AB 2060 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Experienced Mentor Teacher Stipend Program.

Summary

Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law requires the commission to adopt standards for the accreditation of postsecondary teacher preparation programs. Existing law prescribes "clinical practice" as one of the commission-adopted standards and requires that teaching credential candidates perform 600 hours of clinical practice throughout the candidate's teacher preparation program, including, as a component of those hours, student teaching. Existing law establishes the Student Teacher Stipend Program to support prospective educators, as defined, during their completion of 500 or more hours of student teaching, as provided, and appropriates, for the 2025–26 fiscal year, $300,000,000 from the General Fund to the commission for allocation to support the Student Teacher Stipend Program. This bill would, contingent upon an appropriation of one-time funding by the Legislature, establish the Experienced Mentor Teacher Stipend Program, under the administration of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, to expand the Student Teacher Stipend Program to award stipends of $3,000 each to compensate experienced mentor teachers, as defined, who mentor student teacher candidates who are in teacher preparation programs, as provided. In administering the Experienced Mentor Teacher Stipend Program, the bill would require the commission to expand the online process for local educational agencies, as defined, to submit an experienced mentor teacher's information, as provided. The bill would require local educational agencies awarded funding under the Experienced Mentor Teacher Stipend Program to also partner with a commission-approved teacher preparation program to create an experienced mentor teacher recruitment and selection process accompanied by planned professional learning and support activities, as provided. The bill would require the commission to annually report to the education and policy committees of both houses of the Legislature certain information regarding the Experienced Mentor Teacher Stipend Program, as provided.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 18, 2026 Last action Aug 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

04/27/26 - Amended Assembly → AB2060 · 1 edit

MINOR

The bill text content is substantively unchanged between these two versions. The difference is purely presentational: the old version is a traditional legislative document with line numbers, while the new version is a web page rendering that includes site navigation elements (home, accessibility, FAQ, etc.) and reformatted headings. All policy provisions, definitions, funding amounts, and requirements remain identical.

TECHNICAL

The bill was re-rendered from a traditional legislative document format (with line numbers and page headers) to a web page format that includes navigation menus, quick search fields, and version tracking links. No substantive policy language was added, removed, or altered.

04/15/26 - Amended Assembly → 04/27/26 - Amended Assembly · 9 edits · Apr 27, 2026

MAJOR

The bill was substantially restructured from a single grant program into two programs: a new 'Experienced Mentor Teacher Stipend Program' that provides $3,000 stipends to qualified mentor teachers (the primary focus), and the original 'California Teacher Mentor Grant Program' retained as a secondary section. The amendment also removed a collective bargaining provision that would have expressly included mentor teacher stipends in the scope of representation under Government Code Section 3543.2.

Scope change

The bill shifted from a single discretionary grant program with unspecified funding amounts to a structured stipend program with a fixed $3,000 per-teacher payment tied to the existing Student Teacher Stipend Program infrastructure. The removal of the collective bargaining amendment narrows the bill's reach into labor relations law.

DEFINITION

New definition of 'experienced mentor teacher' requiring at least three years of teaching experience, a clear credential in the mentoring subject, satisfactory performance evaluations for the preceding three years, specific training for the mentor role, and compensation with appropriate release time.

The definition of 'local educational agency' was expanded to include programs or sites currently authorized by commission program standards as appropriate for student teaching, beyond just school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education.

FISCAL

The funding mechanism changed from grants of an unspecified amount to a fixed $3,000 stipend per experienced mentor teacher while they mentor a prospective educator completing 500 or more hours of student teaching.

The fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the amendment introduced a new fiscal impact that was not present in the prior version.

REQUIREMENT

Local educational agencies receiving funding must partner with a commission-approved teacher preparation program to create a mentor recruitment and selection process that includes criteria for selecting mentors, a collaborative matching process, 10 hours of initial orientation covering cognitive coaching and adult learning theory, ongoing professional learning, and systematic evaluation and recognition practices.

If demand exceeds the appropriated amount, the commission must prioritize applications on a first-come-first-served basis.

TECHNICAL

The commission must expand the existing online process (under Section 44400.02) for local educational agencies to submit experienced mentor teacher information including credential, teaching experience certification, employing agency, schoolsite, and demographic information.

SCOPE

The amendment to Government Code Section 3543.2 that would have expressly included 'stipends for mentor teachers' in the scope of collective bargaining representation was removed entirely from the bill.

The bill now explicitly frames the new stipend program as an expansion of the existing Student Teacher Stipend Program (Section 44400.01), which already has a $300 million appropriation for FY 2025-26, rather than as a standalone grant program.

02/18/26 - Introduced → 04/15/26 - Amended Assembly · 5 edits · Apr 15, 2026

MODERATE

The amended version adds an entirely new California Teacher Mentor Grant Program (Education Code Section 44405) that would compensate teacher mentors who coach student teacher candidates in commission-approved preparation programs. The program is contingent on a one-time legislative appropriation and would be administered by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, which must solicit applications from all local educational agencies and report annually to the Legislature. The original provision clarifying that mentor teacher stipends count as 'wages' for collective bargaining purposes is retained but renumbered as Section 2.

Scope change

The bill expanded from a narrow collective bargaining clarification (one section amending Government Code 3543.2) to a two-part bill that also creates a new state-administered grant program for teacher mentorship, adding a significant new policy component with potential state funding obligations.

FISCAL

Establishes the California Teacher Mentor Grant Program under the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, contingent on a one-time appropriation by the Legislature in the Budget Act or another statute. Grants would compensate teacher mentors for nonevaluative coaching and support of beginning teachers.

Fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' reflecting that the bill now has fiscal implications due to the new grant program.

SCOPE

Adds new Article 15 (Section 44405) to Chapter 2 of Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code, expanding the bill from a single collective bargaining clarification to a combined bill with a new grant program.

REQUIREMENT

Requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to issue a request for applications to all local educational agencies (school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education) and to adopt criteria for selecting which agencies participate in the grant program.

ENFORCEMENT

Requires the commission to submit an annual report by January 1 to the education policy and fiscal committees of both houses of the Legislature, including the number of teacher mentors paid, whether student teacher candidates meet local teacher shortage needs, and the ethnic and racial composition of program participants.

Floor votes · Assembly May 21, 2026

How they voted

71–0

Passed · 8 other

Total votes 79

May 21, 2026

D Democratic59

55 Yea 4

93% Yea

R Republican20

16 Yea 4

80% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

In committee: Held under submission.

upper

Jun 29, 2026

Committee

In committee: Referred to APPR. suspense file.

upper

Jun 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 17). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Jun 3, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on ED.

upper

May 21, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 72. Noes 0. Page 5219.)

lower

May 14, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (May 14).

lower

May 6, 2026

Committee

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

lower

Apr 28, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Apr 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Read second time and amended.

lower

Apr 23, 2026

Introduced

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (April 22).

lower

Apr 16, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on ED. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96.

lower

Apr 16, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on P. E. & R.

lower

Apr 15, 2026

Introduced

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

lower

Mar 9, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on P. E. & R.

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 21.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors