This measure would recognize May 2025 as Head Start Month and call on the Congress and the President of the United States to protect and increase funding for Head Start.
Existing law requires governing boards of school districts, when adopting instructional materials for use in the schools, to include materials that accurately portray the cultural and racial diversity of our society, including, among others, the contributions of people of all genders in all types of rolls, and the role and contributions of Native Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans, persons with disabilities, and members of other ethnic, cultural, religious, and socioeconomic status groups to the total development of California and the United States. This bill would require the State Department of Education to monitor compliance with the above-described instructional materials adoption requirement as part of its annual compliance monitoring of state and federal programs.
This measure would urge the administration of President Donald J. Trump and the Congress of the United States to rescind the National Institutes of Health funding cuts. This measure also affirms the Legislature's commitment to postsecondary educational institutions.
Existing law makes legislative findings and declarations that set forth the principles for public postsecondary institutions and budgetary control agencies to observe in providing postsecondary programs and services for students with disabilities, including the principle that state-funded activity is directly related to the functional limitations of the verifiable disabilities of the students to be served. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that, as appropriate for each postsecondary segment, funds for disabled student programs and services be based on 3 categories of costs, including a continuing variable costs category for services that vary in frequency depending on the needs of students, such as, among other services, diagnostic assessment, including both individual and group assessment not otherwise provided by the institution to determine functional, educational, or employment levels or to certify specific disabilities. Existing law requires the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges to adopt rules and regulations for the administration and funding of educational programs and support services to be provided to disabled students by community college districts. Existing law requires those regulations to provide for the apportionment of funds to each community college district to offset the direct excess cost of providing specialized support services or instruction, or both, to disabled students enrolled in state-supported disabled student services programs or courses. Existing law describes those direct excess costs as those actual fixed, variable, and one-time costs, including those described above, that exceed the combined total of specified costs, revenues, and funds. Existing law establishes the Student Aid Commission as the primary state agency for the administration of state-authorized student financial aid programs available to students attending all segments of postsecondary education. This bill would revise the intent of the Legislature relating to diagnostic assessments by including costs for continuing assessments, required documentation, and individual and group assessments provided by the institution or by an outside entity, as provided. The bill would also expand the purpose of the assessments to include defining specific disabilities of the student and as proof for academic or institutional accommodations. This bill, commencing July 1, 2027, and upon appropriation by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act, would require the Trustees of the California State University, and would request the Regents of the University of California, to cover the costs of diagnostic assessments for learning disabilities as proof for academic accommodations for any student who receives student financial aid or who is eligible for financial assistance from the institution's health or disability center, unless those diagnostic assessments are covered by the student's health insurance plan, as provided. The bill would require state funds to be provided annually for the cost of these services on an actual-cost basis and would require each institution to be responsible for documenting its costs to the Student Aid Commission. The bill would require the commission to oversee reimbursements to institutions for their documented costs. The bill would require each educational institution to post on its internet website that the educational institution will cover the costs of the diagnostic assessments for such students.
(1) Existing federal law requires a postsecondary educational institution that offers distance education to students located in a state in which the postsecondary educational institution is not physically located to meet any of that state's requirements for it to offer distance education in that state. Existing federal law authorizes a state to participate in an interstate reciprocity agreement to comply with this requirement. This bill would authorize the Governor, on or before January 1, 2028, to enter into one or more interstate reciprocity agreements for distance education through a compact on behalf of the state upon issuing certain written findings and after certain committees of the Legislature hold a joint hearing on the agreement, as provided. This bill would require the Governor to designate a state agency, department, or office for the implementation of an interstate reciprocity agreement for distance education if the Governor enters into such an agreement, as provided. The bill would authorize postsecondary educational institutions to apply to the designated entity for approval to operate under an interstate reciprocity agreement, as specified. (2) The California Private Postsecondary Education Act of 2009 provides, among other things, for student protections and regulatory oversight of private postsecondary institutions in the state. The act is enforced by the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education within the Department of Consumer Affairs. 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. Existing law provides exemptions from the act for, among others, accredited, degree-granting, nonprofit, higher education institutions and degree-granting public higher education institutions. If the Governor enters into an interstate reciprocity agreement, this bill would subject any accredited, degree-granting, nonprofit, higher education institutions and degree-granting public higher education institutions to the act unless the entity is approved pursuant to an interstate reciprocity agreement.
The Donahoe Higher Education Act establishes the segments of postsecondary education in the state, including the University of California and the California State University, and sets forth the missions and functions of those segments. Existing law states that the University of California has exclusive jurisdiction in public higher education over, among others, instruction in the profession of law. This bill would authorize the Trustees of the California State University to establish a legal education pilot program, consisting of the California State University, San Jose, and a law school accredited by the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State Bar of California as an independent nonprofit institution, to operate for a period of 6 academic years. The bill would require the legal education pilot program to commence only if the trustees approve the program, the governing board of the law school approves the program, and the law school has been continuously accredited for a minimum of 5 years before the first cohort graduates from a joint degree program. The bill would authorize the California State University, San Jose, as part of the legal education pilot program, to partner with the nonprofit law school to jointly award a juris doctor degree and to jointly provide certificate and legal education programs at the undergraduate level. The bill would require the California State University, San Jose, and the nonprofit law school to submit certain information, including an administrative plan and enrollment projections, to the trustees and the governing board of the law school before the trustees and governing board vote to approve the pilot program. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to conduct an interim evaluation and a final evaluation of the program, as provided. This bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2041, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2042. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the California State University, San Jose.
Existing law exempts a student, other than a nonimmigrant alien, as defined, from paying nonresident tuition at the California State University and the California Community Colleges if the student meets certain requirements. Existing law makes a student who meets these requirements for exemption from nonresident tuition, or who meets equivalent requirements adopted by the Regents of the University of California, eligible to apply for, and participate in, any student financial aid program administered by the state to the full extent permitted by federal law. Existing law requires the Student Aid Commission to establish procedures and forms that enable these students to apply for, and participate in, those student financial aid programs. This bill would require the commission, by the start of the 2026–27 financial aid cycle, to amend the California Dream Act application, and any of its grant processing systems, to clarify and ensure that the application can be used by any student eligible for state financial aid programs, regardless of their eligibility for federal financial aid. The bill would also require the commission to consult with California's public and private colleges and universities to promote the California Dream Act application effectively and inform students and their families of their available financial aid application options, as provided.
Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt standards, rules, and regulations for school library services. Existing law requires the Instructional Quality Commission, among other duties, to recommend the adoption of minimum standards for courses of study in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and secondary schools to the state board upon request. Existing law requires the courses of study in public schools to conform to those minimum standards when adopted. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2028, and every 8 years thereafter, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the state board, to consider recommending revisions to the standards for school library services to the state board. The bill would require, if the Superintendent decides to recommend revisions, the Superintendent to convene a group of experts to assist the Superintendent in developing the recommended revisions. The bill would require the Superintendent, in consultation with the Instructional Quality Commission, to hold a minimum of 2 public hearings in order for the public to provide input on the recommended revisions. The bill would require the Superintendent, within 18 months of convening the experts, to present to the state board the revised content standards for school library services, which the state board is required to adopt, reject, or modify, as provided. The operation of the bill would be subject to an appropriation being made for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
Existing law provides that it is the intent of the Legislature that all public schools, in kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, operated by school districts, in cooperation with specified entities and individuals, develop a comprehensive school safety plan, as provided. Existing law provides that school districts and county offices of education are responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of its schools, as provided. Existing law, the Charter Schools Act of 1992, provides for the establishment and operation of charter schools, including countywide charter schools, and requires a petition for the establishment of a charter school to contain comprehensive descriptions of various matters and procedures, including procedures that the charter school will follow to ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff. The act requires those procedures to also require the development of a school safety plan, as provided. Existing law encourages, on or before July 1, 2030, each public school, including charter schools, with an enrollment of 100 pupils or more to implement a web-based or app-based school safety program that includes certain program parameters. If a school implements a web-based or app-based school safety program, existing law requires the school to ensure that the program developers ensure that best practices are implemented to protect the security and data of all pupils and staff listed within the program, as provided. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would establish the School Mapping Data Grant Program under the administration of the Office of Emergency Services to provide one-time grants to participating school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to enter into contracts with qualified vendors providing school mapping data, as provided, for purposes of assisting public safety agencies in efficiently responding to on-campus emergencies at schools. The bill would require a school mapping data program, to be eligible to receive funding under the grant program, to include the same program parameters as, and to have the program developers implement the same best practices to protect the security and data of all pupils and staff as, a web-based or app-based school safety program, as described above. 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.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of 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 for the purpose of offering or expanding dual enrollment opportunities for pupils who may not already be college bound or who are underrepresented in higher education, as provided. Existing law requires the partnership agreement to outline the terms of the partnership, as specified, and to establish protocols for information sharing, joint facilities use, and parental consent for high school pupils to enroll in community college courses. Existing law requires the protocols to only require a high school pupil participating in a CCAP partnership to submit one parental consent form and principal recommendation for the duration of the pupil's participation in the CCAP partnership. This bill would revise the CCAP partnership provisions to eliminate the requirement that the protocols require principal recommendation. Existing law requires the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to revise the special part-time student application process to allow a pupil to complete one application for the duration of the pupil's attendance at a community college as a special part-time student participating in a CCAP partnership agreement. This bill would require a CCAP partnership agreement to also establish protocols that authorize a pupil to complete one application for the duration of the pupil's attendance at a community college as a special part-time student participating in a CCAP partnership agreement. Existing law authorizes a community college district to allow a special part-time student participating in a CCAP partnership agreement to enroll in up to a maximum of 15 units per term in courses offered at the community college campus or the participating high school campus if certain circumstances are satisfied, including that the units constitute no more than 4 community college courses per term. This bill would eliminate the 4 community college courses per term limit for a special part-time student enrolling in up to 15 units under a CCAP partnership agreement. Existing law requires, for each CCAP partnership agreement, the affected community college district and school district, county office of education, or charter school to annually report specified information to the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, including the total number of community college courses, by course category and type and by schoolsite, enrolled in by CCAP partnership participants. This bill instead would require the affected community college district and school district, county office of education, or charter school to annually report the total number of high school pupils who successfully completed 12 or more units of college coursework by graduation, completed a certificate, or completed the courses required for an associate degree or an associate degree for transfer.
