moneys in the grant fund to be distributed to the collaborative, to be used to administer and implement the grant program. The bill would require the collaborative to provide annual reports to the department and the Legislature on the administration of the grant program. The bill would appropriate $10,000,000 from the General Fund for administration of the grant program, as provided.

(37)Existing law authorizes a school district, county office of education, or charter school to offer independent study to meet the educational needs of pupils when certain requirements are met. Existing law prohibits a local educational agency from being eligible to receive apportionments for independent study by pupils unless the local educational agency has adopted written policies, and implemented those policies, in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the Superintendent, as specified. Existing law, for purposes of independent study, requires those programs to meet specified average-daily-attendance-to-certificated-employee ratios. Existing law authorizes a local educational agency to claim apportionment credit for independent study only to the extent of the time value of pupil work products.

This bill would revise the above-described required average-daily-attendance-to-certificated-employee ratios and would require a local educational agency to maintain one completed pupil work product in each of 4 specified subjects for a pupil enrolled in independent study for each of 3 specified attendance periods, except as provided.

(38)The Charter Schools Act of 1992 authorizes the establishment, operation, and governance of charter schools. The act authorizes the governing board of a school district, a county office of education, and the state board to approve a petition for the establishment of a charter school and to act as or designate a chartering authority, as provided. Existing law requires each chartering authority, with respect to each charter school under its authority, to, among other things, visit each charter school at least annually.

This bill would additionally require each chartering authority, with respect to each charter school under its authority, to provide the governing body of the charter school with feedback on any issues of concern identified in a specified review and an opportunity to respond, and, after completing annual financial and compliance audit oversight responsibilities, identify and provide notification to the governing body of the charter school within 60 days of any material concern arising out of the chartering authoritys ongoing oversight and monitoring activities. Commencing July 1, 2027, the bill would require each chartering authority to, among other things, visit each resource center, meeting space, and satellite facility approved in a charter petition or material revision and established by the charter school at least once every 2 years for each charter school under its authority and, for each nonclassroom-based charter school under its authority, annually review the charter schools average daily attendance, as provided.

The bill would require charter schools to obtain the approval of the governing body of the charter school for any contract that would cause the charter school to compensate an individual contractor more than $100,000 in a fiscal year.

To the extent that these additions to the act would impose new duties on local educational agencies, they would constitute a state-mandated local program.

Existing law sets out performance standards and procedures for the renewal of charter schools, including prohibiting a chartering authority from renewing a charter if certain performance standards are not met.

The bill would require the state board to establish criteria to define verified data and identify an approved list of valid and reliable assessments that would be required to be used by a chartering authority in its determination of renewing a charter, as provided. The bill would revise the performance standards and procedures for the renewal of charter schools and make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2028, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2029. The bill would set out revised standards and procedures for the renewal of charter schools that are operative on and after July 1, 2028.

(39)This bill would require the governing board of a school district or educational joint powers authority, the governing body of a charter school, or a county superintendent of schools, on or before July 1, 2027, to adopt a policy for local educational agencies to comply with in order to evaluate and approve contractors. The bill would require the policy to include specified provisions, including, among other things, that a local educational agency is prohibited from (A) expending public funds for a contract unless the materials, programs, and activities are nonsectarian, (B) offering financial payments or gifts to a pupil, prospective pupil, or a pupils parent, guardian, or relative as an incentive for pupil enrollment, referral, or retention, and (C) purchasing or contracting for annual and season passes or membership to amusement or theme parks, zoos, or family entertainment activities, except as provided.

(40)For the 202627 fiscal year, existing law requires the Superintendent to calculate, for specified charter schools that operate a minimum of 175 school days, the difference between the charter schools certified local control funding formula entitlement as of the annual principal apportionment in that fiscal year and the first principal apportionment in the 202425 fiscal year, and, if there is a difference, allocate the amount of that difference to the charter school.

This bill would require the amount calculated for the above-described charter schools to be adjusted to account for the increase in the add-on amount for transitional kindergarten from the 202425 to the 202526 fiscal years, inclusive, in a manner that ensures that those charter schools are not negatively impacted for the difference in funding increase for transitional kindergarten. The bill would require the Superintendent, for those charter schools, to calculate 30% of the charter schools local control funding formula entitlement, as provided, as of the 202425 first principal apportionment and allocate that amount for each charter school in the 202627 fiscal year. The bill would also require the Superintendent to allocate $4,000,000 to Pasadena Unified School District to help address outstanding and ongoing recovery-related costs that resulted from the state of emergency that was declared by the Governor in January 2025.

(41)Existing law authorizes a school district or charter school to maintain a transitional kindergarten program. Existing law defines transitional kindergarten as the first year of a 2-year kindergarten program that uses curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate.

This bill, for purposes of transitional kindergarten, would require developmentally appropriate curriculum to include (A) instructional practices that promote each childs development and learning through a strengths- and play-based approach to joyful, engaged learning that addresses the domains of development, as specified, and (B) a cohesive set of principles, learning goals, intentional teaching strategies, activities, experiences, environments, and materials designed to help children learn and thrive in ways that are appropriate to their age and stage of development.

(42)Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to provide for a leave of absence from duty for a certificated employee or an academic employee of the district who is required to be absent from duty because of pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, and recovery from those conditions.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to provide for a leave of absence from duty as it deems appropriate for a female employee in the classified service of the district who is required to be absent from duty because of pregnancy or convalescence following childbirth. Existing law authorizes a governing board to adopt rules and regulations about leaves of absence for classified employees for these purposes, and authorizes a governing board to provide in the rules and regulations whether the leave granted shall be with or without pay, as provided.

This bill would delete the latter provisions authorizing the governing board of a school district to adopt those rules and regulations. The bill instead would require a school district, county office of education, charter school, or educational joint powers authority to, for a certificated employee or an employee in the classified service of one of those educational entities, provide up to 14 weeks of a leave of absence with specified pay benefits for an employee who is required to be absent from duty because of pregnancy, miscarriage, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or recovery from those conditions, as provided. The bill would authorize the paid leave to begin before and continue after childbirth if the employee is actually disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or a related condition. The bill would prohibit a leave of absence taken pursuant to these provisions from being deducted from other leaves of absence, as provided, would require those educational entities to maintain group health coverage for an employee who takes a leave of absence under these provisions for the duration of the leave of absence at the same level and under the same conditions that coverage would have been provided if the employee had not taken a leave of absence, would require compensation during the leave of absence taken under these provisions to include retirement fund contributions required of the educational entity, and would require the employee to earn full service credit during the leave of absence and to pay member contributions to the retirement fund. The bill would prohibit any other eligibility requirements, including, but not limited to, minimum hours worked or length of service, before an employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, or related medical conditions is eligible for a paid leave of absence under these provisions. The bill would make these provisions operative on January 1, 2027.

The bill, commencing with the 202627 fiscal year, would make specified increases to certain local control funding formula grants and would require local educational agencies incurring costs related to providing employees with up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy disability leave, as specified, to use those funds to reimburse those costs.

(43)Existing law requires the state board, on or before October 1, 2016, to adopt evaluation rubrics for certain purposes, including, among others, to assist a county superintendent of schools, the department, or a chartering authority in identifying school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools in need of technical assistance, pursuant to specified processes, and the specific priorities upon which the technical assistance should be focused. Existing law also requires these evaluation rubrics to include performance criteria, based on performance by pupil subgroups either across 2 or more state and local indicators or 2 or more state priorities, for local educational agency assistance and intervention. Existing law requires the state board, no later than July 15, 2026, to update the performance criteria, as provided.

This bill would revise and recast specified rules governing the length of technical assistance provided to local educational agencies. The bill would, among other things, beginning with the release of the 2026 California School Dashboard, and every 3 years thereafter, require the county superintendent of schools to provide technical assistance for a minimum of 3 years to a charter school or school district that meets the new criteria established by the state board, and would require the Superintendent to provide technical assistance for a minimum of 3 years to a county office of education that meets the new criteria established by the state board, as provided. By imposing new duties on county offices of education, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program

The bill would revise and recast the above-described provisions related to evaluation rubrics used to identify school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools in need of technical assistance. The bill would additionally authorize the criteria to be based on performance by an all pupils subgroup, comprised of at least 30 pupils at a local educational agency. The bill would, beginning with the release of the 2026 California School Dashboard, and every 3 years thereafter, require the state board to determine local educational agency eligibility for assistance and intervention based on the updated performance criteria. The bill would require the department to annually publish information on local educational agencies identified for assistance, as provided. The bill would require the state board, no later than May 15, 2029, to update the performance criteria for local educational assistance and intervention by the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, as provided, and to make related recommendations to the Legislature.

(44)Existing law appropriates $600,000,000 from the General Fund to the department for allocation to certain school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to expend on kitchen infrastructure upgrades that will increase a schools capacity to prepare meals served through a federal school meal program, as defined, including for freshly prepared onsite meals, to serve fresh and nutritious school meals using minimally processed, locally grown, and sustainable food, or for expanding meal options for pupils with restricted diets, as specified. Existing law requires, as a condition of receiving funding, each local educational agency to report to the department, on or before June 30, 2025, on how it used the funding.

This bill would, for the 202627 fiscal year, appropriate $400,000,000 from the General Fund to the department for grants to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools participating in the federal School Breakfast Program or the federal National School Lunch Program to support kitchen equipment, infrastructure, training, and the continued implementation of universal school meals, as provided. The bill would require the department to award grant funds as allocations, as specified, to eligible local educational agencies and would require the department to give priority to certain local educational agencies, including those that did not receive previous kitchen infrastructure and training grant funding, as provided.

(45)Existing law requires county superintendents of schools to provide technical assistance focused on data management processes and capacity to develop and implement actions and services responsive to pupil and community needs to school districts that fail to meet requirements associated with the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, and requires the Superintendent to provide similar technical assistance to county offices of education, as provided.

This bill would instead require the above-described technical assistance to focus on the school district or county office of educations capacity to develop and implement actions and services responsive to data quality and integrity in support of state and federal accountability, as provided. The bill would (A) require the county superintendent to provide this technical assistance to a school district, and the department to provide this technical assistance to a county office of education, for a minimum of one year, as provided, (B) require a school district to accept the technical assistance, and (C) would require a county board of education that requests this technical assistance to pay for the technical assistance, as provided. By imposing new duties on school districts and county offices of education, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(46)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 county superintendent of schools to prepare a summary of how the county superintendent of schools plans to support school districts and schools within the county in implementing specified provisions related to local control and accountability plans. Existing law requires this summary to include, among other things, a description of how the county superintendent of schools will support the continuous improvement of all school districts within the county, and one or more goals for specified topics, including providing technical assistance to school district and charter schools pursuant to specified procedures.

This bill would require the county superintendent of schools to include in that summary a description of how the county superintendent of schools will support the continuous improvement of all school districts within the county, including, at a minimum, clearly identifying the activities being performed by the county office of education and the source of funding for those activities. The bill would additionally require the county superintendent of schools to include in that summary a description of one or more goals for providing universal and targeted assistance to local educational agencies pursuant to the above-describe universal and targeted assistance county office of education funding grant. By imposing new duties on the county superintendents of schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(47)Existing law requires the state board, on or before January 31, 2024, to appoint an independent panel of experts for the purpose of creating an approved list of evidence-based, culturally, linguistically, and developmentally appropriate screening instruments for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2 to assess pupils for risk of reading difficulties, including possible neurological disorders such as dyslexia, and requires the panel of experts, on or before December 31, 2024, to approve a list of screening instruments, as provided. Existing law requires the governing board or body of a local educational agency serving pupils in kindergarten or grades 1 or 2, on or before June 30, 2025, to adopt one or more screening instruments from the list adopted by the panel of experts, and commencing no later than the 202526 school year, and annually thereafter, to assess each pupil in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2 for risk of reading difficulties using the screening instrument or instruments adopted by the governing board or body of the local educational agency, unless the pupils parent or guardian opts out of the screening in writing. Existing law requires a local educational agency, in determining when during the school year to administer each screening instrument, to consider whether pupils have received sufficient instruction in foundational reading skills to support a valid assessment.

This bill would prohibit a local educational agency from administering a screening instrument to a kindergarten pupil for those purposes before the 91st schoolday in the school year. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department, on or before January 31, 2027, to develop and disseminate guidance to local educational agencies regarding determining whether a pupil has received sufficient instruction in foundational reading skills to support a valid assessment, as provided.

The bill would appropriate $40,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent for allocation to local educational agencies that administer literacy screenings to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2 for risk of reading difficulties to support implementation of those requirements, as provided.

(48)Existing law makes various appropriations for the Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program and augmentation of that program, as specified.

This bill, among other things, would (A) codify those provisions and extend the encumbrance dates of those prior appropriations, (B) appropriate, for the 202627 fiscal year, $350,000,000 from the General Fund to the department to further augment the previously established Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program and previous augmentation of that program, as specified, and (C) revise existing, and add new, reporting requirements for purposes of the program, as specified.

(49)Existing law establishes the Dream Resource Center Grant Program for the purpose of providing pupils, including undocumented pupils, in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, with specified resources. The bill would require the department, in administering the program, to review applications and award grants based off of a tiered point system that prioritizes applications for funding, as provided. Existing law authorizes a school district, county office of education, or charter school, including those that have already established a Dream Resource Center at one or more schoolsites, to apply to the department to be eligible to receive a grant, as provided. Existing law requires a local educational agency that receives a grant under the program to use it for creating a Dream Resource Center or for supplementing, but not supplanting, an existing Dream Resource Center, as provided, and requires the department, on or before June 1, 2026, to submit a report to the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature detailing the successes, best practices, barriers or constraints, and outcomes of Dream Resource Centers funded with these grants.

This bill would, among other things, (A) authorize local educational agencies that can demonstrate that they are already providing specified resources through existing programmatic structures to also apply for funds to establish a Dream Resource Center and expand upon existing services, (B) require grant recipients, at the conclusion of the grant term, to provide a final report to the department, as specified, and (C) revise the departments reporting requirement to instead be 3 reports due on or before each of December 30, 2028, December 30, 2030, and December 30, 2032. The bill would appropriate, for the 202627 fiscal year, $75,000,000 to the department to support the program.

(50)Existing law, subject to an appropriation of funds for this purpose in the annual Budget Act, requires the State Department of Social Services, in collaboration with the State Department of Education, to administer the California Newcomer Education and Well-Being Program (CalNEW) to provide services for newcomer pupils, English learners, and immigrant families by allocating funding to school districts and county offices of education, as specified.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to (A) curate and maintain on its internet website information regarding requirements, best practices, and available state and federally funded programs for newcomer pupils and (B) publicly report on an annual basis on its internet website the enrollment of newcomer pupils, as provided.

This bill would appropriate $100,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Education, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services, for Californias New Americans in Schools (CalNAS) program, which the bill would establish, to award grants on a competitive basis to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide services for newcomer pupils, English learners, and immigrant families, as specified. The bill would require $10,000,000 of that amount to be available to the State Department of Education to competitively award a grant to a local educational agency, or a consortium of local educational agencies, to provide statewide technical assistance for the program, as specified.

(51)Existing law requires the Superintendent to calculate allocations to special education local plan areas based on the average daily attendance of each local educational agency and charter school that is a local educational agency for purposes of special education, as specified. Existing law requires, commencing with the 202324 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, the Superintendent to determine the amount of funding per unit of average daily attendance for each special education local plan area using a specified calculation.

This bill would require the amount of funding per unit of average daily attendance for each special education local plan area to instead be $1,340 for the 202627 fiscal year and, commencing with the 202728 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, the amount of funding per unit of average daily attendance for the prior fiscal year, as adjusted annually by a specified inflation factor. The bill would also revise the special education funding calculations for the Los Angeles County Juvenile Court and Community School/Division of Alternative Education Special Education Local Plan Area commencing with the 202627 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, as specified.

(52)Existing law authorizes the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI) to provide its services to all local educational agencies, as provided, including services that provide pupils and their families with direct access to online tools and resources for college and career planning. Existing law requires the department to refer local educational agencies to CCGI for technical assistance in reconciling discrepancies between AG coursework, as listed in their local pupil information system, and how those courses are registered in the University of California Course Management Portal at the office of the President of the University of California, or a successor AG course management portal.

This bill would, among other things, require the department to also refer local educational agencies to CCGI to ensure that required dual enrollment courses are flagged in the data files submitted to CCGI. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(53)Existing law establishes the California Center for Inclusive College (the center) and annually appropriates, commencing with the 202425 fiscal year, $2,000,000 each fiscal year from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction to, in consultation with the executive director of the state board, allocate to one or more county offices of education to administer the center.

This bill would require the Superintendent to allocation specified funding in the Budget Act of 2026 to the center for purposes of implementing inclusive college programs, as defined. The bill would authorize up to 15% of that amount to be used for the administration of those grant awards. The bill would require the center to submit a report to the Department of Finance on or before December 1, 2026, detailing how it plans to award funds, as specified.

The bill would require the Sacramento County Office of Education to utilize specified funding 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.

(54)Existing law establishes the Golden State Teacher Grant Program under the administration of the Student Aid Commission and requires the commission to provide one-time grant funds of up to $20,000 to each student enrolled, or who has applied for enrollment, on or after January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2024, inclusive, in a professional preparation program leading to a preliminary teaching credential or a pupil personnel services credential, at either a qualifying institution, as defined, or a professional preparation program approved by the Commission on Teaching Credentialing, as specified, if the student commits to working at a priority school or a California preschool program for 4 years within the 8 years following the date the student completes the professional preparation program. Existing law limits the grant to up to $10,000 for a California resident student enrolled, or who has applied for enrollment, on or after January 1, 2020, to June 30, 2024, inclusive, at a private postsecondary educational institution that is approved by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing as a qualified institution, as specified. For applications received under the program from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2026, inclusive, existing law requires the Student Aid Commission to provide reduced one-time grant funds of up to $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, to each student eligible for a grant, except teacher intern credential program participants, if the student commits to working at a priority school or a California preschool program for 2 years within the 4 years following the date the student completes the professional preparation program.

This bill would, among other things, extend eligibility for those reduced $10,000 and $5,000 grants indefinitely by removing the enrollment deadline of June 30, 2026. By expanding the time in which applications can be received under the program, which is funded by an existing appropriation, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the preliminary teaching credential to be in a high-need field, as identified by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

For grants funded with specified federal funds, this bill would require the Student Aid Commission to provide one-time grants of up to $20,000 to each student enrolled, or who has applied for enrollment, on or after July 1, 2026, in a professional preparation program leading to a special education credential, at either a qualifying institution, as defined, or a professional preparation program approved by the Commission on Teaching Credentialing, as specified, except teacher intern credential program participants, if the student commits to working at a priority school or a California preschool program for 4 years within the 8 years following the date the student completes the professional preparation program. The bill would limit the grant funded with those specified federal funds to up to $10,000 for a California resident student enrolled, or who has applied for enrollment, on or after July 1, 2026, in a professional preparation program leading to a special education credential at a private postsecondary educational institution approved by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing as a qualified institution, as specified.

The Budget Act of 2025 appropriates $50,000,000 to the Student Aid Commission to augment support for the program.

This bill would require those funds to be available for encumbrance or expenditure by the commission until June 30, 2029. By extending the encumbrance or expenditure date for an existing appropriation, the bill would make an appropriation.

(55)Existing law requires certain funds appropriated in the annual Budget Act for reimbursement for the cost of a new program or increased level of service of an existing program mandated by statute or executive order to be available as a block grant to school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education, to support specified state-mandated local programs. Existing law provides that a school district, charter school, or county office of education that submits a letter requesting funding to the Superintendent and receives this block grant funding is not eligible to submit a claim for reimbursement for those specified mandated programs for the fiscal year in which the block grant funding is received.

This bill would add to the list of programs that are authorized for block grant funding in lieu of program-specific reimbursement to include requirements relating to the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021.

