Assembly Standing Committee on Education

All right. Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to call this hearing of the Assembly Education Committee to order. Madam Secretary, will you please? Let's see. We don't have enough to call, so we'll hold off on calling the role to establish quorum. But seeing that we have our two new Members to the Education Committee, I want to give a special welcome to Assembly Members Hoover and Carrillo.

And with at least one Member from the other side of the aisle represented here, I think we can proceed as a Subcommittee. Like to welcome everyone to today's hearing. We will be hearing bills in sign-in order. I see several Members lined up ready to go. We have 27 bills on file. There are 11 measures on consent for the benefit of the audience. The measures on consent, which means they will not be presented, they will be voted on as a group.

They are Assembly bills. AB 87, 87 with amendments, AB 377, AB 417, AB 497, AB 715, AB 723, AB 1127, AB 1173, with amendments AB 1340, and ACR 16, and ACR 18. So if you're in the audience for any of those bills, you're not going to hear them being discussed in the hearing. When we get a quorum, we will vote on the consent calendar.

Reminder, for all of those presenting bills for each bill, we will have up to two witnesses in support, as well as for opposition, each of whom may speak for up to two minutes unless prior arrangements were made. For each bill presented. members of the public in the hearing room will have an opportunity to state your position, but we ask that you just limit your comments to your name, affiliation, and position on the bill only.

Members of the public are also welcome to provide comment through our position letter portal on the Assembly Education Committee's website. Before I go any further, I understand that we have some very special guests. We have. Was it okay? I want to recognize it. Sounds like we have a big group of students from Irvine, California. Well, welcome to the state capitol. All right, our first order of business is going to be adopting our Committee rules. This requires a motion and a second. May I entertain a motion?

I will. Second. Okay. All right. I was reminded that we are still waiting to get quorum. And so we have our motion seconded. Motion made by Mr. Carrillo, seconded by Mr. Hoover, and we will take that vote when we get our quorum. So I see here the sign-in list, Mr. Zbur, file item seven, Assembly Bill 383. Welcome, sir. The floor is yours. Oh, it's on now.

Okay.

Chair, Committee Members, I'd like to start out by thanking the Committee Members and your staff for your engagement on this Bill, and I'm happy to accept the Committee staff's proposed amendments. Today. I'm proud to present my first Bill in the Assembly, AB 383. I'm proud that this Bill is sponsored by the California Federation of Teachers and supported by the California School Employees Association and AFSCME.

And I'm proud that this Bill will reduce California's teacher shortage by improving the existing classified school employee teacher credentialing program, the pipeline that creates opportunities for our valued classified staff who want to move into fully credentialed teaching roles. Classified staff include bus drivers, custodians, teaching assistants, and more, all of whom provide essential support and services to students across California.

They are uniquely equipped to transition into teaching roles due to their already being familiar with and working in school settings and their contributions to the foundation of our education system. In 2016, the Legislature created a grant program to provide additional opportunities for classified staff to become credentialed teachers. Currently, the program provides $4,000 per participant per year for up to five years, and classified staff can use the funds to cover costs, including tuition and books, to complete their undergraduate education and obtain their teaching credential.

The goal of the program is to reduce teacher shortages, particularly in math, science, special education, and bilingual education, and facilitate the transition of classified staff to the opportunity to become teachers. Just a few months ago, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing issued a report detailing the successes and challenges of the first years of the program. Thanks to the program, almost 1,200 former classified staff are now serving as credentialed teachers in California.

The program also increases diversity of our teaching pool, with over 54% of participants coming from communities of color. The Commission also identified several factors hindering full implementation and noted a need to improve work-life challenges for program participants so that they can successfully complete the credentialing process. Many participants reported working multiple jobs to make ends meet while often raising families, and this Bill will provide better support.

For example, guaranteed 600 hours of guaranteed time off for these families to not have to work these multiple jobs, and they receive stipends to cover their wages and their benefits. With California facing a severe teacher shortage, it's critical to ensure that this credentialing program continues and works effectively. AB 383 will increase the number of credentialed teachers in California in a streamlined way.

Specifically, it allows participants to use program funds to cover living expenses, and a key new provision of this Bill is that it guarantees at least 600 hours of leave of absence with their wages and benefits covered. These updates will increase utilization of the program and facilitate higher rate of success by addressing the work-life challenges that participants face. The initial rounds of funding ended in 2022, and earlier this year, Governor Newsom announced $125 million in continued funding to expand the program's capacity.

I asked for your Aye vote at the appropriate time and today with me. I'm proud to have with me to testify and support and assist with any technical questions you might have both Tiffany Mok, on behalf of the California Federation of Teachers, the sponsor of the Bill, and Jessica Hay, on behalf of the California School Employees Association.

All right.

Thank you. Good afternoon. Chair and Members of the Education Committee, I want to first echo a huge thanks for the thoughtful consideration and analysis of this Bill and wonderful amendments. As noted, my name is Tiffany Mok. I represent CFT, a union of educators and classified professionals.

As you all know, California is facing a staffing crisis and this is a program that will help address this shortage by engaging our current classified professionals to stay in their current positions while training to obtain a teaching certificate, which will consequently let them fill other staffing shortages as a teacher. California also faces a diversity crisis in the education pool.

This Bill helps address diversity, as noted, with many participants coming from communities of color and further, this Bill, though, hits both those goals by addressing the barriers that some participants have noted, mainly the absence of funds to assist in living expenses and the time off that is required so that they can complete the program. For those reasons, we are proud to sponsor AB 383 and urge your Aye vote.

Good afternoon chair and Committee Members. Thank you so much for allowing me to speak in support of this Bill.

My name is Jessica Hay and I am with the California School Employees Association and we are proud, proud supporters of AB 383. First, I'd like to thank the Assembly Member and his staff for all their work on this Bill and thank the Committee staff for your thoughtful analysis. CSEA represents 250,000 classified school employees, many of whom make less than 30,000 a year and are primarily women and people of color. Classified employees are the folks that get kids to and from school safely.

They make sure kids have a welcoming, safe, and clean learning environment. They support teachers in the classroom to make sure students get the academic assistance they need and so much more. And AB 383 would increase the participation of classified employees in the California Classified School Employee Teaching Credential Program by allowing them to take an unpaid leave of absence, receive wage replacements or a stipend to cover living costs, and keep their benefits while on leave. This program provides a pathway for classified school employees to become teachers.

And according to the California Commission on Teaching Credential, nearly 300 school employees that have become teachers through the program are still teaching. Classified employees participating in the program, like the Assembly Member mentioned, can receive about 4,800 annually to spend on education costs. So that's just for books and tuition and things like that, but not for their living expenses. And they're taking that unpaid leave to be student teachers.

And so this would allow them to provide for their families to have pay for rent or things like that. To finish that program, they have to complete a 12-week teaching, unpaid teaching leave. So this would really help kind of alleviate that burden on them. Current law prohibits participants from receiving that wage replacement or requiring employers to provide that unpaid time off.

So many classified employees are really reluctant to pursue a teaching credential because they cannot afford to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave to complete the student teaching requirements.

Can I ask you to wrap up?

Yes. So this program would allow more classified employees to enter the teaching and help reduce the teacher crisis. So for all of those reasons, we respectfully ask for your Aye vote.

Thank you very much. Any public comments in support of this Bill, please come forward to the microphone.

Kimberly Rosenberger with SEIU. Our loss is a district's gain as classified proved to be some of the most competent culturally and dedicated teachers. So we proudly support.

Thank you. Any further public comments in support of the Bill? Seeing none. Any witnesses in opposition to the Bill? Seeing none. Any public comments in opposition to the Bill? Please come forward. Seeing none. Questions from the Committee? Mr. Carrillo?

I don't have questions. I just want to thank the author for bringing this up to this Commission. I think that it's a very innovative way to start encouraging that more teachers become teachers, to provide the education that our kids need.

As a previous school board member, I know how hard classified employees work, and I know that they are the directors of the first impressions for our kids. They are the ones welcoming them to school. They're the ones serving their food, are the ones that care for them when they get ill. And I think it's an innovative way to encourage that full support of the Bill. Thank you for bringing that in.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any other questions? Mr. Hoover.

Just really briefly, I appreciate the amendments that you're accepting. I think with those, I was a little concerned about the strain it would put on school districts, but I think with those amendments, I'm happy to support it. So thanks for bringing this forward.

Thank you.

All right. Bipartisan kumbaya. So can I entertain a motion to do pass as amended to the Appropriations Committee? All right. Well, Mr. Zbur, your first Bill. You're on a roll here. Yes. Would you like to close?

I'll just say that this Bill provides one of the necessary practical solutions to our severe teacher shortage and reflects our California values of opportunity to help our valued classified staff who want to move into the teaching profession. I respectfully ask for your Aye vote.

Thank you. Mr. Zbur. As all of your witnesses and you yourself stated, this is a very good Bill that is addressing one of the state's top priorities to address the teacher shortage. I would be honored to be added as a co-author to your Bill. And we have a motion in a second, but we don't have quorum yet, so we will vote on the Bill when we get the quorum. But thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Thank you, everyone. Thank you.

All right, next, we have two bills from Ms. or Dr. Weber. Welcome. First is file item 14, AB 611. And then file item 25, AB 1466.

Good afternoon Chair and Members, thank you to the Committee Chair and staff. And I accept the recommended amendments for AB 611. I'm here to present AB 611, which seeks to expand transparency between nonpublic schools and the families they serve by requiring the LEAs to notify families when there is any form of status change from the California Department of Education. Nonpublic schools are specialized private schools that contract with local education agencies to provide services to public school students with disabilities pursuant to an individual education plan.

According to data from the California Department of Education, NPSs currently serve over 6,000 students with 40% of students identified as being on the autism spectrum and 31% of the students reported as having emotional disturbance. In 2018, a 13-year-old student tragically died as a result of prolonged restraint at a contracting nonpublic school. The tragic incident brought to light that the certification of the school had been changed to conditional status based on previous misuses of physical restraints, but parents were never aware of any changes.

This is important because if notified, parents would have been aware of the harmful and unsafe environment this school was for their child, ultimately denying parents the opportunity to reevaluate their child's IEP and overall educational setting. The U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights investigated the contracted LEA and found that, quote, parents did not consistently have access to the information needed to participate meaningfully on the IEP teams for their children. End quote.

Every single parent and guardian has the right to participate meaningfully in their child's education. Current law requires CDE to notify LEAs of any change in a nonpublic school or agency certification status change, and this Bill will extend that notice of any changes to families so that they may be able to reevaluate their child's IEP in a timely manner. Among the supporters of AB 611 are the California Association for Parent-Child Advocacy, California Health Coalition Advocacy, and Learning Rights Law Center.

With me today to speak in support of AB 611 is Christy Sepulveda Burkett from Education Advocate, a statewide grassroots nonprofit organization that serves families with exceptional needs, and Crystal Baham, a parent of a student with exceptional needs at a local area school district.

Good afternoon Chair and Members of the Assembly Education Committee I am Christy Sepulveda Berchett of Educate Advocate.

Educate Advocate is a statewide, grassroots nonprofit organization that serves families with exceptional needs. And I am also a parent to a student with exceptional needs who attends a nonpublic school. Educate Advocate is a proud sponsor of Assembly Member Weber's AB 611. AB 611 seeks to expand transparency between nonpublic schools and the families they serve when there is any form of certification status change from the California Department of Education. Several years ago, when a student was restrained at a nonpublic school, he tragically died.

Previous to this tragic event, the state had changed the school's certification status, but because there is no requirement that families are notified if a nonpublic school certification status changes, the families were not notified. This Bill would require local educational agencies to alert families who have students in nonpublic schools via email or mail within 14 days of becoming aware of any change in certification status of a nonpublic school.

This would allow families to have access, transparency, and timely information that they need to make informed decisions about the appropriateness of their students' educational placement. Thank you for the opportunity to address you today and I would ask you to support AB 611.

Okay, good afternoon. This testimony is written on behalf of Malora Tamano and Edward Miguel, founders and directors of a nonpublic school, Port View Preparatory in Southern California with two campuses serving over 200 students.

We feel it is imperative and without question that parents, as consumers of an educational service, be informed of any changes to the status of the nonpublic school certification. Changes in this status of a nonpublic school certification can be the result of a harmful, unsafe, or inadequate environment for students. For many students, sudden disruptions or abrupt changes may cause significant behavioral and or social-emotional challenges.

These challenges may lead to regression or escalation in symptom prevention that may be dangerous and harmful to not only the student, but their family members as well. By notifying parents of such changes, parents can work together with local educational agencies to determine a plan and whether additional supports need to be in place during a transition or change in educational setting to prevent regression or further harm to the student. Thank you for the opportunity to address you today.

And we would ask for your support on AB 611. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any public comments in support of AB 611, please come forward. And again, please limit your comments to name, affiliation and your position on the Bill.

My name is Paula Hozovsky. I sit on the Board of Educate Advocate. I am a teacher and a parent of special needs students and I support this Bill.

Thank you.

Shannon Primer. I'm also board member of Educate Advocate. I'm a parent of a special needs kid at a nonpublic school. And I'm a special education paralegal that represents kids at MPSs. And I would appreciate your Aye vote on this, please.

Quentin Levec, on behalf of California Health Coalition Advocacy, in support.

Thank you. Any further comments in support of this Bill? Seeing none. Any witnesses in opposition to this Bill? Anyone in the audience in opposition? Seeing no witnesses. Any public comments in opposition to the Bill, please come forward. Seeing no one coming forward. Questions from the Committee? Mr. Hoover.

I just want to thank the author for bringing this forward. You know, as a parent of a child on the autism spectrum, this is something that I feel very strongly about. So I really appreciate your advocacy and really happy to support the Bill today. Thank you.

Is that a second to the motion, Mr.? Thank you. Any further, Mr. Carrillo? Oh, okay. Seeing no further questions. We do now have a quorum. So why don't I let Dr. Weber close first?

Thank you. Thank you. Parents and guardians deserve to have peace of mind that where they send their child or children is safe and healthy. AB 611 notifies parents of any status change in the nonpublic school that their child attends so that they may continue to support their children's unique needs. I respectfully ask for your Aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Dr. Weber. Very important Bill addresses a critical need. I will be recommending that this Bill do pass, as amended to Appropriations. We do now have a quorum, so let's first call roll to establish quorum.

[Roll call]

Thank you very much. Having established quorum, a motion has been made and seconded on the Bill. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

File item 14. AB 611. The motion is do pass as amended to Appropriations. [Roll call]

Okay, so. Okay. All right, five votes. The the Bill is out.

All right, we will move next to file item 25, AB 1466.

Thank you, Chair and Members. I'm here to also present AB 1466, which seeks to further expand transparency and accessibility between families and local education agencies. Current state and federal law requires LEAs to collect and report data on seclusion and restraint of students and for that data to be posted on the California Department of Education's website. According to that data from 2019 to 2020 statewide restraint and seclusion data posted on the CDE website, almost 3000 students were restrained or secluded in schools.

81% of those students had disabilities, 36% were African American, and 41% were Hispanic or Latino. Our most vulnerable students are overly represented in the restraint and seclusion data. As a result, parents and guardians deserve to have access to information that could be harmful to their children. Advocates like those from the California Association for Parent and Child Advocacy say that the CDE website is difficult to search even for experienced attorneys and advocates.

Expanding accessibility to this information can allow parents to accurately advocate on behalf of their child or children to improve school climate. In addition, the accessibility to the information helps educators and administrators to reevaluate the use of restraint and seclusion on their campuses and determine whether more effective alternatives such methods are being sufficiently used. Among the supporters of this bill is Disability Rights California, who also shares that even special education experts have difficulty obtaining this data from CDE's website. And with me today to speak are my previous two witnesses, Kristie Sepulveda-Burchit and Crystal Baham.

Kristie Sepulveda-Burchit again from educate advocate and we are a proud sponsor of Assembly Member Weber's AB 1466. AB 1466 requires local educational agencies to post on their website the restraint and seclusion data that they already collect and submit to the California Department of Education. Existing law requires that local educational agencies provide this data on restraint and seclusion to the California Department of Education.

Unfortunately, students with disabilities are disproportionately affected, with the data showing 83.1% being physically restrained and 65.1% being secluded from the 2019-2020 school year data. Requiring local educational agencies to provide their data on restraint and seclusion on their own website will provide parents and guardians greater transparency, information, and access in finding this information. Thank you for the opportunity to address you today, and I would ask for your support for AB 1466.

Good afternoon, again. My name is Crystal Baham. I am a parent of a student with exceptional needs at a local Sacramento area school district. The data on seclusion and restraint on the California Department of Education website is difficult to navigate, as it is voluminous. Having this data on my own district's website relative to the district my student belongs to would be much easier for me to access.

As a parent of a student with exceptional needs who is also African American, with rates of both restraint and seclusion being high for both of these categories, I am very cognizant of the fact that the topic of restraint and seclusion is one I need to keep my eye on. The easiest way for me to do this is to be able to seamlessly access my district website with the information relevant to the district my son goes to. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you again on AB, to speak to you today on AB 1466. And I would ask that you support this bill. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any public comments in support of this bill? Again, name, affiliation, and position on the bill.

Paula Husovsky. I'm a board member for Educate Advocate, a parent, and a teacher, and I support this bill.

Shannon Primer, board member of Educate Advocate, parent of special needs kid who has been restrained, and still special education paralegal. I do support this bill. Thank you.

Mr. Chair and Members, Gregory Cramer on behalf of Disability Rights California, also a parent of a special needs child. Urge your support. Thank you.

Quintin Levesque on behalf of California Health Coalition Advocacy in support.

Thank you. Any witnesses in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Any public comments in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Questions from the Committee? Seeing no requests. Questions from the Committee? Motion has been made by Mr. Hoover, second by Mr. Lee. Would you like to close, Dr. Weber?

I just want to thank the Committee for allowing me to present this bill, and I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

All right, Dr. Weber, again, your second bill. Thank you for being an advocate for parents and for getting more access to information so that parents can look out for the well being of their child. I am happy to support this bill. The motion is do pass as amended to Appropriations. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

File item 25, AB 1466.

File item 25 AB...

Do we want to clarify? Okay, let me clarify for the record. There are no amendments to the bill, so the motion is to do pass to Appropriations. Thank you for that, Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

File item 25, AB 1466. The motion is do pass to Appropriations. [Roll Call]

Seven to zero. The bill is out. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thanks.

All right, next on file order, we have file item number two, AB 230. Assemblymember Reyes, actually, while your witnesses are coming up, we have a quorum like to take care of our adoption of our Committee rules. Do we have a motion? Okay. Actually, we had a motion by Mr. Carrillo, a seconded by Mr. Hoover for the adoption of the Committee rules. Madam Secretary, please call the role. This is for the adoption of Committee rules.

The motion is to adopt the Committee rules.

[Roll Call]

7-0, the Committee rules are adopted. Mr. Reyes, welcome. Thank you.

Mr. Chair Members. Today I'm so pleased to present to you AB 230. This Bill would require schools serving third through fifth grade students to stock restrooms with free and accessible menstrual products. I'd also like to mention that I am accepting the Committee amendments, and I appreciate the work that was done to get us to this point. AB 230 expands on the Menstrual Equity act of 2021, which required schools serving 6th through 12th grades to stock menstrual products in their restrooms.

There are currently over 2400 schools that serve third through fifth grades, which are not required to provide free menstrual products to them. Recent data from the United States Department of Health and Human Services shows a trend toward an early onset of menstruation. It is critical that when young students are in need of menstrual products, they be free and accessible to them. Students'engagement in the classroom and overall success can be impacted negatively when they do not have access to menstrual products.

Our students should have the necessary products to care for themselves when they are on their period. These products should be free and easily accessible to them. Now, AB 230 is very special to me because it wasn't I who came up with the idea. It was two local Girl Scouts who have been doing incredible work in their community, in their schools, to make menstrual kits available in schools, so that those who start their periods early will have what they need.

Here to testify in support of this Bill are Ava Firnkoess and Jillian Mendoza of Girl Scout troops 76th of San Gorgonio council who flew up specifically from San Bernardino area to be here. Also we have UC San Francisco medical student and aspiring OB-GYN Neha Pondiceri, who is also here to speak in support of the Bill.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Girl Scouts, welcome. Please take it away.

Okay. Hi, I'm Jillian Mendoza, and I'm here with my friend Ava Firnkoess. We are from Grand Terrace and our Girl Scouts from Troop 76 here to present AB 230 Girl Scout Period Equality act. This project all started off with working on our silver project and for our silver project, we created emergency menstrual kits for third through fifth graders at our local elementary school due to our own experiences of starting an early menstrual cycle.

Inside the kit we have a towel, period underwear, plenty of wipes, and a pad. Included is also a pamphlet we created that tells basic information about their period, along with tips and affirmations so the girls know that she is not alone and that she's perfectly okay and this is very normal. Let's include the younger girls by supplying them with the necessary supplies while they're at school. We want the younger girls to feel prepared and comfortable while being at school.

We want to normalize the subject as much as possible so they feel that this is normal. So supplying them with the menstrual supplies in the restroom would make them feel prepared and ready. If they don't have the supplies at school, it will affect their education because they'll start missing class, and it's going to affect them lifelong. So let's support our younger girls and help them feel better at school. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello. My name is Ava Firnkoess from Girl Scout Troop 76. Thank you all for having Jillian and I here today. The reason why this Bill is so important to us is because both of us started our menstrual cycles at an early age during class instruction. I was only 10 years old in the fifth grade when I started my period, and it was during online learning. I wasn't even expecting my period at that young age.

As for Jillian, she was even younger at age nine in the fourth grade. Her period started at the end of the day in class. She wasn't expecting either. She didn't know who to talk to, and there weren't any menstrual supplies in the bathroom. She had to just wait until she got home. We were both very young and didn't know what was happening. This really got us thinking. I learned that some of my friends had also started early. One as early as third grade.

She never really talked about it until Jillian and I started this project. A friend told me that she had to use toilet paper and paper towels at school because her family did not have any menstrual supplies. This is why we wrote as a suggestion in our pamphlet, for girls to always carry a pad and to support one another.

No girls 3rd, 4th, or fifth grade have to worry about how they will get through the school day without any menstrual supplies when all they should be focused on is learning. Having adequate supplies at school could make a difference for the girls who start their menstrual cycles early and while in class. Thank you for your time to listen. Me, Jillian and all the early menstrual students appreciate your care and support.

Thank you.

Hello everyone, and good afternoon chair and Committee Members. Thank you for allowing me to speak today. My name is Neha Panda Cherry and I'm a fourth year medical student at UC San Francisco and an aspiring OBGYN and I strongly support AB 230. The first menstrual period in a menstruating person known as Menarche typically occurs between the ages of 10 to 16, with the average age of onset at around 12.4 years old.

However, this age of Menarche has been decreasing in the US over the past 50 years. According to an article published in 2020 by the New England Journal of Medicine, one of the most reputable medical journals in the world, more than 10% of menstruating children get their first period before the age of 10, which is around the age of a fifth grader.

The proportion of children getting their periods at younger ages is increased, particularly in children of low socioeconomic status, who often suffer the most from period poverty. A report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2020 also provides evidence that the probability of menarche is increasing, with 10% of children aged eight to 12 getting their first period between the years of 2013 to 2017, compared to only 7% of individuals reaching menarche before the age of 10 in 1995.

While we do not know why children are getting their periods earlier, there have been some hypotheses, including more children with higher BMIs, more processed foods, physical inactivity, as well as longer sleeping hours, which all may contribute to the earlier onset of puberty in these children.

Regardless of the cause, the literature has shown many times that there are more and more children who are getting their periods before the age of 11, with at least 10% of children getting their first period between the ages of eight to 10. For this reason, I strongly support the idea to include menstrual products in schools that serve third through fifth graders through AB 230. Thank you for letting me speak today, and thank you for bringing this important idea up. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Public comments in support of the Bill please come forward. Name, affiliation and position on the Bill.

Ryan Spencer, on behalf of the American College of OB/GYN's district nine in support.

Good afternoon, Members. Genesis Gonzalez, on behalf of Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis. Lieutenant Governor is a proud co sponsor and urges your aye vote. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Katie Van Deynze with Health Access California, the statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition, in support. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Brian Sapp, on behalf of Light House public affairs with our clients, NARAL Pro-Choice California in support. Thank you.

Good afternoon. As the mother of one of the early start menstruators, I fully support this Bill.

Could you state your name, please, for the record?

Julia. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hi, Ellie Mendoza and Lauren Mendoza. We support the Bill 230. Thank you.

Proud mother.

Sorry. Mark Mendoza, proud father of children and I support the bill.

Linda Dominguez, chief of community partnerships, Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio. We support this, and I'm sure every other Girl Scout Council would.

Thank you. Any further comments in support of the bill? Any witnesses in opposition to the bill? Any public comments in opposition to the bill? Questions from the Committee? Ms. Quirk-Silva?

I don't have a question, but I have a congratulations, because these witnesses of yours are so well prepared and confident. And I just have to say, congratulations. Excellent work and I move the bill.

A motion has been made by Ms. Quirk-Silva, seconded by Mr. Lee. Mr. McCarty?

Yes. Thank you, Assembly Member. I know you're going to the Senate, hopefully soon. And it's too bad these young ladies aren't 18, because they're from Grand Terrace, your hometown. They could do a great job stepping in with their presentation. As you know, Assemblymember, I have two little girls, middle schoolers and Girl Scouts still currently, and so applaud you all for bringing this forward. But even more across the nation.

We heard talk this week about states saying you can't say the word period anymore for young kids. And you're saying that menstrual education means so much, and we have to not just not say it, but act. And even more, building upon our former colleagues legislation to put these products in middle school. So, as their witnesses said, research shows that it's needed, not just for those grades. And so, hats off to you, and thank you all for bringing this idea to the California State Assembly. Thank you.

All right, any other questions from the Committee? Comments? Seeing none. Ms. Reyes, would you like to close?

Well, you can tell why I'm so proud of these two young girls for doing this for the rest of their troop, and not just for the rest of the troop, for the rest of the students in their school, and for the rest of those young girls in all of California, I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you very much, Ms. Reyes. So the amendments have been accepted?

Yes.

And I just want to say. Well, first of all, Girl Scouts, thank you for making a difference. I hope that this is not only something that you will remember for the rest of your lives, but that you will continue to make a difference by speaking out and calling for change that is good for all of us. I speak as a father of a daughter also. And so I want to thank you very much. Motion has been made and seconded. It's do pass as amended, to appropriations.

Madam Secretary, please call the role file.

File item two, AB 230. The motion is do pass as amended to appropriations. Muratsuchi?. Muratsuchi, aye. Dahle? Dahle, aye. Juan Carrillo? Juan Carrillo, aye. Hoover? Hoover, aye. Lee? Lee, aye. McCarty? McCarty, aye. Quirk-Silva? Quirk-Silva, aye.

[Roll Call]

Seven to zero. Your bill is out.

Thank you so much.

Congratulations. All right, we have Mr. Ward next in file order, but I don't see him here. And so we have Mr. Valencia. This is file item 18, AB 721. Assemblymember, welcome. Floor is yours.

Wonderful. Thank you. Muy buenas tardes, Mr. Chair and committee members. I want to start by thanking your team for their diligent engagement on this bill. I will also be accepting the amendments as described on page number five.

Move the bill.

Motion by Mr. Carrillo, seconded by Mr. Lee.

Thank you. AB 721 will modernize how school districts are able to post budget meeting notices to provide greater accessibility and cost efficiency for our families and taxpayers. AB 721 improves school processes by allowing school districts to post budget meeting notices prominently on their websites or in local newspapers.

Additionally by saving money for school districts looking to streamline online access to public information and by giving school districts the flexibility to adjust meeting dates to the public's needs. Existing law that was enacted in the '70s requires that county superintendents publish district budget meetings in their local newspapers. The costs of publishing and the staff time it takes to prepare and format these notices amounts to thousands of dollars each year for our public schools.

Additionally, newspapers, whether in print or e-editions, often include paywalls that present a barrier to the accessibility of public information, particularly for low-income households. Furthermore, most families and community members are already visiting district websites for purposes of receiving information. During a year with potential budget challenges, our educational institutions should focus resources on providing our students with the best education possible. The requirement to post budget meeting notices in newspapers is implemented of a time when print media dominated methods of communication.

As advent of the internet allows us budget meeting notices to be posted free of charge, the advent of internet of the Internet allows us to post budget meetings free of charge on school district websites. School district websites often have the ability to translate these pages based on the needs of the community and can be found with a simple internet search, thereby increasing accessibility for thousands who speak another primary language other than English.

This bill provides the latitude for school districts to continue posting through newspaper mediums or post on their websites, leaving the decision up to the elected officials representing the parents and students of their respective regions. With me, I have two individuals who will be testifying on behalf of the bill. I have Gary Stine, the executive director of supportive services of Orange County Department of Education, who is also sponsoring the bill, and then Elizabeth Esquivel, director of government affairs for the California Association of School Business Officials.

Good afternoon, committee chair, committee members, and staff.m Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Gary Stine and I'm here on behalf of the Orange County Department of Education. AB 721 is a simple, common sense bill which would provide flexibility to local school districts and how adopted budget notifications are posted, allowing the option to prominently post a notification hearing on the school district homepage or publish it in a locally distributed newspaper.

It would also provide school districts with the role of informing their communities about the budget adoption in a manner which best address the needs of the local community. The vast majority of communication and public information from school districts has transitioned to electronic mediums and onto their websites, as we just saw earlier with AB 1466. Examples are the LCAP school safety plans, expanded learning opportunities, spending reports, and much more. Also, most school district businesses requires public hearings, that requires public hearings only require posting on the district website per the Brown Act.

Examples such as instructional materials adoption and district reorganization, even purchasing property, all of these things just require a public posting on their website. With the question of accessibility and reach as Assemblymember Valencia pointed out, the websites are the best available option for our public.

The Public Policy Institute of California found that 94% of Californians reported having Internet access through at least one device, and the latest US Census found that 90% of Californians have a broadband subscription. So 90 plus percent, actually. So, affordable or not, it's there and our community has it. Each community is different, which is why AB 721 respects those differences and provides that flexibility for locally elected officials to decide what communication medium is best for their communities. I respectfully request the committee's aye vote on the bill. Thank you very much.

Hi, Chair and members. Elizabeth Esquivel with the California Association of School Business Officials, representing 25,000 K-14 business leaders in both county offices of education and school districts statewide. The county offices manages the publishing of school districts meeting notices and newspapers and initially covers the cost of printing, which is later invoiced to the school district. Staff must dedicate time to collect the necessary data and information, arrange for publication, issue purchase requisitions and orders, verify publications, and invoice for reimbursement from districts.

This results in thousands of dollars in costs per year for the county office. The bill would allow school districts the choice to post notices on the homepage of the internet website or continue to post on their local newspapers. Switching to online notices will increase the accessibility of information for countless parents looking to be involved in the budgeting process, increasing the flexibility of these budget meetings, which will allow school districts the opportunity to save costs. And with that, we respectfully request your aye vote on this bill.

Thank you. Any public comments in support of this bill? Please, name, affiliation, and position.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members. Jeff Vaca, representing the Riverside County Office of Education and the 23 school districts in Riverside County, in support.

Thank you. Any further public comments in support? Any witnesses in opposition, please come forward.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, members of the committee. My name is Brittney Barsotti. I'm the general counsel at the California News Publishers Association. We represent over 800 publications in the State of California, and public notice has been a priority for the association for a number of years. We feel that it is an essential piece of transparency and that we are actually a proactive way for the districts and the governments to be transparent, particularly around budget issues.

While I appreciate the amendments being taken to clarify that it has to be an approximate location on the website, we still feel that given the digital divide that posting a newspaper or publishing a newspaper, general circulation, is still a guaranteed way to reach a number of folks. A paper to become adjudicated has to be found to reach a substantial number of subscribers in a given area, and it also cannot be altered. Right?

So while flexibility can be beneficial for scheduling means, it's important to have a record of these items as they come up. And I'd also just note, the data that we have represents that 25% of the state does not have access to broadband. When it comes to the cost issues, there are actually 47 different publications that are adjudicated in Orange County alone. So there are several options in where to publish these notices. And it's not just this parents' dollars at risk, right?

I don't have any children, and I pay a lot of property taxes, and we have the Mello-Roos tax in Elk Grove to support schools, for example. So while the parents probably do have a strong interest in that, it's not just their dollars that are being spent. And so it needs to be shared with the public as a whole. And that is why Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has joined us in our opposition, as well as our ethnic media partners, California Black Media, and Ethnic Media Services. And with that, I'll respectfully ask for your no vote.

Thank you very much. Any further witnesses in opposition? Any public comments in opposition? Seeing no one coming forward. Questions from the committee? Mr. Hoover.

Yeah, just a question for, I guess, the support. What is the cost that this is costing school officials or districts? If anyone has any statistics on that?

So, in general, the postings are usually around, at least in our area, it's around $1,400 per publication. But that's just the cost to the newspaper, the staffing involved, we haven't estimated or we don't keep track of the number of hours. But you do need to, for every single publication, they have their own rules, they have their own format that we have to submit this information to. So it takes many hours to get this done.

Any further questions from the committee? No. Okay. Actually, I apologize. Motion has been made and seconded. Mr. Valencia, would you like to close?

Sure. Thank you. I would just like to add for the record that we did reach out to ask for collaboration and ask for amendments that would be palatable to the industry, and we did not receive a response. And in addition, I would just like to state for the record as well, that in my opinion, anything that's publicized on our school district websites is as transparent and public as possible, just for the record. So, in closing, I do believe that AB 721 does save cost. It's going to streamline information, increase accessibility, and increase local control for each school district in the State of California. Thank you for your time. And with that, I request an aye vote.

Thank you, Mr. Valencia. I appreciate the news publishers comments, but as one of your witnesses said, I think it makes sense, if not common sense, that we provide options for school districts to be able to promote transparency for the public. And for that reason, I am in support of your bill. The motion is do pass as amended to appropriations. Motion has been made and seconded. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Seven to zero. Motion is bill is out.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you.

Okay, we're back on the file or sign up order. So file number four, AB 275 by Mr. Ward, followed by file item 13, AB 599, also by Mr. Ward. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members, happy to present AB 275 this afternoon. As you know, student board members play a critical role in representing the student voice and sharing student perspectives with school district and county boards of education. Despite their important responsibilities, the current law prohibits them from receiving any compensation for their work. AB 275 will fairly support and empower more students to participate by giving school district boards and county boards of education the option to compensate school board members for their work.

This bill respects that student board members time and work are valued and is a step towards ensuring that all students would have the opportunity to participate and receive compensation for their work.

I'd like to be able to present. My witnesses in support of the bill. Leah Nepomuceno, a student board Member on the San Diego Unified Board of Education and Blessyn Lavender Williams, a student in the San Diego Unified District, and would respectfully request your aye vote.

Mr. Chair and members, thank you for the opportunity to share my testimony. My name is Lea Nepomuceno and I am currently a student board Member at San Diego Unified School District., and I am here today representing the district, which is a proud sponsor of AB 275 by Assembly Member Ward. At San Diego Unified, uplifting student voices is a core part of our mission.

We believe that when students have the opportunity to meaningfully engage in the governance process of our school district, we become better as an organization. San Diego Unified currently has two student board member positions, one of which is required to be filled by a student from a school where at least 60 percent of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. Student board members provide a critical connection between San Diego Unified's governing board and our nearly 100,000 students.

This job is meaningful and important, but it is not easy. As a student board member, I devote 10 to 15 hours per week towards independently reading material, understanding potential changes to policy and meeting with students and staff all across the district. In my current term, I've proudly sponsored numerous resolutions addressing gun violence prevention, sex trafficking and screen addiction. However, despite the important work that student board members perform, current law prohibits them from receiving compensation for their work.

This bill will simply allow districts and county office boards of education to choose to pay their student board Members. At San Diego Unified, this will allow us to meaningfully recognize the value that our student board Members bring to the district. Additionally, providing compensation will remove barriers to participation, making access to this opportunity more equitable. For these reasons, I urge you to support AB 275. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon chair and Members. Thank you for the opportunity to share my testimony. My name is Blessyn Lavender Williams. I am a junior student-athlete at Lincoln High School in the San Diego Unified School District. While attending Lincoln High School, I've been a member of the varsity tennis, lacrosse and cheerleading team.

Not only am I involved in sports, I'm a part of amazing organizations that help me prepare for college, such as the Aaron Price Fellowship, the Young and Prosperous Foundation, and I'm also the co-president of an organization called Black Girls United, whose mission statement is to uplift and empower young women of color in my community. When my principal, Ms. Brown, came to me with the idea of being a student board member, I loved the idea.

Being on the board would mean students in my community would have a voice and will be able to express and clarify the needs of the students of the injustice in the community that they face. Soon after being asked to pursue this opportunity, I was informed that the student board members are not paid for their work. This part made me sad. As much as I loved the opportunity, I could not take the position.

At this point in my educational journey, I'm spending every second working and saving money for college or looking for scholarship opportunities to help pay for college. Speaking for myself and most of my peers, we normally must turn down these great opportunities like this, not because we are lazy or undriven, but simply because we face a financial disadvantage.

I feel bad for the students who have such bright potential and futures ahead of them, but continue to be left behind because programs and opportunities like this seem to be designed for the students of privilege. I would have loved to be a part of the board, not only because I would have been exposed to great knowledge from adult mentors and peers, but because it would have mean having opportunity to use my mind and voice to support my educational goal.

Paying student board members for their work would remove the financial barrier of socioeconomic disadvantaged students like me, a barrier that leaves students like me, who hold a 4.3 grade point average, unable to participate. I urge to support AB 275 so that all students have the opportunity to serve as a student board member in their districts. Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. Any public comments in support of the bill please come forward.

Danny Thirakul with the California Youth Empowerment Network in support.

Khieem Jackson with Ball Frost group on behalf of Long Beach Unified School District in support.

Any further comments? Public comments in support of the bill? Any witnesses in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Any public comments in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Questions from the committee? Mr. Lee?

I just wanted to applaud the author for bringing this measure forward and for the student board Members coming all the way up here to testify. It's a testament that your generation, even younger than me, will continue to pave the way and solve all the issues that we do not fix here. So I think it's a small modicum to just say they should be compensated for the work and the hours you put in.

And certainly there's a lot of students, even in my district, that can't uphold their student board duties because they have to work a job, but they have to do other things, so it's really important. So I would just like to ask to be added as a co-author, if you'll have me. And I move the bill.

Motion made by Mr. Lee. Mr. Carrillo?

