This bill designates March 22, 2026, as California STEAM Robotics Day to recognize the importance of robotics within science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics education. The measure directly affects schools and educational organizations across the state by providing a specific date for them to host events or activities focused on robotics. It does not create new funding, change laws, or mandate specific actions, but rather serves as a formal proclamation to raise awareness about the field. The legislation was passed by the state legislature and signed into law as part of the 2026 statutes.
This bill urges state and local education leaders to formally evaluate new reporting requirements by asking six specific questions about their purpose, audience, value, feasibility, duplication, and duration. It aims to reduce administrative burdens on school districts by ensuring that any new data collection efforts directly support student learning rather than diverting resources. The resolution calls on the Legislature, Governor, and various state agencies to adopt this structured analysis process before implementing additional planning or accountability mandates. By promoting a more coherent system, the bill seeks to help schools use public funds more effectively for classrooms and pupil well-being.
Existing federal law establishes the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program, under which pupils who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals receive $40 per month, with specified adjustments, during summer months for grocery benefits. Existing federal regulations require, by 2025, the designated state agency to make a Summer EBT application available to households whose children are enrolled in schools participating in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program and who do not already have an individual eligibility determination. Existing state law requires the State Department of Social Services, as the lead agency in partnership with the State Department of Education, to maximize participation in the Summer EBT program. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils at all times during each regular schoolday. Existing law authorizes those entities to make an application electronically available online if the online application complies with certain requirements, including, among others, the inclusion of links to certain internet websites providing information on, and applications for, other government programs, such as CalFresh. This bill, the Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025, would require, upon an appropriation made by the Legislature, the State Department of Education, with support from the State Department of Social Services, to comply with the above-described federal regulations by developing, and providing families with, a statewide application that is made available through a single statewide internet website that enables families to submit federally required information relating to the Summer EBT program, as specified. The bill would require the internet website to, among other things, have the capability of routing a family's completed information to the family's local educational agency to determine Summer EBT eligibility. The bill would require the governing board of a school district, a county superintendent of schools, and the governing body of a charter school to make the above-described paper applications available if required by federal law and guidance, as specified. The bill would require the governing board of a school district, a county office of education, the governing body of a charter school, or a school food authority that provides an application online for free or reduced-price meals, as described above, to also provide links to the internet website providing information about the Summer EBT program. To the extent that the bill would create new duties for local educational agencies or county or other local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.
This measure would urge California's Members of Congress to reject any proposal to dismantle the United States Department of Education or strip it of its core functions and would call on the President of the United States to preserve, protect, and strengthen the United States Department of Education and its mission to serve all students.
This House Resolution declares January 2026 as School Board Recognition Month to honor the nearly 5,000 school board members across California's 1,000 school districts and county offices of education. The resolution recognizes these locally elected officials for their work in guiding public education and serving diverse communities, emphasizing their role in ensuring students' academic, social-emotional, and health needs are met. It calls on community members to join in acknowledging the dedication of school board members and collaborate to improve the education system. The bill has no operational effect beyond this symbolic recognition and does not change any laws or policies.
Existing law establishes a public school financing system that requires state funding for county superintendents of schools, school districts, and charter schools to be calculated pursuant to a local control funding formula, as specified. Existing law requires funding pursuant to the local control funding formula to include, in addition to a base grant, supplemental and concentration grant add-ons that are based on the percentage of unduplicated pupils, defined as those pupils who are English learners, foster youth, or eligible for free or reduced-price meals, served by the county superintendent of schools, school district, or charter school, as specified. Existing law, commencing with the 2021–22 fiscal year, requires the concentration grant add-on to be equal to 65% of the base grant for each school district's or charter school's percentage of unduplicated pupils in excess of 55% of the school district's or charter school's total enrollment. Existing law prohibits a charter school's percentage of unduplicated pupils from exceeding the percentage of unduplicated pupils of the school district in which the charter school is physically located, or the highest percentage of unduplicated pupils of the school districts in which the charter school has a school facility, as applicable. This bill would authorize a charter school subject to the above-described prohibitions to apply to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for a waiver from the applicable limitation and to instead have its concentration grant calculated based on the charter school's percentage of unduplicated pupils in excess of 55 percent of the charter school's total enrollment. The bill would require the Superintendent to develop guidelines and procedures for these purposes and to grant the waiver if specified conditions are met, as specified.
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 issue a single subject teaching credential only in specified subjects and authorizes the commission to issue an authorization to teach a subject other than the one authorized by a single subject teaching credential if the holder of the credential meets certain requirements. Existing law, upon appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, requires the commission, on or before July 1, 2024, to convene a workgroup on credentialing for instruction in computer science, as provided. Existing law also requires the commission, on or before July 1, 2025, to provide a report of the workgroup's findings and recommendations, as provided. Existing law repeals these provisions as of January 1, 2028. This bill would extend the above-referenced deadlines by 2 years and delay the repeal date of those provisions by 2 years.
Existing law requires school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools to adopt and update a local control and accountability plan (LCAP) using a template adopted by the State Board of Education that requires an LCAP to include certain information, including, among other information, (1) a description of the annual goals to be achieved for specified state priorities, including, among others, pupil achievement and pupil outcomes, (2) a description of the specific actions that the local educational agency will take during each year of the LCAP to achieve these goals, and (3) an assessment of the effectiveness of the specific actions described in the existing LCAP toward achieving the goals, as provided. This bill would, among other things, require the State Department of Education, in consultation with the state board and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, on or before December 31, 2026, to prepare, and update at least once every 2 years, a compilation of best practices to harness the power of technology to support pupil academic success and accelerate pupil academic achievement for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools that receive specified federal funding, including a model policy for incorporation of those best practices into their LCAPs. The bill would require the department, in collaboration with the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, to conduct at least 3 informational webinars in 2027 for those local educational agencies to understand how to incorporate the best practices and model policy into their LCAPs. The bill would require the department to establish a School Technology Empowerment Advisory Committee that includes at least one school board member, administrator, teacher, and representative from the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, and multiple individuals or organizations that represent the interests of supporting the use of technology in public schools, with experience regarding the effective use of technology in accelerating pupil academic performance, as provided. The bill would require the advisory committee to share with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and advise the Superintendent on, best practices to harness the power of technology to support pupil academic success and accelerate pupil academic achievement for local educational agencies. The bill would also require the advisory committee, on or before December 31, 2028, and annually thereafter, to prepare an annual report on the progress in harnessing the power of technology to accelerate pupil academic achievement and to submit the report to the department and the state board.
(1) Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in collaboration with, and subject to the approval of, the executive director of the State Board of Education, to develop and maintain the California School Dashboard, a web-based system for publicly reporting performance data on the state and local indicators included in the evaluation rubrics. The department, pursuant to the requirement of developing the California School Dashboard, has included as one of several state indicators, the College/Career Indicator (CCI) , which represents the percentage of high school graduates who are prepared for college or a career. This bill would require the state board to, upon the next revision of the California School Dashboard, consider for inclusion, for purposes of the CCI, the percentage of pupils who intend to enroll in college and the percentage of pupils who intend to enter or be employed through a registered apprenticeship program, skilled trade, or industry-aligned career pathway, as provided. (2) Existing law requires the governing board of each county board of education to adopt a local control and accountability plan (LCAP) and to update its LCAP before July 1 of each year. Existing law requires an LCAP to include, among other things, a description of the annual goals to be achieved for each state priority, as specified, for all pupils and certain subgroups of pupils. The state's delineated priorities include, among others, school climate, as measured by, pupil suspension rates, pupil expulsion rates, and other local measures, including surveys of pupils, parents, and teachers on the sense of safety and school connectedness. This bill would add as a local measurement for determining school climate, for purposes of the LCAP adopted and updated by each county board of education, the percentage of pupils who intend to enroll in college and the percentage of pupils who intend to enter or be employed through a registered apprenticeship program, skilled trade, or industry-aligned career pathway, as provided. To the extent this bill would impose additional duties on local educational agencies or local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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.
Existing law authorizes a community college district to enter into a College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) partnership with the governing board of a school district, a county office of education, or the governing body of a charter school with the goal of developing seamless pathways from high school to community college for career technical education or preparation for transfer, improving high school graduation rates, or helping high school pupils achieve college and career readiness. This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in collaboration with the dual enrollment advisory board, which the bill would establish, to develop a statewide dual enrollment framework to provide guidance for how dual enrollment programs should operate in the state to reach specified goals. The bill would require the dual enrollment advisory board membership to be composed of specified individuals, as provided. The bill would require the Superintendent and the advisory board, in developing the framework, to do certain things, including, among others, reviewing existing laws, policies, and efforts in California and other states on dual enrollment, course choice, pupil remediation, articulation and transfer, and transition courses, and providing a guide of best practices to accomplish specified dual enrollment-related policies. The bill would require the Superintendent to, by January 1, 2027, submit the framework to certain legislative committees, as provided.