(56)Existing law, for the 202122 fiscal year, appropriates $15,000,000 from the General Fund to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing for the Computer Science Supplementary Authorization Incentive Grant Program for purposes of providing one-time grants to local educational agencies to support the preparation of credentialed teachers to earn a supplementary authorization in computer science and provide instruction in computer science coursework in settings authorized by the underlying credential, as provided. Under this program, a participating teacher is eligible to receive an award of up to $2,500, and a grant recipient is required to provide a 100% local match of the grant funding or an in-kind match of release time or substitute teacher costs for the participating teacher, as provided. Existing law requires those funds to be available for encumbrance until June 30, 2026.

This bill would increase the maximum amount a participating teacher is eligible to receive under the program from $2,500 to instead be $6,000. The bill would reduce the local match requirements to instead be cash equal to ¹/₃ of the grant funding or an in-kind match of administrative and coordination costs or release time or substitute teacher costs for the participating teacher, as provided. The bill would extend the period that those funds are available for encumbrance to instead be until June 30, 2030, thereby making an appropriation.

(57)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. Existing law requires those funds to be available for encumbrance until June 30, 2026.

This bill would extend the period that those funds are available for encumbrance to instead be until June 30, 2027, thereby making an appropriation. The bill would additionally appropriate, for the 202627 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 specified.

(58)Existing law appropriates $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the department to create, in consultation with the executive director of the state board, a Literacy Roadmap to help educators apply the states curriculum framework to classroom instruction, navigate the resources and professional development opportunities available to implement effective literacy instruction, and improve literacy outcomes for all pupils with a focus on equity, as provided.

This bill would extend the period that those funds are available for encumbrance to instead be until June 30, 2028, and make those funds available for liquidation until June 30, 2030, thereby making an appropriation.

(59)Existing law appropriates $15,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent to designate a county office of education to identify and curate a repository of high-quality open educational resources for use by local educational agencies as part of the statewide system of support, as provided.

This bill would appropriate, for the 202627 fiscal year, $600,000 from the General Fund to the department to contract with a county office of education to curate and maintain the California Educators Together online repository of high-quality open educational resources for use by local educational agencies, as provided.

(60)Existing federal law, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, provides grants to states to carry out activities relating to the education of homeless children and youths, as defined, including, among others, providing services and activities to improve the identification of homeless children and youths and to enable them to enroll in, attend, and succeed in school.

This bill would appropriate $70,000,000 from the General Fund to the department for allocation to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to supplement funding available under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act in order to increase the identification of, and improve educational outcomes for, homeless children and youths, as provided. The bill would require, as a condition of receiving one-time, 3-year grant funding, a local educational agency to commit to (A) communicate and collaborate with technical assistance centers to receive technical assistance, implement best practices, and foster partnerships with local and county governmental entities, educational institutions, and community-based organizations, (B) annually report on the academic outcomes for pupils served by the grants, as specified, and (C) submit a final report by December 31, 2029, to the department that describes how the local educational agency intends to sustain and integrate efforts supporting the needs of homeless children and youths after the one-time grant funds end, as specified.

(61)Existing law establishes the California Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program for the purpose of recruiting classified school employees to participate in a program designed to encourage them to enroll in teacher training programs, as defined, and to provide instructional service as teachers in the public schools. Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, subject to an appropriation for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or other statute, to issue a request for proposals to all school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education in the state in order to solicit applications for funding.

This bill, for the 202627 fiscal year, would appropriate $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing for the California Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program, as specified.

(62)Existing law requires the Inglewood Unified School District to take certain actions by April 1, 2023, including meeting the requirements for qualified or positive certification, completing a comprehensive operational review, and undergoing an on-time annual independent audit, as provided. Existing law requires the Budget Act, beginning with the 202223 fiscal year, to include an appropriation of up to 25% of the school districts projected operating deficit, as determined by the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, with concurrence with the Department of Finance, if those requirements are met, and makes the disbursement those funds contingent upon the completion of activities specified in the prior year Budget Act to improve the school districts fiscal solvency. activities specified in the prior year Budget Act. Existing law requires those activities to be determined based on joint recommendations from the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team and the Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools, as provided.

This bill, for the 202627 fiscal year, would appropriate $400,000 on a one-time basis from the General Fund to the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team to offset the costs of the 202425 and 202526 annual comprehensive reviews for the Inglewood Unified School District.

(63)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.

(64)Certain funds transferred or 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.

(65)This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.