The Open Enrollment Act authorizes the parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district other than the school district in which the parent resides, as specified. The act defines "low-achieving school" to mean a school on a list created annually by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of 1,000 schools ranked by increasing Academic Performance Index score with the same ratio of elementary, middle, and high schools as existed in decile 1 in the 2008–09 school year. This bill would recast and revise the act. The bill would delete the definition of, and references to, the term "low-achieving school" in the act. The bill would instead generally revise the terminology of the act to specify that the parent of a pupil enrolled in a school district of residence, as defined, is authorized to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school district of enrollment, as defined. The bill would also delete from the act obsolete references to the Academic Performance Index and to the federal Race to the Top Fund.
(1) Existing law establishes the State Board of Education consisting of 10 members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of 2/3 of the Senate, as provided. This bill would require at least one member of the State Board of Education to be from the San Joaquin Valley. (2) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to coordinate the development, on a cyclical basis, of model curriculum standards for required courses of study, including a career technical education course of study for pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, as specified. Existing law requires the Superintendent, upon adoption of those model curriculum standards, to develop a curriculum framework for career technical education, working in consultation and coordination with an advisory group consisting of classroom teachers, school administrators, parents, postsecondary educators, and representatives of business and industry. Existing law encourages the Superintendent, in convening the membership of the advisory group, to seek representation that is broadly reflective of the state population. This bill would require the Superintendent, in convening the membership of the advisory group, to ensure at least one member is from the San Joaquin Valley. (3) Existing law establishes the Department of Managed Health Care, which, among other duties, ensures the financial stability of managed care plans. Existing law establishes within the department the Financial Solvency Standards Board for the purpose of, among other things, developing and recommending to the director of the department financial solvency requirements and standards relating to health care service plan operations. Existing law requires the board to be composed of the director, or their designee, and 10 members appointed by the director, and authorizes the director to appoint individuals with training and experience in specified subject areas or fields. This bill would require at least one member of the Financial Solvency Standards Board to be from the San Joaquin Valley. (4) The California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act, an initiative measure approved by the voters at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election as Proposition 71, establishes the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) , the purposes of which include making grants and loans for stem cell research, for research facilities, and for other vital research opportunities to realize therapies, protocols, and medical procedures that will result in the cure for, or substantial mitigation of, diseases and injuries. Existing law establishes the Citizen's Financial Accountability Oversight Committee that is required to review, among other things, the annual financial audit of CIRM. Existing law requires the Controller, the Treasurer, the President pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Chairperson of the Independent Citizen's Oversight Committee to each appoint a public member of the committee. This bill would require at least one member of the Citizen's Financial Accountability Oversight Committee to be from the San Joaquin Valley. (5) Existing law establishes the California Veterans Board, comprising 7 members appointed by the Governor, subject to Senate confirmation, whose duties include determining the policies for all operations of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Existing law requires all members of the board to be veterans and requires one of the members to be a resident of a California veterans home. This bill would require at least one member of the California Veterans Board to be from the San Joaquin Valley.
(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.
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. The act authorizes a school district to provide that education earlier than grade 7 with age-appropriate and medically accurate information. The act authorizes a school district to provide sexual health education and HIV prevention to be taught by an outside consultant, and to hold an assembly to deliver that education by guest speakers. Under the act, if a school district exercises that authorization, the school district is required to provide notice of the date of instruction, name of the organization or affiliation of each guest speaker, and information stating the right of the parent or guardian to request a copy of various laws, as specified. This bill would require a school district, if it elects to provide sexual health education or HIV prevention education to be taught by outside consultants, to also provide notice of the name of the organization or affiliation of the outside consultants.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a security department under the supervision of a chief of security as designated by, and under the direction of, the superintendent of the school district. Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school district to establish a school police department under the supervision of a school chief of police and to employ peace officers. This bill would require, commencing with the 2028–29 school year, and each school year thereafter, a rural school district or charter school, as defined, to determine the appropriate number of armed school resource officers, as defined, authorized to carry a loaded firearm for each school of the rural school district or charter school. The bill would require the governing board of the school district or the governing body of the charter school to ensure that at least one armed school resource officer is present during regular school hours at each school of the rural school district or charter school that meets specified criteria, as provided. By imposing an additional requirement on school districts and charter schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would authorize the governing board or body, if it is unable to comply with these requirements due to the unavailability of funding or personnel who qualify to serve as an armed school resource officer, to claim a good cause exception to these requirements by adopting a resolution, as provided. 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 DREAM Loan Program, which authorizes a student attending a participating campus of the University of California or California State University to receive a loan, referred to as a DREAM loan, if the student satisfies certain requirements. Existing law prohibits a student from borrowing more than $4,000 within a single academic year and more than $40,000 in the aggregate under the program. Existing law prohibits a student enrolled in an undergraduate program from borrowing more than $20,000 as an undergraduate student and prohibits a student enrolled in a graduate program from borrowing more than $20,000 as a graduate student. This bill would instead prohibit a student enrolled in an undergraduate program from borrowing more than $4,000 within a single academic year, and a student enrolled in a graduate program from borrowing more than $20,500 within a single academic year. The bill would increase the aggregate limit under the program for a student enrolled in a graduate program to $118,500 as a graduate student, while maintaining the $20,000 aggregate limit under the program for a student enrolled in an undergraduate program, thereby increasing the overall aggregate limit under the program for a student who receives a DREAM loan for both undergraduate and graduate enrollment to $138,500.
Existing law provides that parents and guardians of children enrolled in public schools have the right and should have the opportunity, as mutually supportive and respectful partners in the education of their children within the public schools, to be informed by the school, and to participate in the education of their children, as specified, to include, among other things, having access to the school records of their child. This bill would expressly provide in that latter provision that school records include both official and unofficial school records. The bill also would delete an obsolete reference.
Existing law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires school districts, charter schools, county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, and the California School for the Blind 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. The act requires that instruction to include, among other things, information about the effectiveness and safety of all federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -approved contraceptive methods in preventing pregnancy, including, but not limited to, emergency contraception, and requires instruction on pregnancy to include an objective discussion of all legally available pregnancy outcomes, including, but not limited to, parenting, adoption, and abortion. This bill would require the discussion of adoption to include a comprehensive explanation of, and information on, the types of adoption, the rights of a placing birth parent, and specific local adoption resources and support. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, 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.
