AB 2298 California Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Pupil instruction: computer science: content standards.

Summary

Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, advise and recommend to the State Board of Education the policies and activities that are needed to implement the state's academic content standards. Existing law requires the commission, on or before July 31, 2019, to consider developing and recommending to the state board computer science content standards for kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, pursuant to recommendations developed by a group of computer science experts, as specified. This bill would require the commission, when the computer science content standards are next revised after January 1, 2027, to consider incorporating cybersecurity skills, as defined, into those standards.

Issues: ✓ Education ✓ Technology

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Jun 2026

Assembly Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Aug 2026

Governor

Introduced Feb 19, 2026 Last action Aug 27, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

08/20/26 - Amended Senate → AB2298 · 1 edit

MINOR

The enrolled version of AB 2298 removed a requirement that the Instructional Quality Commission consider cybersecurity skills when evaluating computer science instructional materials. The bill now only requires the commission to consider incorporating cybersecurity skills into the computer science content standards themselves when they are next revised after January 1, 2027, dropping the parallel obligation tied to instructional material adoption.

REQUIREMENT

Removed subsection (e)(2), which required the Instructional Quality Commission to consider including cybersecurity skills in its criteria for evaluating computer science instructional materials when those materials are next adopted by the State Board of Education after January 1, 2027. The bill now only addresses cybersecurity skills in the context of content standards revision, not in material evaluation.

03/19/26 - Amended Assembly → 08/20/26 - Amended Senate · 5 edits · Aug 20, 2026

MODERATE

The Senate amendment removed a standalone legislative intent section (Section 1) that declared it the Legislature's intent to enact legislation relating to cybersecurity, and stripped 'cybersecurity' from the bill title and digest topic heading. It also removed a digest reference to the California Cybersecurity Integration Center and changed the fiscal committee vote from 'no' to 'yes.' The core policy requiring the Instructional Quality Commission to consider incorporating cybersecurity skills into computer science standards and materials remains unchanged.

Scope change

The bill's scope narrowed from a broader cybersecurity-related act (with a standalone legislative intent section and references to the state cybersecurity center) to a focused amendment of the Education Code requiring consideration of cybersecurity skills in computer science standards and materials.

SCOPE

Section 1, which stated 'It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to cybersecurity,' was deleted entirely. This removed a broad legislative intent statement that could have been cited to support future cybersecurity bills.

The bill title changed from 'An act relating to cybersecurity. An act to amend Section 33548 of the Education Code' to simply 'An act to amend Section 33548 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction,' narrowing the stated purpose to the education code amendment only.

The digest removed a paragraph describing existing law requiring the Office of Emergency Services to establish and lead the California Cybersecurity Integration Center, eliminating that contextual reference.

FISCAL

The fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the Senate fiscal committee now found the bill to have fiscal implications (likely a state-mandated local program or cost to local agencies).

TECHNICAL

A grammatical error in the AI literacy definition was fixed: 'as well as and how to use' was corrected to 'and how to use.'

02/19/26 - Introduced → 03/19/26 - Amended Assembly · 10 edits · Mar 19, 2026

MAJOR

AB 2298 was substantially expanded from a one-line intent statement about cybersecurity into a comprehensive education bill amending Education Code Section 33548. The amended version requires the Instructional Quality Commission to consider incorporating media literacy, AI literacy, and cybersecurity skills into K-12 curriculum frameworks and instructional materials evaluation criteria at their next revision cycles. The original intent statement is retained but moved to the end of the bill.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded dramatically from a single-sentence legislative intent statement about cybersecurity to a multi-subject education policy bill covering media literacy, AI literacy, and cybersecurity skills across ELA/ELD, mathematics, science, history-social science, and computer science curriculum frameworks and instructional materials.

SCOPE

Added a new Section 1 amending Education Code Section 33548, expanding the bill from a simple legislative intent statement into substantive education policy requiring curriculum changes across multiple subject areas.

DEFINITION

Added definitions for 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy,' 'Cybersecurity skills,' 'Digital citizenship,' and 'Media literacy' in the new Section 33548(a).

REQUIREMENT

Required the Instructional Quality Commission to consider incorporating Model Library Standards and media literacy into ELA/ELD curriculum frameworks when next revised after January 1, 2024.

Required the commission to consider incorporating media literacy content into mathematics, science, and history-social science curriculum frameworks when next revised after January 1, 2024.

Required the commission to consider including Model Library Standards and media literacy in its criteria for evaluating ELA/ELD instructional materials when next adopted after January 1, 2025.

Required the commission to consider including media literacy content in its criteria for evaluating mathematics, science, and history-social science instructional materials when next adopted after January 1, 2025.

Required the commission to consider incorporating AI literacy content into mathematics, science, and history-social science curriculum frameworks when next revised after January 1, 2025.

Required the commission to consider including AI literacy in its criteria for evaluating mathematics, science, and history-social science instructional materials when next adopted after January 1, 2025.

Required the commission to consider incorporating cybersecurity skills into computer science content standards when next revised after January 1, 2027.

Required the commission to consider including cybersecurity skills in its criteria for evaluating computer science instructional materials when next adopted after January 1, 2027.

Floor votes · Senate Aug 27, 2026 · Assembly May 21, 2026

How they voted

40–0

Passed

Total votes 40

Aug 27, 2026

D Democratic30

30 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican10

10 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 27, 2026

Lower · Passed

Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 77. Noes 0.).

lower

Aug 27, 2026

Introduced

In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

lower

Aug 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0.).

upper

Aug 20, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

upper

Jun 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8.

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 68. Noes 0. Page 5230.)

lower

May 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass. To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (May 13).

lower

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 9. Noes 0.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

Mar 23, 2026

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on ED.

lower

Mar 19, 2026

Introduced

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

lower

Mar 19, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on ED.

lower

Feb 20, 2026

Lower · Passed

From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors