AB 1053 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Educational technology: evaluation and selection.

Summary

Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to provide for the adoption and selection of quality instructional materials for use in elementary and secondary schools and requires each governing board of a school district to provide for substantial teacher involvement in the selection of instructional materials and to promote the involvement of parents and other members of the community in the selection of instructional materials. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district, when adopting instructional materials for use in school, to include relevant technology-based materials, defined for these purposes to mean basic or supplemental instructional materials that are designed for use by pupils and teachers as learning resources and that require the availability of electronic equipment in order to be used as a learning resource, as provided. This bill would require the governing board or body of each school district, county office of education, and charter school to provide for substantial teacher involvement in the evaluation and selection of educational technology, as defined, that is required to be used by all teachers or all paraprofessionals of the local educational agency, and to promote the involvement of parents and other members of the community in the evaluation and selection process. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on or before January 1, 2027, to develop, and post on the State Department of Education's internet website, best practices and resources to guide school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and joint powers authorities providing educational services in the evaluation and selection of educational technology that is required to be used by all teachers or all paraprofessionals, as specified. The bill would, commencing January 1, 2027, encourage school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to follow those best practices for the evaluation and selection of educational technology. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 20, 2025 Last action Feb 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

04/21/25 - Amended Assembly → AB1053 · 2 edits

MINOR

The changes between these two versions of AB 1053 are primarily presentational rather than substantive. The bill text was reformatted from a traditional legislative print document (with line numbers and page headers) to a web-based format with navigation elements. The actual statutory content - including Sections 60003, 60004, and 60049 of the Education Code - remains substantively identical between versions.

TECHNICAL

The bill was reformatted from a traditional print-style legislative document with line numbers and page headers into a web-based presentation format with navigation links (home, accessibility, FAQ, etc.)

A short descriptive title was added: 'Educational technology: evaluation and selection.'

03/24/25 - Amended Assembly → 04/21/25 - Amended Assembly · 6 edits · Apr 21, 2025

MODERATE

AB 1053 was significantly expanded from a bill focused solely on oversight of digital supplemental instructional materials purchases to one that also establishes requirements for teacher involvement in evaluating and selecting broader educational technology. The amendment adds two new Education Code sections (60003 and 60004) requiring substantial teacher input in ed-tech selection and directing the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop state best practices by January 1, 2027. The previous version's aspirational language about enacting future legislation was removed in favor of concrete new requirements.

SCOPE

The bill now adds Sections 60003 and 60004 to the Education Code in addition to Section 60049, expanding its scope from digital supplemental instructional materials oversight to also cover evaluation and selection of educational technology broadly.

Removed the statement that it is the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation to increase transparency and oversight over procurement of technology-based supplemental instructional materials, replacing aspirational language with concrete new requirements.

REQUIREMENT

New Section 60003 requires governing boards of school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide for substantial teacher involvement in evaluating and selecting educational technology that is required to be used by all teachers or all paraprofessionals, and to promote parent and community involvement in the process.

TIMELINE

New Section 60004 requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop and post best practices and resources on the State Department of Education website by January 1, 2027, covering user interface, learning design, digital pedagogy, inclusivity and equity, assessment and data, and privacy and security.

DEFINITION

New definition of 'educational technology' as educational software in downloadable or web-based applications or other digital formats used to manage information, instruction, attendance, pupil grades and assessment data, notifications, and communication with parents. Also defines 'local educational agency' for this section to include joint powers authorities providing educational services.

FISCAL

Fiscal committee determination changed from 'no' to 'yes' and state-mandated local program determination changed from 'no' to 'yes', reflecting that the new provisions impose additional duties on local educational agencies requiring potential state reimbursement.

02/20/25 - Introduced → 03/24/25 - Amended Assembly · 7 edits · Mar 24, 2025

MODERATE

AB 1053 was transformed from a placeholder bill expressing only the Legislature's intent to enact future legislation into a fully operative law that imposes specific requirements on local educational agencies before they adopt or purchase digital instructional materials. The amended version adds Section 60049 to the Education Code, mandating that school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and joint powers authorities convene a publicly noticed workgroup to evaluate proposed digital supplemental instructional materials across multiple criteria including cost, pupil behavioral health, data privacy, surveillance risk, and equity. This is a significant expansion from a non-binding statement of intent to enforceable procedural requirements with state mandate reimbursement.

SCOPE

The bill now applies to all local educational agencies (school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and educational joint powers authorities) rather than being a general statement of legislative intent with no operative effect.

The original intent statement about increasing transparency over technology-based supplemental instructional materials was retained but moved to a separate Section 1, while the new operative requirements were placed in the newly added Section 60049 of the Education Code.

REQUIREMENT

Local educational agencies must convene a publicly noticed workgroup before adopting or purchasing digital supplemental instructional materials. The workgroup must include at least 2 employed teachers, 2 classified employees performing paraeducator duties, and 1 employee managing IT needs.

The workgroup must evaluate specific factors: cost and long-term reliability, academic benefit and percentage of pupils benefiting, impact on instructional time, homework policy, pupil behavioral health, educator workload, company integrity, conflicts of interest with vendors, data privacy and surveillance concerns, equity and digital access disparities, and human oversight of pupil data.

Before reporting its evaluation, the workgroup must solicit information from parents, teachers, classified employees, and pupils regarding their experience using the proposed materials.

DEFINITION

Defines 'digital supplemental instructional materials' broadly to include any digital educational software providing information, lessons, attendance tracking, examinations, grades, notifications, or other communications among educators, parents, or pupils via downloadable app, web-based application, or other digital format.

FISCAL

Adds a state mandate reimbursement provision requiring the state to reimburse local agencies for costs mandated by the bill if the Commission on State Mandates determines such costs exist. The fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes' and state-mandated local program changed from 'no' to 'yes.'

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Feb 2, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56.

lower

May 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

In committee: Held under submission.

lower

May 14, 2025

Committee

In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

lower

May 1, 2025

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 1.) (April 30). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Apr 22, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on ED.

lower

Apr 21, 2025

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on ED. Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 25, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on ED.

lower

Mar 24, 2025

Introduced

From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on ED. Read second time and amended.

lower

Mar 24, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on ED.

lower

Feb 21, 2025

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors