Education finance: instructional materials and teacher recruitment: computer science.

Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, among other duties, administer the Teacher Residency Grant Program and the Local Solutions Grant Program, as specified. This bill would, for the 2019–20 fiscal year, appropriate $50,000,000 from the General Fund to the commission to establish the Computer Science Teacher Grant Program. The bill would require the commission to competitively select a county office of education to administer the grant program to provide specified grants to each student enrolled in an approved teacher preparation program who commits to teaching computer science, at a school district, county office of education, or charter school, for 4 years after he or she receives a preliminary teaching credential, and when he or she has completed 2 and 4 years of the teaching obligation, as provided. The bill would require the administrator of the grant program to annually report the status and progress of the grant program to the commission and to submit a final implementation report, within 6 years of being selected as the administrator, that describes the outcomes and effectiveness of the grant program. Existing law establishes the State Department of Education, under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and assigns to the department numerous duties relating to the financing, governance, and guidance of the public elementary and secondary schools in this state. Existing law requires the Instructional Quality Commission, on or before July 31, 2019, to consider developing and recommending to the State Board of Education computer science content standards for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, pursuant to recommendations developed by a group of computer science experts that the Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, is required to consider convening. This bill would, for the 2019–20 fiscal year, appropriate $50,000,000 from the General Fund to the department to apportion funds on a one-time basis to all county offices of education, school districts, and charter schools, on the basis of average daily attendance, for the purpose of purchasing instructional materials that are aligned to the forthcoming computer science content standards to be adopted for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as provided. Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.