I will second that, too. I want to thank the author as well, for bringing this up and congratulate the witnesses. I served in the Palmer School district for three years, from 2013 to 16. and we actually implemented that program while I was there. And I had the pleasure to surrender the first student on the board in 2017. So I thank you for what you guys are doing. Thank you, Mr. Ward.

And this is also a way to encourage young people to participate in our local political atmosphere, and it's just something that we need to keep encouraging. Thank you again. And it will also be humble if you would consider me to be a co-author. Thank you.

Thank you. Motion's been made and seconded. Any further questions or comments from the Committee? Seeing none. Mr. Ward, would you like to close?

Thank you very much. I just want to congratulate your outstanding witnesses in support of the bill.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the support here today. Happy to add for co-authors, and I believe Mr. Lee's comments would suffice for my close. I respectfully ask for your aye vote.

In fact, they were so articulate and persuasive that I think, Mr. Ward, you should be looking over your shoulder. You may have some. So, thank you for coming up here to speak out and make a difference. You've convinced me to support the bill. The motion is do pass to the Assembly floor. Madam Secretary, please call the role file.

Item four, AB 275. The motion is do pass to the Assembly floor. Muratsuchi? Muratsuchi, aye. Dahle? Dahle, aye. Juan Carrillo? Juan Carrillo aye. Hoover? Hoover, aye. Lee? Lee, aye. McCarty? McCarty, aye. Quirk-Silva? Quirk-Silva aye.

Ok 7-0, the bill is out.

Thank you.

Thank you both. Next, we have file item 13, AB 599

Yes. The floor is yours, Mr. Ward.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Members. Let me start by accepting the Chair's suggested amendments as outlined on page 11 in the analysis, and I want to thank the Committee staff and the Consultant for her work on this bill. In addition, I'd like to accept the proposed amendments. I believe they're being distributed to Members, if not already, relating to vape products.

And it's my understanding that both the Committee Consultant and the Republican Consultant have reviewed the proposed amendments. So Assembly Bill 599 would amend the education code to remove the possession of or being under the influence of tobacco products as the sole basis for suspension or expulsion. This policy requires the Department of Education to further give guidance to administrators and school districts to address substance possession and use.

The Department shall collaborate with stakeholders, including treatment providers, public health resources, local education agencies, and community based organizations in the development of a model policy that would be available by July 1, 2025. According to the data from the California Department of Education, over 60% of drug related suspensions and expulsions are boys and over 80% are of socioeconomically disadvantaged students and 80% are youth of color. Punitive measures do not correct the underlying issues that we are trying to address here.

They only complicate and set back a youth's individual success, academic success. And as we see from this data, the current consequences are disproportionately affecting some students in some communities over others. While drug possession and use on school campuses remains an infraction that requires school involvement, suspensions and expulsions do little to aid that student in addressing the drug use and addiction.

So this bill, AB 599, seeks to permit treatment for students struggling with substance use and give administrators more options and tools that are not solely punitive to assist students. I have testifying here in support today for this bill, Nora Lynn from Children Now and Danny Thirakul from the California Youth Empowerment Network. And in support, I want to thank our co-sponsors, the California Alliance of Child and Family Services and the California Association of Psychiatry. Would respectfully ask for your aye vote when the time comes.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and Members. My name is Nora Lynn, and I'm with Children Now. Children Now is a whole child research and policy advocacy organization. We're proud co-sponsors of AB 599. We know young people need all the support they can get to grow into healthy adults. But unfortunately, schools' only recourse when drug infractions occur on campus is to suspend or expel. This practice ostracizes students, reduces school connectedness, and increases the likelihood of drug use among disconnected students.

One of the main complaints we hear from students is that they don't always feel comfortable getting mental health supports from school staff because of the punitive practices that exist on campus. Simply, how can schools be a place of healing and expulsions? AB 599 will allow schools to have a public plan in place for drug infractions, one that supports students in need. Ultimately, ensuring we reduce the number of school days missed, increase school connectedness, and reduce long term drug use among students are our goals, and for these reasons, we hope you will support AB 599. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chair and Committee Members. My name is Danny Thirakul. I'm a peer, family member, transition age youth, and a member of the California Youth Empowerment Network. We are a proud co-sponsor of AB 599. The California Youth Empowerment Network is a TAY-led program of Mental Health America of California. TAY stands for transition age youth ages 15 to 26.

Since 2006, we have represented TAY across the State of California, bringing their lived experiences to decision making spaces like this one to directly inform and shape the policies that impact their lives. We have recently been working with TAY in 20 different counties in California and these are their perspectives on the topics of substance use disorders prevention. TAY have shared that their school administrators drive TAY away from seeking support by using the threat of punishment to address substance use among youth.

They have voiced that approaches like immediate suspensions and expulsions not only fail to provide youth with the support that they need, but that it causes youth to hide their substance use and decrease their likelihood of getting or seeking help. When suspended or expelled, youth are further removed from their support system, which exasperates the conditions that contribute to youth substance use disorders. This is extremely dangerous when you consider the well documented mental health disparities amongst youth and the alarming number of youth dying due to fentanyl poisoning.

TAY would like mental health substance use professionals to try and understand why youth are using substances. TAY would like the opportunity to be connected with community based resources that can educate and support them with ceasing substance use behaviors that are harmful to their bodies. They want opportunities to safely evaluate the behaviors and make positive changes for themselves rather than being criminalized In a world where youth are experiencing a well documented mental health crisis and opioid crisis.

Youth across the state are giving us a blueprint for how to support them. We need to work with the state to formalize this blueprint through a public health lens so that school districts can have a tool to realistically support youth and effectively reduce tobacco use, substance use disorders, and overdose deaths. We urge your support today for AB 599.

Thank you very much. Public comments in support of the bill, please come forward.

Tim Gibbs, American Lung Association, in support.

Priscilla Quiroz on behalf of the California Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, proud co-sponsors. Thank you.

Adrienne Shilton with the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, also proud co-sponsors in support.

Kim Lewis representing Aspiranet and the California Coalition for Youth, in support.

Heidi Strunk, CEO of Mental Health America of California, in support.

Izzy Swindler on behalf of California State Association of Psychiatrists, in support.

Any further comments, public comments in support of the bill? Seeing none. Any witnesses in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Any public comments in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Questions from the Committee? Mr. Lee.

I think it's another reasonable bill to allow our students, well, first of all, not to reinforce the prison to school to prison pipeline, but also taking a more humane public health approach. So I would like to also ask to be added as a co-author to this bill, and I'll move the bill.

Thank you.

Second.

Motion by Mr. Lee, second by Ms. Quirk-Silva. Any further questions from the Committee? I actually have a few questions. So I appreciate Assembly Member Ward for bringing this bill, and I appreciate that the argument, as Mr. Lee alluded to, in terms of approaching substance of use or abuse from a public health approach.

But I often question, you cited the data and its disproportionate impact on students of color. But I also often ask whether and to what extent we can measure the deterrent effect of having a strong message of zero tolerance for vaping or for possession of fentanyl or many of the other controlled substances that I know are a big concern in our schools. I wanted to ask Ms. Lynn, with Children Now, how do you measure the deterrent effect? I really do wrestle...

Again, I appreciate what you're trying to accomplish here. But I know when I was a school board member, it's a clear message to our students. We were one of the school districts that had a zero tolerance policy, and it was a clear message that you are not to possess anything at schools. I often wonder how you can measure the deterrent effect of such policies.

It's a good question. We would just point to the very strongly disproportionate impacts on youth of color, young boys of color in particular. And we feel like that far outweighs whatever deterrence there may be.

Okay. But again, it far outweighs. But it's hard to measure what it's outweighing. Okay.

If I may, Mr. Chair, I would add that I suppose that you could probably always contract with a firm to maybe try to blindly look at some of those issues and see what might be motivating factors. But I would say that with the implementation of this bill, we would have real world data to be able to compare and contrast before and after effects of the question that you raise.

Thank you. I would appreciate that our policy decisions be data driven rather than based on impressions or anecdotes. Ms. Dahle.

I also was on a school board, so it made me think about the fact. So a lot of campuses that were a tobacco free zone, were a drug free zone, you had posters all over the campus that the students are highly engaged in those campaigns. So this would not affect that in any way, correct? This just takes it to, but also in the amendments, the administration, the Superintendent still has the overall decision making power, correct? With the amendments.

Both of those are correct.

Okay. I just want to make sure. Because, I mean, obviously we want our kids to just be drug free and healthy. That's what we want. But we also don't want them overly...

And let's take a moment to commend our youth that have seen those downward trends in recent decades as well. And I agree. We want to be able to do everything we can to sustain that.

Yes. Thank you.

Ms. Quirk-Silva, then Mr. McCarty.

I want to thank the author for this bill, and I support it. One of the comments I want to make is in not only this bill, but in already some of the bills we've heard today. One of the focuses is on students of color. And we know that many times when punishments, suspensions, students being expelled, we see a much larger majority compared to the population of students of color being expelled or suspended.

One of the beliefs that I have firmly is we need to turn that triangle upside down, which is in fact keep students in school much longer. Maybe actually think about the punishment is you're going to stay in school till 5 o'clock versus, many students that are expelled or leave the public classroom in a traditional sense, go to what we call these special academies, different schools, where they're in fact in school for a very small amount of hours, 8 to 12.

So I'm kind of diverting here, but the point is we want to do everything we can to keep our students in school. Yes, be serious about infractions, particularly drug fractions, but not do things that are going to push them out of school. We want to keep them in school as much as possible when possible. So I firmly support this bill. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McCarty.

Yeah, I just want to follow up what you said. I think that the amendments here does give ample discretion. In my district, a few weeks ago, all in the local neighborhood, the buzz was, did you hear what happened at some high school? There were two high school students that were, there was a raid on campus. They were selling and dealing drugs, like hardcore distribution. So that's different.

So that zero tolerance, expulsion. Possession, vaping products, others, we believe in restorative justice and getting people back at school and doing well. So having this so called zero tolerance, it sounds good, but in practical terms, as we said, there's a lot of gray, not always black and white. So I think this strikes the balance. And thank you for bringing this forward in full support.

Thank you, Mr. McCarty. And, yeah, I do want to underscore, as I was considering working to author this bill, that I wanted to be very clear that we were not getting into the territory of being soft on sales or weapons or other sort of co-mitigating issues. I want to thank Committee staff and our advocates for underscoring that and to really tie this back to Ms. Quirk-Silva's point as well.

We know that social determinants of health are reality in our communities, and they feed into some challenges that many individuals had. And this just compounds that cycle. Right. A punitive response to something that really is requiring a public health approach, I think, is the foundation of this bill.

Yes, I would agree. Thank you, Mr. Ward. And I do appreciate you working with the Committee and accepting the amendments. But it was important to me that the school district administrator retain the discretion of suspending or recommending a student for expulsion. Again, recognizing the goal and the aspiration of a public health approach to substance abuse, also wanted to allow local control for school districts to have that option. Mr. Hoover?

Sorry, I just want to say thanks for accepting the amendments, and I appreciate having the discretion in there. I know, just as a school board member, a lot of these are a case by case basis, and sometimes it's very clear that the student should not be suspended, and sometimes it's not. So I just really appreciate you working with the Committee on that.

Appreciate it.

All right. With that, seeing no further questions or comments, Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

File item 13, AB 599. The motion is do pass as amended to Appropriations. [Roll Call]

All right, 7-0 the the Bill is out. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right, next we have item number five, AB 285 by Ms. Luz Rivas. Did, okay, it looks like you've made an arrangement with Ms. Rivas. Okay, so we will move to file item 10, AB 439 by Assembly Member Wendy Carrillo.

Test, test. Thank you, Mr. Chair and Members. And thank you to my colleague, Assembly Woman Rivas. We have to straddle going to different committees in different rooms and so appreciate the negotiation. Thank you. I'm here to present Assembly Bill 439, a Bill related to procurement contracting. I'd like to start by accepting the Committee's amendments. Thank you for working with my office to ensure that this Bill is sponsored by the Los Angeles Unified School District, and it is a district Bill.

Existing law established a pilot program allowing LAUSD to award a task order procurement contract for the repair and renovations of school buildings and grounds, paid for with LAUSD's General Fund. AB 439 extends the sunset of this program until 2034 and allows LAUSD Fund task order procurement contracts with local school construction bonds and federal or state funds in its possession.

In addition to the district's General Fund, task order contracting allows the district to bundle multiple small contracts into a single master contract in advance and ensures that LAUSD, which is the state's largest school district, is prepared for repaired maintenance requests before they are needed. To use this procurement method, the district must have a project labor agreement in place.

Prior to LA USD's task force contracting pilot program, the district would initiate a procurement process and award contracts across multiple locations only after determining that a service was in need, as was the case in 2015, when LA USD received nearly 2600 service calls for heating and air conditioning service repair with only 39 personnel available, the district soon began the week long procurement process.

In the meantime, the weather disrupted classroom instruction, it disrupted student learning, and students suffered amid extreme heat, which is an issue that we are tackling across the Legislature. Task order contracting has three unique benefits. The district can prepare contracts before services are needed, secure prices during non peak periods, saving tax dollars, and preparing more comprehensive contracts across multiple projects. Other uses of task order contracted include fire safety testing, roofing services, painting, floor repairs, and heating.

An independent third party analysis found that the majority of projects, 83.5% of which were completed on and under budget. I want to make clear that my office is also working actively with our labor partners to ensure that there are no unintended consequences when it comes to procurement and ensuring that the first method used by LAUSD is to ensure that its workers are prioritized and that there are full time employment to address these concerns. Here to testify in support is Sasha Horowitz on behalf of LAUSD.

Thank you, thank you, Assembly Woman. Good afternoon. Chair and Members Sasha Horowitz on behalf of Los Angeles Unified School District AB 439 is a simple update to an extension of LA USD's task order contracting program. That program was originally enacted in 2018 as a five year pilot, allowing the district to bundle multiple small repair maintenance contracts into a single master contract before services are needed.

Task order contracting enables the district to negotiate those service contracts beforehand so that contractors are available and ready as soon as they're needed throughout the school year. It's inevitable that the district will receive requests exceeding its capacity to respond in a reasonable amount of time. Take the recent storms, for example. Calls for roof repairs tend to happen not just in LAUSD, but across the city.

With a task order contract in place, the district can respond to a service request immediately with minimal interruptions to classroom instruction. AB 439 preserves a more efficient and cost effective process for addressing maintenance and operations needs by allowing for negotiating service costs in advance of peak demands or priority requests. The Bill extends the program for another 10 years and allows the district to use local funds, local construction bond funds in addition to the local General funds.

The language also clarifies that federal or state funds may be used, but that's just to ensure that federal matching funds can be spent on bond eligible products projects. Since they frequently use a mixture of funds, these contracts are paid locally and do not have any state cost. All other aspects of the original program remain the same, including the requirement to have a project labor agreement in place, the $3 million limit on a single contract, and the supplement not supplant language regarding district personnel.

With that, we respectfully ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Any public comments in support of the Bill, please come forward. Seeing none any witnesses in opposition to the Bill?

Kimberly Rosenberger with SEIU we don't have a formal position because we are rarely on this side with this author and we are trying to work through this issue.

Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a strike which has taken a lot of our bandwidth to respond quickly, but it has also raised some issues and concerns that we have with this very Bill, namely, how opaque it makes these contracts when they are bundled and what they are used for, whether it's emergency or catastrophe, differs than reasonable time because they have not appropriately staffed up.

That is a key issue in our strike where we are seeing staffing just not being appropriately replaced after attrition or loss. So for those reasons, we have concerns. We are not formally opposed because we do believe we can work with the author to address those concerns. But at this time, we would not recommend this Bill, but we will continue to work with the author. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any public comments in opposition to the Bill? Seeing no one coming forward? Any comments from Mr. McCarty?

Now I remember voting for this Bill a few years ago. Who was the author of 2018?

O'Donnell.

O'Donnell. That's right. That guy O'Donnell. And I think this is a worthy follow up and make a motion to support the bill.

Motion has been made by Mr. Mccarty. Do we have a second?

I will second, but make a comment. I want to thank you for bringing this up again. For those of us that serve in school boards, I think that we know how timely these processes can be.

And having a pilot program like this where immediate repairs are needed, especially under inclement weather, the high desert, where you can reach up to 110 degrees, and having these contracts already in place, and like the way that the PLAs or the CWAs are already in place, I think that that's a clever way to do that.

And I'm really interested in looking more into this pilot program to see if it can be expanded to other districts again, especially in the high desert, where inclement weather can really affect the kids and teachers and everybody serving the school. So thank you for bringing that up.

Thank you. Any further questions or comments from the Committee? Seeing none. Ms. Carrillo, would you like to close?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And Members really appreciate the unique situation that we find ourselves in Los Angeles at this very moment with LAUSD UTLA and SEIU local 99.

It's not something that we expected at this moment, but we're working through it, and I know that we can find common ground with our labor partners to make sure that we're moving an agenda forward that is inclusive of all workers, and at the end of the day, also in support of student learning, which I think when you have situational circumstances related to building, can become very difficult. So with that, I respectfully request and aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Ms. Carrillo, I have no doubt that you will work with SEIU to resolve any differences. I do support this Bill. The motion is do pass as amended to the Assembly floor. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

File item 10, AB 439. The motion is do pass as amended to the Assembly floor. [Roll Call]

Six ayes, one abstention, bill is out. Thank you. All right, next, we have, pursuant to agreement, Ms. Rivas. Yeah. Item number five, AB 285. The floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members, I want to start by thanking Tanya for her work and thoughtful analysis on this Bill. AB 285 would foster youth's passion for learning about climate change and ways to mitigate its effects. This bill would make climate change a course requirement for grades one through 12 so that our future leaders can gain the knowledge they need to create a sustainable future. In 2016, a report by a university examined how environmental literacy had benefited students from nursery school to secondary school.

The study found that 83 percent of students improved their environmental behavior. Students who are being educated about the impacts of climate change are clearly better prepared to fight for a better future, but not all children are being provided the opportunity to learn. In 2010, the California State Board of Education adopted the education and environment initiative curriculum with the goal of increasing environmental literacy for California's K through 12 students.

Additionally, three years after the adoption of the education and environmental initiative curriculum, California adopted the next generation science standards to include environmental issues as an option in elementary, middle, and high school. California has certainly made some progress on advancing climate change literacy, but there remains much work to be done to routinely teach these topics in our schools since the state's attempts to teach about climate change remain optional.

Recognizing that education is the first step in combating climate change, Italy took the initiative mandating climate change education in every school grade. Mexico quickly followed and amended their constitution to include climate change as a requirement of education. Meanwhile, in the US, New Jersey is the first state to require schools to teach climate change today.

To provide testimony and support, I have Eugene Cordero, Professor for the Department of Meteorology and Climate Science at San Jose State University, and Olivia James-Singh, American River College student and Policy Director for GenUp.

My name is Eugene Cordero. I'm a Professor at San Jose State and a climate scientist. And you're probably aware that a couple days ago, the IPCC, the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released their final synthesis report about the state of our climate. And you might be surprised that it wasn't all doom and gloom. There was actually, well, there was plenty of doom and gloom, that the State of our climate is changing and that things are getting worse.

But they also said that there is time to take action, but that also we really need to take action and we need to take action soon. And one of the things I've been doing in my research over the last decade at San Jose State is I've been studying the issue of solving climate change. And although I'm excited about California's approach, our research has uncovered one big gap in California's approach.

And that big gap is that California focuses primarily on technology, rooftop solar, battery electric vehicles, which is great, and I'm a big supporter of that. But they're missing the human component to that and that's where education comes in. So our research at San Jose State has identified that high-quality climate change education can be as impactful as rooftop solar and battery electric vehicles in reducing carbon emissions.

And so that's why I'm a supporter of this bill, is that California, we are leaders in the climate change movement, but we also need to be leaders in education, and we're not that right now. And so this bill would mandate or impose that we start teaching climate change throughout K-12.

And if we do it right, this can really significantly impact carbon emissions and the leadership and inspiration and motivation that we need our youth to be equipped with in terms of not just understanding what's causing climate change, but more importantly, understanding how to mitigate and adapt to it. Thank you very much.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and Members of the Committee. My name is Olivia James-Singh and I'm a college student at American River and a policy director at GenUp, a youth organization focused on educational advocacy. I support AB 285, and this is why truly understanding what climate change is is the first step in preventing further damage to the environment.

Students in California, whether they know it or not, are already being affected by climate change, being pulled out of school multiple times a year due to the poor air quality as a result of increasingly common wildfires. When I was in high school, my science class did a woeful job of informing me of the magnitude of global warming. I was given information on the environment from 2010, which was a whole eight years before I even entered high school.

I learned what fossil fuels were, but not the extent of their damaging effects, nor was I informed of the consequences of rapid manufacturing and consumption of goods. Adequate and accurate education about global warming will encourage students to change their behavior and start making decisions inside their own communities to help combat climate change. It's likely that this generation is going to be faced with the effects of climate change for the next few decades.

This education bill is essential in creating a well-informed generation of people equipped to affect change. I ask for your aye vote and I thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

Thank you. Any public comment in support of the bill, please come forward. Name, affiliation and position.

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and Members. Pamela Gibbs, representing the Los Angeles County Office of Education, and we're pleased to support the bill.

Fatima Iqbal with California environmental voters in support of AB 285.

Thank you, chair and members. My name is Noah Whitley, representing Midpen. We are in support of this bill.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Members. Tristan Brown with CFT, union of Educators and classified professionals. We just had our convention, so we're positioning all our bills, so we're late, but I think we will be supporting this Bill. So we just wanted to vocalize that here. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further public comments in support of the bill or any witnesses in opposition to the bill? Seeing none.

Any public comments in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Questions from the committee? Seeing none. Entertain a motion, Mr. McCarty? Seconded by Mr. Lee. Seeing no further comments. Ms. Rivas, would you like to close?

Thank you, and I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you, Ms. Rivas, I know you've been working on this cause for a while, and so we appreciate your continuing champion. Climate change, fighting climate change. I appreciate specifically calling out climate change in the course of study. I know that the existing framework does provide for much of the teaching of climate change, but I think it's especially important that it specifically calls out climate change in the course of study.

And so I would be proud to be added as a co-author to your bill and happy to support it to move out of the committee today.

Thank you for your support and would love to have you as a co-author.

Thank you. So, the motion is do pass to appropriations. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

File item number five, AB 285. The motion is do pass to appropriations. Muratsuchi? Muratsuchi, aye. Dahle? Dahle, not voting. Juan Carillo?

Juan Carrillo, aye. Hoover? Hoover, aye. Lee? Lee, aye. McCarty?McCarty, aye. Quirk-Silva? Quirk-Silva, aye.

Okay, six votes, one abstention. Bill is out.

Thank you.

One not voting. Okay, that's right. All right, next in sign in order is item number three, AB237 by Mr. Wallace. He is not here, and so, Ms. Rubio, you're up next. Item number nine, AB438.

Thank you and good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, Members. Thank you for the opportunity to present AB 438 today, which will, starting in the 2025 academic year, lower the age at which postsecondary transition planning for students with exceptional needs begin from age 16 to age 14. For many youth with autism and other disabilities. The transition to adulthood begins with an individualized education plan. Under current California law, transition planning to adulthood is not required to begin until age 16, when many students are in their junior year.

As a result, the state is not providing students who have been identified as having a disability with the essential time needed to develop the appropriate skills for adult life and the time for schools, parents, and service providers to develop meaningful, individualized transition plans. Data from January of 2022 shows California is one of 15 states in which the required transition planning age is 16 years old and not younger. AB 438 will give students with exceptional needs the time they deserve to prepare and transition into adulthood.

Research has demonstrated that specific strategies and IPs can help students with intellectual disabilities pursue higher education and live more independently after graduation. By implementing these strategies two years earlier, California will begin to see improved long term outcomes. I have one witness here today, Melissa Cortese, on behalf of our sponsor, Autism Speaks.

Thank you. Melissa Cortez, on behalf of Autism Speaks, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting solutions across the spectrum and throughout the lifespan for the needs of individuals with autism and their families.

I'd also like to offer support today on behalf of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders. Studies have shown that quality transition planning, which should begin as early as possible, is correlated with better outcomes in adult life. As the Assembly Member mentioned, a majority of states use the age 14 or freshman year as the required start age for transition planning. California currently requires this to be at 16, which is typically sophomore or junior year.

However, studies show that students with autism and other developmental disabilities often need more preparation and adjustment time than their neurotypical peers. This is why the California statewide IEP workgroup has recommended moving the age requirement for transition planning to 14. This will provide additional time to identify the students readiness for and strengths related to the many types of transitions within the IEP. This includes employment, secondary education, housing, and other potential service needs.

We want to thank the Assembly Member for her leadership on this issue and ask for your aye vote.

Thank you. Any public comments in support of the Bill, please come forward. Seeing none. Any witnesses or public comments in opposition to the Bill? Please come forward. Seeing none. Questions? Turn it back to the Committee. Questions from the Committee. Comments from the Committee. Mr. Hoover.

Thank you for bringing this Bill forward. I'd love to be at it as a co author.

Any further questions or comments? Seeing none. Did we have a motion? Motion made by Ms. Quirk-Silva, seconded by Mr. Carrillo. Ms. Rubio, would you like to close?

Thank you.

Yes, thank you. I respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Thank you very much. This Bill will help ensure that students with disabilities receive the support for the transition to their postsecondary life in a timely manner. On that basis, I'm happy to support the Bill. The motion is do pass to appropriations. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

File item number nine, AB 438. The motion is do pass to appropriations. [Roll Call]

7-0

The bill is out.

Thank you.

All right. We do not have an author in the room. Oh, we see the younger Mr. Gabriel. Let's see if he's in a hallway. Oh yes. While we're waiting on an author. We had a motion that was presented before quorum was established. Which item was that file item was that? Item number seven. This is file item number seven, AB 383, by Mr. Zbur. The motion was made and seconded, do pass as amended, to the Appropriations Committee. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Seven, zero. Mr. Zabur, your bill is out. All right, Mr. Gabriel, welcome. Maybe if you can get your son to take off those headphones. I don't know if you have a microphone hookup or. He doesn't have to. All right. It's a bill on media literacy.

Thank you. He's here to testify in support. We hope so. Thank you, Mr. Chair and colleagues. I want to start today by accepting the committee amendments. And I want to thank you, Mr. Chair, and your committee staff for your thoughtful feedback and assistance on this bill. I am pleased today to present AB 787, which would require the superintendent of public instruction to convene an advisory committee to identify best practices and recommendations on how to best teach digital citizenship and media literacy in our schools. The bill would also survey educators and administrators to help address the current state of education surrounding these topics in our schools.

As you know, Mr. Chair, as we've discussed, protecting children on the Internet is a big priority of mine. We've considered a variety of approaches here in the State of California, some involving the way in which we work with industry and the way in which information is presented.

But also we think that given the amount of time that young people are spending on the internet and online, and the availability of new technology, we need to teach them to be good consumers, to navigate on the internet, to protect themselves from child predators, to learn how to protect their personal information, to learn about things like cyberbullying. It's important that we teach them how to use different types of digital and electronic means to communicate, how to consume information online.

And really what resonated with me was when we did an informational hearing last year on the issue of protecting kids online. And I discovered that kids in the State of California, teens are spending more than 8 hours a day online outside of instruction. So young people are spending a lot of time on the internet, and we need to give them the tools that they need to navigate the online world safely. Obviously, the online world presents a lot of opportunities, but also challenges.

And so one of the areas where we can work hand in hand with industry and with advocates is to help them understand how to navigate that world. So this would bring together people with lots of different perspective experts on an advisory committee have the opportunity to work with the superintendent of public instruction, with our educators, to really understand how we can best teach these skills to young people and would provide the school, the state, and legislatures with a roadmap for potential future actions so that our educational system is responsive to this issue. So with me today to testify, two people that are not always on the same side of the table together. We have Merve Lapus, the VP of outreach and national partnerships for Common Sense. And we have Dylan Hoffman, the executive director for California and the Southwest for TechNet. Thank you, and respectfully request an aye vote.

Good afternoon, Chair and Assembly members. I'm Mere Lapus, vice president of education, outreach, and national partnerships for Common Sense Media. I would like to thank the committee for providing me the opportunity to address you in support of AB 787, authored by Assemblymember Gabriel.

Digital media and technology play a significant role in how our children live, learn, communicate, and share, and create on a daily basis, if not every minute of the day. Exhibit A behind us, right? Yes. Accessible access to reliable tech and media is incredibly important for the future of our kids learning. But we also know that from research that our kids are being exposed to more hurtful and sensitive situations online that we must address.

Young people struggle to recognize the impacts of their interactions with online content and are exposed to inappropriate and harmful content that can misinform, that are financially exploitive, that contribute to serious privacy and mental health issues. As schools leverage technology in and out of the classroom, they are also dealing with the ramifications of issues like online safety, cyberbullying, privacy, hate speech, misinformation, tech addiction, and digital distraction.

Digital literacy instruction equips students, families, and school staff with the knowledge and thought to thoughtfully navigate and safely engage with digital content. It also empowers young people to analyze and assess the influence of content on their thoughts, feelings, and their behaviors. AB 787 establishes the foundation for digital citizenship and media literacy instruction so that our students live in a world where they think before they post something problematic. A world where administrators know how to talk to their own students about social media challenges.

A world where parents actually feel comfortable flagging distressing instances online and role-modeling how they would navigate these spaces together. That's why AB 787's advisory committee will be so invaluable to developing meaningful best practices for instruction on digital citizenship and media literacy in California schools. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members. Dylan Hoffman with TechNet. We're also proud to co-sponsor AB 787. And as been mentioned, this type of education is critically important, especially as kids are increasingly online, both as part of their education, but they're also interacting online. They're creating art, they're making music with friends, they're connecting with people across borders and boundaries, all online. And I think equipping them with the tools, but also, crucially, I think this education first benefits the students, but also parents. And parents have also been reaching out and making it well known that they deserve more tools and resources.

And our industry focus has been trying to provide them with that. We've been trying to create modules to help parents and facilitate these types of conversations with their kids about how to protect themselves, how to protect their data, their information, how to interact with each other safely. But those types of programs have a limited reach, and I think utilizing the state's resources and reach in that regard will help ensure that students of all kinds across the state are able to access this type of education. So we see this bill as a critical first step in being able to provide these types of resources in education. We really appreciate the Assemblymember's leadership, in this space and respectfully request an aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you. Any public comments in support of the bill, please come forward. Name, affiliation, and position.

Good afternoon, Chair and members. Naomi Padron, on behalf of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, or CCIA, in support.

Kami Peer, on behalf of Common Sense Media, Parallos Media alliance and active San Gabriel Valley, in support.

Thank you. Any further public comments in support? Seeing none. Any witnesses in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Any public comments in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Questions from the committee. Mr. Carrillo? No. You're shaking your no. No. Motion made second by Mr. Carrillo. All right. Well, thank you for your ongoing leadership in this space, Mr. Gabriel. As a parent of a teenager, I really appreciate all of your work in this space. Would you like to close?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Would respectfully request an aye vote.

Thank you. Motions made and seconded. Madam Secretary, please call the vote.

[Roll Call]

Seven, zero. The bill is out.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. All right. Did I see Mr. Wallis walk back in? Yes.

Thank you Mr. Chair and Committee Members, I have before you today Assembly Bill 237, which I'm pleased to jointly author with Assembly Member Hoover. First, I'd like to thank the Committee staff for their work on this Bill, and I will accept the amendments proposed in the analysis. We all share the goal of providing our children the best education possible. I know this Committee will consider many ideas to reform our education system. We know the problems are complex with many diverse ideas and proposed solutions.

But while we're sorting through those ideas, some children are being left behind in situations that are out of the control of parents and the child. One situation is a child who's struggling academically, stuck in a low performing school. AB 237 addresses that situation in a narrow way, allowing those students to transfer to another school within a district or to another school outside of the district. I did want to address the concerns raised by the opposition.

Districts would have to provide transportation for those children eligible for free or reduced price lunch. Second, I believe the recent addition of another ADA option, allowing districts to use the three year average, helps districts with significant declining enrollments. And I don't believe that AB 237 will result in a cataclysmic enrollment decline contemplated by the opposition.

Establishing this accountability will increase education equity for our most vulnerable students who suffer under the achievement gap, those students who are most likely to suffer if they're forced to remain in struggling schools. I'm going to turn it over at this point to my colleague, Assembly Member Hoover, for his comments.

All right, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Wallis, and thank you to the Committee for working with us on this Bill. Obviously, I am thankful to be a joint author of the Bill, but I am also a parent and a former school board Member who really believes strongly that we need to give options for families so that their child can attend the school that best fits their needs. I think this Bill does it in a really targeted and, I think, good way.

When we talk to a lot of our school districts across the state, we talk a lot about the loss of enrollment, that we're losing students to other options, whether it's private school, home school, charter, public schools. But what's great about this Bill is it gives parents an option within the traditional public school system to send their child to a school that best fits their needs.

And to the point that the opposition has made, I want to really emphasize the point that the reality for so many students, especially the ones that would, I think, be most helped by this Bill, is that for students that have the means, they truly do have school choice. They have the choice to move to a neighborhood with a high performing public school. They have the choice to attend a private school if their budget allows that.

It is our kids that are free and reduced price lunch that are low income. Those are the kids that lack the choice to do those things. And what this Bill does is it gives them an opportunity within the traditional public school system to have that option, to attend a school that better fits their needs, even if they don't have the income to possibly move to a different neighborhood or attend a private school.

And so that's why I'm a big supporter of this and would urge, and I vote, thank you.

Thank you very much. Do you have witnesses in support?

Just me.

Okay. The two of you. All right. Any public comments in support of the Bill? Seeing none. Opposition. Do we have witnesses in opposition? Please come forward. Two minutes each. Thank you.

Mr. Chair and Members Tristan Brown with the Federation of Teachers. And apologies again. As I mentioned earlier, our convention had just occurred, so we were unable to ratify positions on bills until the last few days. So we are late to give you a heads up and to the authors apologies to spring this just in terms, though, really quickly.

Where our concerns are on this policy is that we had been monitoring what happens over a long enough timeline when families are able to move around and really self segregate. And I think out of a duke study we were looking at and how this has been played out in some of the charter realm.

When families are able to move at will, like not physically, but have their children move throughout districts, you will see, over time, a self segregation of the student population, which I think is contradictory to our public policy of our public education system. It also might seem to provide some unknowns for our facilities to be able to know what enrollments are going to look like.

These might be a little bit more of a minor thought, but you do plan on having certain numbers of average enrollment and class sizes and staffing proportions for that. And as we are in a staffing crisis, some other sites might not be ready to handle some of the transfers. Really? We agree. I think we agree everything with what Assembly Member Hoover just said about the mobility of certain families over others, the inequities baked into the system.

We'd rather the state double down on fixing those schools with Low marks rather than having folks abandon ship. So we'd rather, I don't know, tax billionaires and Fund public education or some crazy idea like that. So that is the position of the CFT as of now. So thank you.

Thank you so much, chair and Committee Members, for allowing me to speak. Jessica Hay again with the California School Employees Association, and we echo what my colleague, Mr. Brown, was sharing for us. Really, this is an equity issue. So think about students that transfer out of low income or low performing schools. Then money will be taken away from those schools, and the rest of the students within that school could suffer. And so that doesn't seem like an equitable solution for this.

There are better strategies that could increase school performance and student outcomes, but taking resources away from those low performing schools doesn't make sense for that. So we also agree that the staffing crisis that we're facing in education is definitely a worry as well, making sure that schools that get an influx of students are able to staff those schools appropriately. So those are the main reasons that we are in opposition. Thank you, authors, for clarifying about the transportation. We do appreciate that. So thank you very much.

Thank you. Any public comments in opposition?

Hi, Katie Hardeman with the California Teachers Association. We don't have a formal position at this time. We have our CTA State Council meeting coming up this weekend where we'll be discussing a lot of these bills, but just raising questions around is this the right solution for supporting our lowest performing schools and students, or is there a better way that we can support all of the students within a struggling school? I think are the major questions that we have.

Thank you. Any further public comments in opposition? Seeing none, let's bring it back to the Committee. Ms. Quirk-Silva.

Hi, and thank you. I know it's your first time coming to Committee. Congratulations. I have a lot to say on this topic because, again, it goes back to a firm belief in equity, and I generally support parents choice. But I've seen firsthand exactly the scenario that has been brought up with the opposition.

Whereas when there is opportunities to move to a school that is assumed to be higher performing, and these scores are through our state tests, that most of the time this data is coming from, what happens is you will get a run on a school, and most of the time the schools are a title one school that the families are moving from, which, again, is most of the time students of color, students of a second language.

And it really does damage to that school that the students are leaving. I'm just going to use my own city, Fullerton, as an example. We have hill schools that we call them. They're actually in the hills, and then what we call flatlands and where I taught for almost 30 years in title one schools. And what we see is in the hill schools, they're generating about 200 students. And then you have all the transfers.

And when you have transfers into the hill schools, and then when you look at the title one schools, exactly what was just stated is happening. Then you start to get teachers who want to transfer out, and there's no investment in those neighborhood schools. And when most of our students of color, their only choice is to go to a neighborhood school because their parents are working, you start to see a divestment.

So like I said, I generally support parent choice, but I know many, many times what it does is affect those neighborhood schools where they're almost divested in. So that's my comments. I'll be staying off the Bill today.

Thank you, Mr. McC1arty.

Yeah, thank you. I'm torn on this. I'm leaning towards supporting with the amendments. Just how would you respond to that hypothetical? In California, we have a few issues. One too many kids aren't thriving in education before the pandemic. Even worse now, a lot of families are struggling trying to find the right choice, and we have decline in school attendance in ADA. It's not just because of the pandemic. It's just birth rates and just California's population.

So what would you say to a hypothetical, like someone, Member Quirk-Silva brings up where if every parent at that school left to go somewhere else, and the school would be potentially a drag on the community, drag on property value. What's your hypothetical on how you would answer that?

So I just want to clarify on this Bill that it is extremely narrow, what we're trying to do here. So, first of all, there won't be a run on a school because that school district will have to accept the student. As you know, there are some districts that are obviously declining enrollment that have space, some districts that don't. But if the space does not exist, there is no obligation for a district to accept a student.

What this Bill really addresses is that ability for the home district to veto that transfer. So this would only affect kids that actually the parent voluntarily applies for enrollment in a neighborhood school district or a neighboring school district, I should say. And then that school accepts that child, which is completely up to them to do based on their ability to actually have space for that child. And then all this Bill would say is that if all those things occur. The home district could not veto that transfer. So that's really all we're talking about.

What would happen if that home district had a request every week for 200 straight weeks, and eventually there's like, nobody left. At what point is too much, too much? I know your background. You come from a school district where haves and have nots. Really, it's a tale of two districts. Absolutely. Folsom Cordovitz. So some people make that choice. And look, maybe I've called me old fashioned.

When I was a kid in my massive apartment complex where my mom and bunch of single parents live, there was 100 kids in our complex over here, 5 miles from here, and we all went to the same school. There wasn't any going another school, or it was nothing. And then years later, we lament that people go to different schools. You lose that sense of community, and most districts are open enrollment. We grappled with this with the district of choice issue.

Wanted to make sure, and you do make a good point, this isn't necessarily a loss of ADA, like I heard, because they're staying in the California schools, but you're not losing to private or charter, granted, two types of charters or homeschool. So I understand we've been grappling with this, but at what point is the breaking point where it's too much?

Yeah, I think so. I also point out that the Bill only applies to, as defined, a low performing pupil. And so that's actually less than 5% of the kids in the entire state. I think that this Bill was kind of intentionally very narrowly drawn because we're not trying to upset the entire system. We're trying to provide a small bit of choice for families. But there's two factors that would have to be met.

It would have to be a low performing pupil as defined in the Bill, and they have to be coming from a Low performing school district or school. And so obviously, we worked with the Chair on better refining that, and I appreciate the work of the Committee staff on that. But I think it's important to know that those are all the factors that have to be.

Now, I would add to your point, and kind of the point I made in my comments, is that parents who their school is not working for their child, they will find their way to a way to get their child into a different education, whether that's going to a charter school, whether that's finding a way homeschooling, whatever it might be. And so I think the great thing about this Bill is it does provide that choice within our public school system that is supported by the opposition.

All the schools we're talking about here are schools that are serviced and supported by the opposition. And so I think it's really important that we create those avenues within the traditional public school system.

So there really isn't a threshold as far as when it would be too much. But you're saying it couldn't be that much because we're only talking about Low performing.

Low performing pupil. Yeah.

And remind me again, I can't open my computer is dead right here. The definition of low performing student. I know what school is, but like, what?

So the Low performing pupil is, we actually pulled it from, I believe, the federal standard pupil that does not meet academic achievement standards based on the most recently it's the CASP testing. So it would be based on CASP test.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Any, Ms. Dahle, Vice Chair Dahle.

I want to thank you both for bringing this forward because I do think that parents will find other options. And we're seeing that right now throughout our state, there's 100,000 students that we're not sure if they've, not that they're lost, but they're in a private school. We know private school affidavits are up. And we don't want to abandon our public schools. We don't want to walk away from our schools. Our kids went to a very small public school.

I was also on a school board of for 200 kids. What I champion is rural school districts. So we do not want our community schools to dry up and go away. That's a real concern. But these are students. These are children. And we're working our way through funding, which is very important. We're putting important dollars into our education system. But we need to do it faster, because when we look at these models, we're going to take five years to get there.

And for a parent whose child is struggling, five years is a long time to get there. So they're going to find another option. You're right. And I think this is an equity issue because maybe they might take two years to find another option. Right, or someone else could quickly do it tomorrow. So I thank you for bringing this forward. And you've narrowed it. I know you've worked with the Committee, so thank you so much. And I move the Bill.

All right, I have a few questions. Well, first, I'll start with comments. I wrote down all of the concerns raised by our teachers and CSEA. Self segregate planning for enrollment, abandoning ship, equity resources being taken away, and better strategies to address the problem of, of too many students being stuck in low performing schools. And I want to acknowledge Ms. Quirk-Silva's concern about students of color being stuck in low performing schools and that this would undermine neighborhood schools.

I wanted to make sure that I want to acknowledge, and I share the concerns raised in terms of the students being left behind in the failing schools. But at the same time, I'm very sympathetic to students who are stuck in bad schools because they can't afford to move. It's like every student, like any family, they would like to be able to go to a better school. It's something that I, as a parent, appreciate.

And so I know that the amendments that the authors are taking on this Bill, number one, it specifically requires that students who transfer to be admitted with an unbiased process. So at least the design of the Bill is that the students of color would not be left behind, that any student, whether you're a student of color or a white student, you have the option to avail yourself of this process.

And second, in terms of the low income students being left behind, we specifically required the amendment that transportation to be provided by the receiving school district for low income students, and so that transportation is not a challenge for low income students to be able to attend a better school. I think it's a worthwhile discussion that I'd like to continue to have with the authors of this Bill. Should this Bill move out of the Committee?

I'm not sure if you have the votes on this Committee, but because I believe that all students should have the equal opportunity to attend the best schools that they can get into. I am in support of your Bill. So I wanted to share that. I want to invite any of the witnesses that testified in opposition or raised concerns. If you have any responses to the points that I just raised, I would welcome it either now or later, but I want to give anyone an opportunity. If not, it's fine. Okay. Any other comments? Mr. Carrillo?

I just want to say that I agree with the last part of what you said. I think that it will provide opportunities for those students that for socioeconomic factors are not able to move to better schools. I think the intent of the Bill is to provide that.

As long as the concerns from Mr. McCarthy are not there, I'll support this Bill just because I believe that we need to provide those opportunities, better opportunities, and those students that, again, because of their socioeconomic factor and are able to move on to a better school. I think that's the intent of this Bill. And for that reason, I will support it as well.

Thank you. Can I take that as a second to the motion? Okay. Any further questions or comments from the Committee? Seeing none. Would you like to close?

I respectfully request an aye vote thank you.

And I'll just add thank you for the discussion. And we're just hearing about some of the opposition today. We did work to address. The law already addresses CSCA's opposition, and I'm sure the author is happy to continue working with them as well.

Okay. And with that understanding that you will continue to work with the opposition, I will be supporting the Bill to see if we can get out of Committee. Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

File item number three, AB 237. The motion is do pass as amended to appropriations. The motion is do passes. Amended to appropriations. [Roll Call]

Five votes. The Bill is out.

Thank you.

All right. Last but not least, we have Mr. Gibson. Thank you for your patience. And this is item 16, AB. 694 is yours.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and members. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of presenting Assembly Bill 694. This bill seeks to establish California residency apprentice program. Specifically, it does a couple of things, and let me just touch briefly on what those few things are established. California Teacher Residency Apprentice program in state statute streamline a coordinated approach to identifying teacher vacancies in the State of California. Many of you know we have a teacher shortage, and this bill seeks to specifically address that particular situation.

Research conducted by the Learning Policy Institute has noted that the demand for educators increase. This is due to retirement by the baby boomers generations, as well as a decision by school districts to reduce class sizes. As you know, California provides several alternative pathways, which includes programs such as the Classified School Employees Teacher Credentialing Program or the California Teachers Residency program.

We will push hard on these teacher preparation programs and alternative pathways to continue to address the diversifying the teacher workforce until all schools have filled vacancies with qualified teachers. The Teacher Apprenticeship program is a program that was derived from Tennessee, known as the Grow Your Own program and has benefited teachers and their workforce in the state and throughout the State of Tennessee. The Department of Education will work to identify and address vacancies in school districts around California.

Also, this work will continue with the Department of Labor in partnership with their work group on teacher retention and workforce. And many of you know, I authored Assembly Bill AB 520 that recruits and retain male teachers of colors last year. So this just continues to further that work because we need to make sure that we diversify our teacher workforce, but also increasing and retaining male teachers of colors.

In California, according to the Office of Civil Rights, data shows that the district serves more children of color employ about four times more uncertified teachers than districts serving fewer teachers of color, students of color, excuse me. This bill will support students from low-income families, students with disabilities, and English learners who are also more likely to be taught by unqualified teachers than other students. This bill will make sure that classrooms are filled with qualified teachers in our schools across State of California.

Joining me in support of this bill is a representative, Mr. Mack. He's a Legislative Director for Children Now who will also provide any technical assistance at this time.

Before we go further, Mr. Gibson, you accept all the committee amendments?

I accept them all, sir.

All right. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chairman and committee members. My name is Adonai Mack. I am the senior director of education for Children Now. We are an advocacy and research organization focused on children issues, as was mentioned by Senator Gipson and what you all talked about a couple of weeks ago in the Workforce Joint Committee hearing.

Yes, California has a teacher shortage that we need innovative ways to address, and we believe that one of these ways is by reclassifying our teacher residency programs as apprenticeship programs, it will bring in federal dollars to defray some of the costs, as well as to help our credentialed candidates essentially not teach for free in student teaching programs. We believe this is an excellent model that was built on in Tennessee, as Member Gipson mentioned.

We'd like to replicate that in California and think we can do that working with our Commission on Teaching Credentialing and the Department of Labor. And with that, I ask for your aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Any witnesses in support or any public comments in support of the bill?

Thank you, Mr. Chair and members. Tristan Brown with the CFT, same spiel, but we will support. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further public comments in support of the bill? Seeing none. Any witnesses in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Any public comments in opposition to the bill? Seeing none. Committee. Mr. Carrillo.

I appreciate you bringing this bill in front of us, and that's just another innovative way to increase teachers, the shortage of teachers that we have, as we keep discussing that. Thank you for bringing this, and I'm in full support of that. It is very important to have teachers that demonstrate the demographics of their students. That is so important. I think that we are going in the right way with this bill. Thank you again.

And students really assimilate more when they see teachers who they can assimilate with. So thank you for that, and I'll be honored if you consider me for a co-author of the bill.

I will be honored to have you as a co-author. Thank you very much.

Any further comments from the committee? Thank you very much. Mr. Gipson, I am thrilled with your acceptance of amendments to be added as a joint author of the bill. This is going to be a great bill. It is a great bill, exactly as your witness indicated. It's going to allow teacher apprenticeship programs to draw down access, federal, state and local grants. That's the critical component that we need to continue to build upon to get more funding to address the critical teacher shortage.

I very much look forward to working with you, sir, likewise, to get this bill onto the governor's desk and signed into law. We have a motion and a second. Okay, motion has been made and seconded. Madam Secretary, please call the roll file.

Item number 16, AB 694. The motion is do pass as amended to Appropriations.

Six votes. The bill is out.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. I need to vote in another committee, and so I would like to pass the gavel to Vice Chair Dahle.

Whatever you want.

Yeah, what do you want? Just come.

Mr. McCarty. So we have AB 897. Proceed, please.

Thank you. Thank you for allowing me to present, first of all, happy Adult Education week in California. This is adult Education Week, and this Bill is about supporting and valuing our adult educators throughout California. We all know adult education means so much to our local communities.

Every community has an adult education focusing on helping people learn English, get job skills, become citizens, join the workforce, or focus on credit recovery like Mr. Carrillo and I had to do to get on to getting our GEDs and going to community college. And then later, both of us became members of this distinguished body because of adult education. This Bill just makes sure that the other key element to adult education, besides the students, the teachers, are properly supported.

In California, we have teacher tenure supports for non-adult education and non career tech teachers. But we really have a second tier system for our adult educators in California. And this just really isn't fair. This wouldn't give our adult educators a free pass. They would still have to focus on completing their two-year probationary periods, but just give them equal footing with other 10 year teachers, more job security, and help value this profession. This Bill passed this Committee last year. We've narrowed it.

Last year it was CTE. Teachers and adult ed had some concern with that piece of it. So now it's just focused on adult educators in California. Respectfully, ask for your aye vote. I have a witness with the California Teachers Association as well as United Teachers LA adult ed school. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Members. My name is Elizabeth Kitching and I teach English as second language for Evans Community adult school. It is one of 10 adult schools that are part of Los Angeles Unified School District. I have been teaching ESL since 1999. In 2012, I was laid off and I was unemployed for six months. At that point, there were qualified teachers that left the profession. They said, that's it.

In 2015, I was laid off again, not because of my performance, but because of my status. Both times I was rehired. About one third of the adult of those of us in adult education have been perpetually temporary for years. Regardless of our performance, we have no path to permanent status. We are treated differently from almost any other teachers in the state and country. Why do we put up with it? Many of us have master's degrees.

We could teach community college, but we do it because we believe in our students, like Mr. Mccarthy, and we believe in what we have to offer them. In November of 2019, a young man in a wheelchair came into my level five class. He had almost been killed in a terrible motorcycle accident. I suggested he enroll in computer class at the same time as ESL. He passed level six. And when he showed up in my Zoom class in level six, he passed level five.

During the pandemic, he told me he was taking the next level of computer class and learning programming. I'm so proud of this young man. I feel honored to be his teacher. But I'm also proud of our programs that provide English and affordable job training. Where else could this young man learn the skills to be able to become independent and support himself?

Many of us are troubled as we watch the growing gap between the very rich and the very poor in this country, and we feel helpless to do anything about it. In adult education, we are doing something about it. We're providing low cost opportunities for students to improve their lives and work their way out of poverty. I believe in my students, and I believe in the programs. The only problem is that my employer does not believe in me, does not value me, or give me job security.

Finally, last school year, thanks to the efforts of our unions and representatives, LAUSD finally gave permanent status to many of us who have been temporary for years. We hope all adult school teachers will finally be treated as professionals. Thank you.

Thank you. Just a reminder. Two minutes. Okay? Thank you.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Committee Members. Katie Hardeman with the California Teachers Association. I'll be brief because it's extremely hot in here. CTA is a proud co sponsor of this Bill, along with CFT, and we want to thank Mr. McCarty for bringing this forward. As you know, most teachers are provided an opportunity to get permanent status after their probationary period. However, we have heard from many teachers across the state, including Ms. Kitchen here.

Adult education teachers are not provided those jobs protections and are often treated as temporary employees being laid off and then rehired each and every year. This Bill will change that and provide adult ed teachers with the same opportunity as other teachers in obtaining permanent status and really treated as professionals. Additionally, this Bill will provide a path to permanent status for certain certificated employees that may work less than full time, but at least 60% who are also currently treated as temporary employees.

The Bill does not prevent schools from laying off staff. There is a process in place for that. It just simply ensures that teachers are treated fairly and professionally in that process. As you know, many of our school districts are experiencing unprecedented teacher and staffing shortages. So this Bill will provide more stability for our teacher workforce, which we know is better for students. So I ask for your support.

Thank you. Is there any public comment in support?

Tiffany mock, CFT in support. Proud to co sponsor.

Thank you. And is there any opposition? Witnesses? Any public comment in opposition? Okay. We'll bring it back to the Committee Members for any questions or comments. Mr. Carrillo?

Thank you. If it wasn't because of adult education, I wouldn't be here today. I started going to school at night, working during the day. I started taking ESL classes in Garfield High School in East La. Went through my GED program, high school diploma, also at night, and some of my college education. Thank you for what you've done. Thank you for what you're going to continue to do.

And it saddens me to hear that you're not recognized for your valuable work, because what you do helps a lot of us, a lot of us that have families at a young age that we have to support. And because of adult education, this is where we both are. Thank you for doing that.

Thank you. Any other Committee Members, a motion. zero, sorry, Mr. Hoover.

All right. I just want to make a quick comment. I think. I'm not sure I'll be able to get there today, but. I know the answer to this question. But I think the two year timeline to me is a little bit short. I think most states do at least three, some do four or five. I think I could get there if we were to do that. But I understand that you're probably trying to keep this in line with all the other teachers already.

I know there's been efforts in this Committee in the past to kind of reform that number a little bit, but that's all I would say today, is that I think we'd love to keep working with you on it, but I just wanted to make that comment. So thank you.

Just one last. I have an ask for Mr. McCarthy. Would you consider me as a co author?

Any other comments from the Committee? Would you like to close?

Yeah. Thank you. I think that teacher status is a settled issue on the years, and so this is just a parity issue. It's a fairness issue. We're working with the school district officials. It's good we haven't heard their opposition. There was concerns in years past, and hopefully this will allow us to land this. And let's face it, we have a shortage of teachers. We have a shortage of adult educators.

And so why would you be an adult educator and get a slip every now and then when you can go teach in the other classroom and have security? So these are such an important element of success in California and our communities. And so we need to uplift and value this side of the public education system, and with that ask for ride vote. Thank you.

Do we have a motion and a second? Please call the roll

[Roll Call]

Four votes the bill's out. Thank you, Mr. Lee. We have file item 16 AB. zero, sorry, 15. Excuse me. 640.

Thank you, Madam Chair and Members, I would like to thank the Committee staff for their work. And I accept the Committee amendments that will explicitly authorize telework and require to sign consent form authorizing a minor to telework this Bill. AB 640, will modernize existing law by expanding the scope of work permits to allow minors to telework. Currently, the education code does not explicitly authorize telework, and there is a lack of clarity on whether or not students can work remotely.

This code section has remained the same for the past 47 years and does not reflect growing trends of remote work. Solidwork holds the potential to create more equitable opportunities for student employees who may wish to work for an employer not directly in their vicinity. It also opens the door to provide more opportunities for those that may not be able to drive or commute. We should not exclude students who can legally work from being a part of this evolving workforce.

AB 640 will modernize an outdated statute and create more equitable career opportunities for students to better reflect our evolving workplace and community. And today I'm pleased to be joined by Emma Lee, who's a student from Fremont Unified School District, my constituent who has patiently been waiting here through us, bearing this hot day. And she's an 11th grader of Mission San Jose High School, and she would like to share her story.

But first, I want to caveat, is she and her twin brother brought this Bill idea to me, so this is a result of their hard work, and this is her first time ever in the Capitol.

Dear chair and Assembly Members, I rise in strong support of AB 640, which will clarify the current statute and authorize telework and employment at an online business for students. Due to an unfortunate schedule conflict my brother, Ryan Lee, could not become, I am here testifying on behalf of both of us. We are high school students from California Fremont Unified School District. In December of 2021, we were both extremely excited to receive a job offer from a company founded by a College Professor.

This job opportunity will allow us to promote equity and make math education more scalable to students worldwide through an innovative online platform. Unfortunately, our work permit applications were rejected because it turns out that California minors are prohibited from acquiring any paid remote jobs. The existing law 49163 limits minors to conduct jobs only in physical, brick, and mortar business places. But our hiring company operates completely online and the TAs are recruited across various states based on their qualifications, not their location.

If the company were to open physical offices near all the TAs, it will not be scalable or successful. So, in the end, we were greatly disappointed that we could not take on the job offer due to this law. And we are deeply grateful to Assembly Member Lee for introducing Bill AB 640 after hearing our experience. This Bill will modernize the California statute by expanding work permits to online employers and authorizing telework to ultimately provide students more opportunities to gain work experience.

We are in strong support of AB 640 and respectfully ask for your aye vote. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there any more a public comment in support? Any opposition witnesses? Any public comment in opposition? If not, we'll bring it back to the Committee Members. Any comments or questions? All right, we have a motion and a second. Thank you so much for your testimony today and sitting here for 3 hours. Thank you. We have a motion a second. Can you please call the roll? Oh, do you want to close?

I will strictly ask for an ivote, but I would just like to thank Emma and her dad for taking the day off to come here. It is school day, of course, but highlights the example of why we need more different opportunities for students. And I have to commend her and her brother for first of all even coming to me and with Bill idea but also seeking out job opportunities to teach other kids even while in high school. So thank you for that. Respectfully ask your aye vote.

File item number 15, AB 640. The motion is do pass as amended to labor and employment Committee. [Roll Call] 6-0 Bill is out. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm putting my jacket on. It's just. Yeah, crazy. Spoken about that earlier today.

End of the spectrum of SARS. Heat flash from the young girls at target. Some of the women in here feel my pain. Okay.

Item 11. Oh, yes, item 11. AB 446.

Thank you Members, for having me. Madam Chair and Members. Assembly Bill 446 would require handwriting instruction. Now. I'm aging myself here. I know that some people call it handwriting or cursive or joint italics in the appropriate grade level for California students. Now, I need to make this case very clearly. I know when we talk about cursive writing, people have strong opinions about it. They either know it, don't know it, prefer it, don't use it, and don't want it. So I'll just be candid here.

Why would I bring a cursive writing Bill up in California when we have so many things on our plate to teach from climate to history? But let me just be clear that this is already a state standard and about 50% of our students are already learning it. The big issue here is it really depends on the school you go to and the teacher you have. Some teachers have always taught it, continued to teach it, and some don't.

If we were to take a poll, even in this one room here, I think we'd have a variety of opinions on of cursive, but also who knows how to use cursive. So why in this age of technology should we even be talking about cursive? And I will tell you, it's not just a personal opinion. It's for two reasons. In my opinion, it's an equity issue in the sense that we want all of our students to be able to read and write cursive, to read historical documents.

And you might say, well, when was the last time I brought up the constitution to read? It's not if you're going to, it's that if you have something put in front of you that you could read that. Just recently on Inside Edition, there was a case of a Japanese man that was interned, and he wrote letters to his high school Professor while he was intern. These letters were just found, and they were written incursive.

So as he was reading these letters in cursive, he was able to share through that document to the public this interaction. So there's many reasons. The other reasons are also we know that there's more and more research that shows that for some students, this process of eye hand coordination really can help in their learning. So whether it's with autism or dyslexia, that there is a value.

What I will just add is, how would you fit this in if you're an elementary teacher and you have so many subjects, which I was for almost 30 years, and more and more, we talk about, we want teachers doing small groups, we want interaction.

We know there's a lot of technology in the class, but this is an activity that once a student has learned how to do it or been instructed they can do an independent activity while the teacher is actually teaching something else so it can be fit into the current day curriculum. It is often done by many, many teachers, but there's many who don't do that.

So with this, we have our witness who is from the largest school district, Los Angeles County Office of Education, Executive Director of Government affairs, Pamela Gibbs.

Thank you very much, assemblymember, and good afternoon, Mr. Chair and Members. It's a pleasure to see all of you and be here in person today. Again, my name is Pamela Gibbs with the Los Angeles County Office of Education, and we're in strong support of this Bill. As already stated, researchers have long studied the effects and links between handwriting and reading development. There are clear connections between linguistic processes of reading and the motor process of handwriting, which keyboarding simply cannot replicate.

Handwriting not only activates literacy regions of the brain, but it also reinforces print awareness skills like visual tracking, reading left to right, as well as capitalization and punctuation skills and rules. It supports spelling and vocabulary acquisition, which boosts fluency in reading, and it also helps with retention of linguistic patterns as well as content learning. It is important to note that most students with reading difficulties also struggle with handwriting and writing structures. As a General rule, reading and writing go hand in hand.

AB 446 will further these goals and support the reading development of our young learners. And for these reasons, we strongly urge your support for the Bill. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any public comments in support of the Bill? Seeing none. Any witnesses in opposition to the Bill?

Everybody left.

There's a big. Yeah. Any public comments in opposition to the Bill? Seeing none. Questions? Comments from the Committee? Any questions? Comments?

I'll just say, I do think this is important. Our middle son, his third grade teacher, just decided that cursive was not going to happen. And I was like, you will know how to sign your name. So we did it at home. So I do think very important because you will have to have a signature someday, and you will have to have, and your grandparents will write you a letter and you need to be able to read it. So thank you.

Thank you. Would you like to close?

And I would just close exactly with that. We have many, many constituents that come up to Sacramento or visit us in our district office, and we often get letters. Many of those letters are written in cursive. So we certainly would like not only our teams and our staff to be able to read those letters, but even ourselves. I often put something on my Facebook like, do you support cursive?

And I get very mixed yes, we need to do it or no, that's outdated, so I get the different opinions. But I would respectfully ask for an aye vote.

Well, thank you very much, Ms. Corksova. I know you've been working on this for a while, and Governor Brown will be proud of you.

Governor Brown did say, bring me that Bill.

Madam Secretary, please call the roll. Has a motion been made? Motion by Dahle, second by Mr. McCarty. Please call the roll.

File item number 11, AB 446. The motion is due, pass to appropriations. [Roll Call]

6-1, the. The Bill is up.

You don't like old people like Debbie looking at.

Okay, I understand that I need to clarify. I believe it was Mr. Hoover's vote. I said that it was an abstention, but it's not voting. And that is on item 10, AB439. Mr. Hoover want to clarify for the record, is not voting. Thank you.

File item 10, AB 439. The motion is do pass amended to the Assembly Floor. Hoover not voting.

All right. And did we take a vote on the consent calendar? Okay. All right. Motion made and seconded. Madam Secretary, please call the role.

File item number one, AB 87. The motion is do pass as amended to the Assembly floor. File item number six, AB 377. The motion is do pass to the Higher Education Committee. File item number eight, AB 417. The motion is do pass to the Assembly Floor. File item number 12, AB 497. The motion is do pass to Appropriations. File item number 17, AB 715. The motion is do pass to Appropriations. File item number 19, AB 723. The motion is do pass to Appropriations.

File item number 22, AB 1127. The motion is do pass to Appropriations. File item number 23, AB 1173. The motion is do pass, as amended, to the Higher Education Committee. File item number 24, AB 1340. The motion is do pass to Appropriations. File item number 26, ACR 16. The motion is be adopted to the Assembly Floor. File item number 27, ACR 18. The motion is be adopted to the Assembly floor. [Roll Call].

7-0. The consent items are out. Okay, confirming. Yeah, I don't remember him. Okay, so no bills on call. We will now adjourn the hearing and leave the roll open for any add-ons if you missed any votes. Meeting is adjourned.

File item item number 14, AB 611, the motion is do pass as amended to Appropriations with the Chair voting aye. [Roll Call]. File item number 14, AB 611. [Roll Call]. That bill is out. 7-0. File item number 21, AB 897. The motion is due pass to Appropriations. [Roll Call]

File item number 15, AB 640. The motion is due to pass as amended to labor...to the Labor and Unemployment Committee.[Roll Call]. File item number 16, AB 694. The motion is due pass as amended to Appropriations with the Chair voting aye. [Roll Call].

All right. That is it. Thank you. Do you want to hold on? Do you want to reuse the binder?

Yes.

Congratulations on your first hearing [untelligible].