The California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act establishes the California Workforce Development Board to assist the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California's workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce. Existing law requires the board to administer, promote, expand, and provide field assistance for high road training partnerships, defined as an initiative or project that models strategies for developing industry-based, worker-focused training partnerships, including labor-management partnerships. Existing law requires high road training partnerships to demonstrate job quality standards and employment practices that include, among other things, adoption of mechanisms to include worker voice and agency in the workplace. This bill would require the board, when awarding grants for a high road training partnership program or any successor program, to provide a scoring preference to an applicant that is either a bona fide labor-management cooperation committee, as defined, or is an entity applying on behalf of, or in cooperation with, a bona fide labor-management cooperation committee, as specified. The bill would require the board to determine the amount of the scoring preference provided and to incorporate that preference into program guidelines and grant solicitations.
(1) Existing law, the Local Agency Public Construction Act, authorizes job order contracting, as defined, for school districts until January 1, 2027. Existing law requires job order contractors to submit a questionnaire to the school district containing specified information verified under oath, under penalty of perjury. This bill would extend the termination date for these provisions until January 1, 2037. Existing law authorizes a school district to utilize job order contracting only if the school district has entered into a project labor agreement or agreements that will apply to all public works awarded through job order contracting and to all other public works of the school district that exceed a monetary threshold set by the school district until January 1, 2027, regardless of what contracting procedure is used to award that work. This bill would extend the termination date for these provisions until January 1, 2037. The bill would also prohibit job order contracting by a school district if the district finds, based on criteria and methodology established by the school district, that it will increase the total cost of the project without sufficient documented justification. Existing law requires a school district to prepare an execution plan for all modernization projects that may be eligible for job order contracting. Existing law requires the school district to select from that plan a sufficient number of projects to be initiated as job order contracts during each calendar year and to determine for each selected project that job order contracting will reduce the total cost of that project, as specified. This bill would delete the above provisions. Existing law requires school districts adopting job order contracting to, among other things, prepare an independent estimate for each individual job order developed under a job order contract. The estimate must be prepared prior to the receipt of the contractor's offer to perform work and must be compared to the contractor's proposed price to determine the reasonableness of that price before the issuance of any job order. This bill, instead, would require that the school district's estimate be prepared prior to the receipt of the contractor's proposal. The bill would delete the requirement for the school district to compare its estimate to the contractor's proposed price, as described. Existing law also authorizes job order contracting for community college districts until January 1, 2027. Existing law requires job order contractors to submit a questionnaire to the community college district containing specified information verified under oath, under penalty of perjury. This bill would extend the termination date for these provisions until January 1, 2037. Existing law authorizes a community college district to utilize job order contracting only if the community college district has entered into a project labor agreement or agreements that will apply to all public works awarded through job order contracting and to all other public works of the district that exceed a monetary threshold set by the district until January 1, 2027, regardless of what contracting procedure is used to award that work. This bill would extend the termination date for these provisions until January 1, 2037. By extending the operation of those provisions that expand the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law authorizes continuing contracts for a school district to be made with an accepted vendor for work or services, or for apparatus or equipment, not to exceed 5 years, or for materials or supplies, not to exceed 3 years. This bill would prohibit the duration of any task order procurement contract or job order contract issued pursuant to specified Public Contract Code provisions from exceeding 5 years. The bill would additionally provide that any individual task order or job order issued pursuant to those contracts shall remain valid and enforceable despite the expiration of the term of the task order procurement contract or job order contract pursuant to which the individual task order or job order was validly issued. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law authorizes the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, in consultation with the California State University and the University of California, to authorize the establishment of community college district baccalaureate degree programs, as provided. Existing law requires a community college district to identify and document unmet workforce needs in the subject area of the baccalaureate degree to be offered and offer a baccalaureate degree at a campus in a subject area with unmet workforce needs in the local community or region of the district. Existing law prohibits a community college district baccalaureate degree program from offering a baccalaureate degree program or program curricula already offered by the California State University or the University of California. Beginning January 1, 2028, this bill would specify that a community college district identify and document unmet current or projected future workforce needs and offer a baccalaureate degree at a campus in a subject area with unmet current or projected workforce needs. The bill would instead prohibit a community college district from offering a baccalaureate degree program or program curricula already offered by the University of California, or a campus of the California State University whose local service area includes, or overlaps with, the territory of the community college district, except as provided. The bill would require a district's eligibility to offer a baccalaureate degree program to be determined based on a tiered framework using the district's rate of students who earned an award or transferred, as specified. Before submitting an application for a baccalaureate degree program, the bill would encourage a community college district to obtain a determination of unmet current or projected future workforce need for a specific baccalaureate degree program from the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, as provided. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 78042 of the Education Code proposed by AB 2694 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2694 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would make the operation of its provisions contingent upon the enactment of AB 2694 of the 2025–26 Regular Session.
Existing law establishes the State Seal of Civic Engagement to recognize pupils who have demonstrated excellence in civics education and participation and have demonstrated an understanding of the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, and the democratic system of government, as provided, and establishes the State Seal of Biliteracy to recognize high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in one or more languages in addition to English. Commencing January 1, 2027, existing law vests all executive and administrative functions of the State Department of Education in an Education Commissioner. This bill would establish the State Seal of Climate Literacy for the purpose of giving high school pupils personal agency to help them and their communities understand and adapt to the effects of climate change. The bill would require the Education Commissioner, on or before December 31, 2027, to recommend to the State Board of Education criteria for awarding a State Seal of Climate Literacy to pupils who have demonstrated mastery in climate literacy disciplines, green skills or technical green skills, as defined, and any and all other best practices for climate literacy. The bill would require the Commissioner, in developing the criteria, to consider including (1) the successful completion of at least 2 approved courses in the area of climate literacy and (2) the successful completion and presentation of a climate literacy final experiential learning project, as provided. The bill would require the state board, on or before January 31, 2029, to adopt, or adopt with modifications, the criteria recommended by the Commissioner. The bill would require the Commissioner to, among other things, prepare and deliver to participating local educational agencies an appropriate insignia to be affixed to the diploma or transcript of the pupil indicating that the pupil has been awarded a State Seal of Climate Literacy by the Commissioner. The bill would make a local educational agency's participation in awarding the State Seal of Climate Literacy voluntary. For a local educational agency that chooses to participate, the bill would require the local educational agency, on or after the date that the state board adopts criteria, to, among other things, establish a process for determining if a pupil has met the criteria necessary to earn a State Seal of Climate Literacy.
The California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009 provides, among other things, for student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary educational institutions in the state. The act is enforced by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The act requires the Director of Consumer Affairs to provide biannual written updates to the Legislature that describe the bureau's progress in protecting consumers and enforcing the act, as specified. The act requires institutions to report to the bureau specified investigations and actions by oversight entities within 30 days. The act is repealed on January 1, 2027. This bill would revise and recast the act's provisions. The bill would instead require the director to provide those written updates to the Legislature annually. The bill would additionally require institutions to report bankruptcy filings, felony charges against the institution or specified persons, and certain civil actions or arbitrations to the bureau, as provided. The bill would specify that an institution's failure to provide the bureau with a required report is a material violation and subjects the institution to citation, probation, suspension, or revocation of its approval to operate. The bill would authorize the bureau to deny an application for approval to operate if the institution would be owned, controlled, or managed by a person who previously owned, controlled, or managed an institution that closed without providing required student refunds or appropriately preserving and making available records. The act requires an out-of-state private postsecondary educational institution to register with the bureau, pay a fee, and comply with additional delineated requirements, including reporting to the bureau certain enforcement or adverse occurrences. The act requires the bureau, after receipt of such a report, to determine if the institution will be permitted to continue to enroll new students, as provided. The act requires the bureau to receive complaints about these institutions. This bill would instead authorize the bureau, after receipt of a report or a complaint, to request from the institution information necessary to determine whether the institution's registration should be revoked or have conditions placed on it. The act applies to private entities with a physical presence in the state that offer postsecondary education to the public for a charge, but exempts certain institutions from its application, including certain institutions that only offer educational programs to members of a bona fide trade or fraternal organization, as specified, certain religious organizations if instruction is limited to the principles of that religious organization, certain flight instruction providers or programs if they meet specified student loan and prepayment conditions, and institutions that do not award degrees and that solely provide educational programs for total charges of $2,500 or less, as provided. This bill would clarify that institutions can qualify for the trade or fraternal organization exemption only if they offer nondegree educational programs to those members, and that adding religious perspectives or verbiage to the titles or descriptions of otherwise secular programs does not limit instruction to the principles of that religious organization for purposes of the religious organization exemption. The bill would remove those student loan and prepayment conditions from the flight instruction exemption and would specify that the $2,500 or less program exemption does not apply to institutions that provide any training or curriculum for Class A, B, or C commercial driving licenses, except as specified. The bill would specify processes for and limits on granting a verification of exemption. The act requires an institution seeking to offer one or more degree programs to satisfy certain requirements to obtain a provisional approval to operate. The act requires, within the first 2 years of the issuance of provisional approval to operate degree programs, a visiting committee to make a recommendation to the bureau regarding an institution's progress to achieving full accreditation. The act requires the bureau to automatically suspend a provisional approval to operate if an institution fails to comply with certain requirements. The act requires the bureau to grant an institution that is accredited an approval to operate by means of its accreditation. The act exempts an accredited institution from certain recordkeeping requirements. This bill would require accreditation for degree-granting institutions to cover all degree programs offered by the institution. The bill would require, for institutions seeking a provisional approval to operate, that enrollment of students on student visas not exceed more than 25% of total enrollment in any provisionally approved degree program. The bill would authorize, within the first 4 years of the issuance of a provisional approval to operate degree programs, the bureau to empanel a visiting committee to make a recommendation to the bureau regarding an institution's progress to achieving full accreditation. The bill would require the bureau to automatically terminate a provisional approval to operate if an institution fails to comply with certain requirements. The bill would specify, for an approval to operate by means of its accreditation, that a nondegree program not within the scope of accreditation is not included as an approved program by the bureau without the written consent of the institution's accrediting agency. The bill would remove the recordkeeping exemption for accredited institutions. The bill would remove a requirement that the bureau indicate in an annual report and make available on its internet website the number of enforcement actions taken by the bureau against institutions. The act requires an institution to obtain bureau approval before making certain substantive changes to its operations, including an addition of a separate branch more than 5 miles from the main or branch campus. The act requires that a student enrollment agreement, school catalog, and other disclosures meet certain requirements. This bill instead would require an institution to obtain bureau approval before adding a separate branch, regardless of the distance from the main or branch campus. The bill would revise the requirements for a student enrollment agreement, school catalog, and other disclosures. The act establishes the Private Postsecondary Education Administration Fund, requires that fees collected from institutions be deposited in the fund, and, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorizes moneys in the fund to be used by the bureau for the administration of the act. This bill would increase certain fees collected from institutions. The act requires private postsecondary educational institutions to provide refunds to students under specified circumstances, including upon a notice of cancellation, and establishes methods for calculating those refunds based on the institution's total charges and periods of attendance. This bill would require an institution that originated or accepted payment from an income share agreement to calculate the required refund based on the institution's total charges for a student who does not receive a notice of cancellation refund, as specified. The act establishes the Student Tuition Recovery Fund, requires the bureau to adopt regulations governing the administration and maintenance of the fund, including requirements relating to assessments on students and student claims against the fund, and continuously appropriates the moneys in the fund to the bureau for specified purposes. This bill would expand the claims under which a student is eligible for payment from the fund and the evidence available to the bureau in making determinations about student eligibility under the fund. The bill would make other conforming, technical, and nonsubstantive changes and would extend the operation of the act by 4 years to January 1, 2031. By expanding the scope and extending the operation of the Student Tuition Recovery Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. Under existing law, the act specifies conduct by regulated institutions that, if undertaken, is a crime. Because this bill would extend the application of those criminal provisions, it would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(1) Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to give diligent care to the health and physical development of pupils and authorizes the governing board of a school district to employ properly certified persons for this purpose. Existing law requires a school of a school district or county office of education and a charter school to notify pupils and parents or guardians of pupils no less than twice during the school year on how to initiate access to available pupil mental health services on campus or in the community, or both, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, on or before June 1, 2025, to develop model referral protocols for addressing pupil behavioral health concerns, as provided. This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2027, in consultation with appropriate stakeholders, to review and, as necessary, update the model referral protocols to include guidance on providing equity-centered mental health supports in case of a local emergency related to immigration enforcement activities or deportations of pupils or their family members. (2) Existing law requires the governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, before January 31, 2026, to adopt a policy on referral protocols for addressing pupil behavioral health concerns in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, as provided. This bill would require those local educational agencies, on or before July 1, 2028, to review and, as necessary, update that policy to include guidance on providing equity-centered mental health supports in case of a local emergency related to immigration enforcement activities or deportations of pupils or their family members. The bill would authorize an updated policy to either be based on the updated model referral protocols developed by the department or developed in consultation with school and community stakeholders and school-linked behavioral health professionals, and would require the updated policy to, at a minimum, address procedures relating to referrals to behavioral health professionals and support services. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, 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 establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education, as defined, as 4 segments of postsecondary education in the state. This bill would establish the Designation of California Asian American- and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions to recognize campuses of those segments of postsecondary education that excel at providing academic resources to Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander students. The bill would establish a California Asian American- and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions governing board to designate colleges and universities as California Asian American- and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions and would require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to, among other duties, develop the application processes and to process and present initial and renewal applications to receive this designation to the governing board, as specified. The bill would make an initial and renewal designation valid for 5 years.
