Concluding twelvemonth California land legislators passed the Local Control Funding Formula, transforming how schools are funded. They ended the state's existing system of standardized testing and created a roadmap for introducing new assessments of student performance. And they canonical significant funding for implementing the new Common Cadre standards.

While collectively the raft of teaching bills introduced this year do not approach that level of magnitude, they do address a range of of import issues: universal kindergarten for 4-year-olds, school field of study, teacher dismissal, and available's degrees at the community college level, to proper noun a few.  EdSource will focus on a number of cardinal bills through our EdTracker, reporting their status every bit they go through the legislative process. Our list will likely expand in coming weeks. Check back for updates.
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Assembly bills

AB 364 – Child care oversight

  • AB 364, by Assemblyman Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, would institute unannounced visits to state-funded child intendance providers with the goal of providing more constructive oversight.
  • Why it's important: State-funded child intendance centers currently operate with very picayune oversight, every bit commencement reported by the Middle for Investigative Reporting. When land evaluators do visit the sites, they provide advanced warning, creating the possibility of an unwarranted positive review.

AB 420 –Student discipline

  • AB 420, by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, would eliminate willful disobedience or disruption of school activities every bit a reason to expel students and would limit its apply in suspensions.
  • Why it's of import: The "willful disobedience" category, which accounts for more than twoscore percent of suspensions statewide, is subjective and has been used disproportionally in many districts against African-American and Latino students. Discipline issues have too received increased scrutiny under the new Local Control Funding Formula for schools, which requires districts to create a Local Control and Accountability Programme that must include how they programme to meliorate school climate, including minimizing expulsions and suspensions. AB 420 is Dickinson'southward second attempt to limit the employ of willful defiance. The bill was commencement introduced last twelvemonth and passed in the Associates, but was held over to the current session to hash out remaining disagreements. The bill at present sits in the Senate Teaching Committee's inactive file; discussions betwixt Dickinson'due south staff and Gov. Jerry Brown's staff are ongoing because Brown vetoed a similar nib in 2012.
  • Previous EdSource Today coverage

AB 1444 – Mandatory kindergarten

  •  AB 1444, by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-San Diego, would brand kindergarten omnipresence mandatory.
  • Why information technology'southward important: Kindergarten is an optional grade and only 81 percent of eligible children enroll. Advocates of mandatory kindergarten say this offset yr of public schooling is critical to future success and should be mandatory for all students.

AB 1451 – Customs college dual enrollment

  • AB 1451, by Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena, would expand opportunities for high schoolhouse students to accept courses at community colleges nether concurrent or dual enrollment agreements.
  • Why it'south of import: Concurrent enrollment courses currently available to high schoolhouse students tend to be narrowly focused, such as brand-up courses or Advanced Placement classes non offered at loftier schools. Advocates say AB 1451 beak will create a more formalized, streamlined arroyo past calling on districts and colleges to create partnerships and then that courses offered at colleges complement what is being offered at high schools. Such courses play a big office in helping prepare students for college and careers.
  • Beak analysis; previous EdSource Today coverage.
  • Status: The bill stalled in the Senate Appropriations Committee in August because of price concerns, but Holden said he volition reintroduce the legislation next twelvemonth. "I remain committed to fighting for expanded opportunities for students to excel academically," he said.

AB 1866 – Educatee attendance

  • AB 1866, by Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, D-Pacoima, would collect data on absenteeism using the California Department of Education's student record system. The bill is 1 of a package of five attendance-related bills backed past country Chaser Full general Kamala Harris to address what she calls an "omnipresence crunch" in California.
  • Why it's important:Chronic absenteeism, defined as missing 10 percent or more days during the school year, is a strong predictor of dropping out, all the same the California Department of Education currently does not track absenteeism on a statewide basis. Nib advocates say tracking chronically absent students volition permit schools to use more effective interventions.
  • Previous EdSource Today coverage

AB 2235 – School construction bonds

  • AB 2235, by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, would identify a multi-billion dollar facilities bail on the November 2022 ballot; the exact amount has not even so been set. The K-12 portion of the bond would be for new structure, modernization and charter school facilities. Districts would gain flexibility in the design of facilities.
  • Why it'southward important: It's been eight years since voters last approved funding for school construction ($x billion in 2006), and the land exhausted its money two years ago. Districts report billions of dollars in needed projects. This beak will require a 2-thirds vote of the Legislature to place the mensurate on the ballot.

AB 2319 – Common Core

  • AB 2319, past Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, would authorize a second cake grant of nearly $1.five billion that schoolhouse districts could utilise to train teachers, purchase textbooks and instructional materials, develop curriculum and support career technical education needed to implement Common Core Country Standards. California and 44 other states have adopted the voluntary standards in math and English, which outline the skills students need.
  • Why it's important:  Districts received a quondam grant of $i.25 billion in the 2013-14 country budget – most $200 per student – for Common Core implementation, but say they need much more than to keep that work.
  • Previous EdSource Today coverage

Senate bills

SB 837 – Universal transitional kindergarten

  • SB 837, by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and several fellow senators, would aggrandize transitional kindergarten to serve all 4-year-olds.
  • Why it'southward important: A publicly funded pre-kindergarten year for all 4-year-olds, regardless of income, would create a new grade level in California.
  • Previous EdSource Today coverage

SB 843 – Teacher dismissal

  • SB 843, written past the California School Boards Association and carried past Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, would shorten the time information technology would accept to fire a teacher defendant of "egregious" misconduct, including sex activity crimes, abuse and immoral conduct, and aggrandize the power to gather more than evidence to support the charges. An administrative police estimate, instead of a three-person panel, would determine the case against teachers accused of misconduct.
  • Why it's important: Loftier-profile cases of serial pedophiles in schools have angered the public and underscored flaws with the current law. Lawmakers have failed for the past two years to change it. An initiative, at present gathering signatures, would make more drastic changes than the school boards association favors.
  • Previous EdSource coverage

SB 850 – Community college baccalaureates

  • SB 850, by Sen. Marty Cake, D-San Diego, would create an eight-twelvemonth airplane pilot programme allowing each California community higher to offer one baccalaureate degree in a high-need occupation, such every bit respiratory therapy and automotive technology management, as long as it doesn't duplicate a degree offered by nearby California Country University and University of California campuses.
  • Why it's important: Due to advances in engineering science and complexity of the piece of work, an increasing number of skilled professions that used to crave an associate degree or certificate are now giving hiring preference to candidates with bachelor's degrees. Pecker proponents say the measure would increase the number of graduates prepared for high-paid careers.
  • Previous EdSource Today coverage

SB 1108 – English learners

  • SB 1108, past Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Los Angeles, would require the Country Board of Education to adopt compatible procedures for reclassifying English learners, based on all-time practices. Districts currently have their own criteria to determine if English learners accept plenty language proficiency to be reclassified as a fluent English language speaker, and reclassification rates amongst districts widely vary. Students who accept been reclassified typically perform ameliorate academically than those who proceed to be classified as English learners and often also as native English speakers.
  • Why it'due south important: Every bit highlighted in a new study by the Public Policy Establish of California, the criteria used and the rates of reclassification vary significantly among districts, often to students' detriment. The Local Control Funding Formula, which awards extra dollars for English learners, may create a disincentive for reclassification.

SB 1174 – Bilingual education

  • SB 1174, by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Long Beach, would put an initiative before voters on the November 2022 ballot to repeal Suggestion 227, the 1998 initiative that banned most bilingual education in California and required that English learners be taught in English.
  • Why it's important: Being multilingual is essential to success in the global economy, Lara said. He likewise cited several studies showing that students who are bilingual practice ameliorate in school.
  • Previous EdSource Today coverage

SB 1221 – After-school program standards

  • SB 1221, by Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Oakland, would update the standards for after-school programs, give priority funding to yr-circular programs and provide extra funds for pocket-size rural programs.
  • Why it'southward important: With the adoption of the Common Core standards, the country is looking to after-schoolhouse and summer programs to support the new emphasis on hands-on learning, critical thinking and communication skills. Programs would be judged based on their ability to help students develop new skills and learn advisable behavior, rather than their performance on standardized tests.
  • Previous EdSource Today coverage

Staff writers Jane Meredith Adams, Kathryn Businesswoman, John Fensterwald, Susan Frey and Lillian Mongeau contributed to this report. Sign upward here for a no-price online subscription to EdSource Today for reports from the largest education reporting team in California.

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