Existing law states the policy of the State of California is to afford all persons in public schools, regardless of their disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other specified characteristic, equal rights and opportunities in the educational institutions of the state. Existing law establishes the Office of Civil Rights, under the administration of the Government Operations Agency. Existing law requires the Office of Civil Rights to employ a Religious Discrimination Prevention Coordinator, a Race and Ethnicity Discrimination Prevention Coordinator, a Gender Discrimination Prevention Coordinator, and an LGBTQ Discrimination Prevention Coordinator. Existing law requires each of the coordinators be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. This bill would require the Office of Civil Rights to employ a Disability Discrimination Prevention Coordinator to be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The bill would change the title of the LGBTQ Discrimination Prevention Coordinator to instead be the LGBTQ+ Discrimination Prevention Coordinator. The bill would require each of the coordinators, in consultation with the State Department of Education, and under the supervision of the Government Operations Agency, to, among other things, (1) develop, consult on, and provide discrimination education to teachers, staff, governing board and body members, administrators, and other local educational agency personnel to identify and proactively prevent discrimination, as provided, (2) provide technical assistance, upon specified request, to local educational agencies to access restorative justice resources, training, and practitioners, and (3) engage with local educational agencies to ensure administrators are equipped to address conflicts at an early stage with the goal of proactively resolving incidents of discrimination, as specified. This bill would require the Office of Civil Rights to employ a Deputy Coordinator on Anti-Black Racism, a Deputy Coordinator on Anti-Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (Anti-AANHPI) Discrimination, a Deputy Coordinator on Anti-Latino Discrimination, and a Deputy Coordinator on Anti-Native American Discrimination, and would require these deputy coordinators to report directly to the Race and Ethnicity Discrimination Prevention Coordinator. The bill would require the Office of Civil Rights to provide resources and training on how to properly assist in cases of discrimination that involve the intersectionality of protected characteristics, as provided.
(1) Existing law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires school districts, defined to include county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and charter schools, to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education, as specified. This bill would authorize the State Department of Education to monitor compliance with the requirements of the California Healthy Youth Act as part of its annual compliance monitoring of state and federal programs. (2) Existing law establishes the Office of School-Based Health Programs for the purpose of assisting local educational agencies regarding the current health-related programs under the purview of the State Department of Education including, among other duties, coordinating school health program activities with public health, social services, environmental, and local educational agencies, and other public and private entities. This bill would prohibit a local educational agency, as defined, from prohibiting school-based health centers, as defined, that serve schools of the local educational agency from making internal and external condoms available and easily accessible to pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, at the school-based health center site and would require a school of a local educational agency to allow condoms to be made available to pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, during the course of, or in connection with, educational or public health programs and initiatives, as provided. To the extent the bill imposes additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Under existing law, the Sherman Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Law, the State Department of Public Health generally regulates the packaging, labeling, advertising, and sale of food, drugs, devices, and cosmetics, in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. A violation of those provisions is generally a crime. Existing law sets forth various other provisions relating to the furnishing and health care coverage of certain types of contraception. This bill would, with certain exceptions, prohibit a retail establishment, as defined, from refusing to furnish nonprescription contraception to a person solely on the basis of age by means of any conduct, including, but not limited to, requiring the customer to present identification for purposes of demonstrating their age. Under the bill, a violation of that prohibition would be exempt from the above-described criminal penalty. (4) 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 establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education. This bill would require the commission, during the next revision of the publication "Health Framework for California Public Schools," to consider including, and recommending for adoption by the state board, specific content related to sexual health instruction to educate pupils about dating abuse and digital violence, as described.
