Capitol Advisors Group has produced a series of comprehensive client briefs detailing new education laws that were passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Governor Brown in 2017. Each brief is organized by subject area and includes an executive summary highlighting major changes we think you should know about. Bills signed by the Governor take effect on January 1, 2018, unless the bill specifically states otherwise. A PDF version of this report is available here.
New Parental Notification Requirement Regarding English Learner Designation. AB 81 by Assembly Member Lorena Gonzales Fletcher (D-San Diego) is intended to provide parents information regarding their child’s status as an English learner and to prevent a student from being misidentified as an English learner upon initial enrollment at a school. The bill requires school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to annually notify parents if their child is identified as a long term English learner (LTEL) or at risk of becoming an LTEL (ARLTEL). While federal law requires parental notification of a student’s English proficiency within 30 days of the start of school, no information is currently provided to parents regarding children who are LTELs or ARLTELs. This bill is intended to increase parent and teacher engagement in order to reduce the number of students who are designated LTELs. A prior version of the bill required school agencies to provide the notification letter to the parents/guardians at the time the home language survey is provided, but those provisions were removed from the bill. There continues to be debate around the understanding parents have of the home language survey and the procedures for identification and reclassification of English learners. We expect more debate in this area as Legislators continue tinkering with EL policies.
Preschool expulsion changes. AB 752 by Assembly Member Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) prohibits a state preschool program from expelling or un-enrolling a child because of a child’s behavior, unless the program has (a) explored and documented reasonable steps to maintain the child’s safe participation, and (b) determined that the child’s continued enrollment would present a continued serious safety threat to the child or other enrolled children. It also requires these contracting agencies to document and inform parents of persistent and challenging behaviors. Data has shown that preschool expulsion disproportionately affects children of color. This policy change follows the trend set by the federal Head Start Program, which prohibits expelling or un-enrolling a child for behavioral reasons.
Expansion of Sexual Health Education and HIV Prevention Education. Current law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires school districts to ensure that students in grades 7 to 12 receive comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education. Two bills add additional elements to the instruction required under the act. AB 643 by Assembly Member Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay) requires the inclusion of information on the early warning signs of adolescent relationship abuse and intimate partner violence; and AB 1227 by Assembly Member Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) adds information on human trafficking.
It is important to note that while the mandate to provide comprehensive sexual education has been in place since January 1, 2016, instructional materials aligned to the content required by law will not be adopted until after the Health Curriculum Framework is completed and adopted in May 2019. In the meantime, schools are statutorily required to provide this instruction. Guidance on how to meet the requirements of the law can be found on the California Department of Education (CDE) website.
Subsidized County Child Care Pilots. In 2016-17, the state allocated nearly $3.76 billion to provide 434,000 children with subsidized child care and preschool. However, each year counties are forced to return funds they are unable to spend because their low-income families failed to qualify for eligibility under the uniform statewide criteria, or because provider reimbursement rates made offering subsidized care difficult for some providers.
Four bills approved by the Governor create five-year pilots to allow specified counties to develop and implement an individualized county child care subsidy plan that meets the particular needs of the families in their counties. It is important to note that the plans must be approved at both the local and state levels.
- AB 258 by Assembly Member Joaquin Arambula (D-Fresno) establishes the Fresno County pilot
- AB 300 by Assembly Member Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) establishes the Monterey County, San Benito County, and Santa Cruz County pilots
- AB 377 by Assembly Members Jim Frazier (D-Discovery Bay) and Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) establishes pilots in San Diego County and Solano County
- AB 435 by Assembly Member Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond) establishes the Contra Costa County, Marin County, and Sonoma County pilots.
Despite the passage of these four bills, the issue of individualized child care pilots will continue to play a role in the upcoming legislative session. The Governor included a signing message directing his staff to work with CDE and the counties named in the bills to implement whatever administrative or statutory changes might be needed to streamline the process for development and oversight of the individualized county child care plans.
Specifically, these bills allow for the counties’ plans to supersede state law relative to child care subsidy programs with regard to the following factors:
- Eligibility criteria, including, but not limited to, age, family size, time limits, income level, and special needs considerations
- Fees, including, but not limited to, family fees, sliding scale fees, and copayments for families
- Reimbursement rates
- Methods of maximizing the efficient use of subsidy funds
In addition, as the approval of these four bills increases the number of counties with individual child care pilot projects, there have been a number of discussions about the need for a statewide solution. While one has not yet emerged, we expect the conversations to continue in 2018.
The Governor signed the following curriculum and instruction bills this year:
Adult Education
- AB 1604 (Nazarian) – CalWORKs: welfare-to-work: education
This bill allows a CalWORKs recipient who has not received his or her high school diploma or its equivalent to participate in a high school equivalency program in order to fulfill certain welfare-to-work requirements of the CalWORKs program.
Chapter 303, Statutes of 2017 - ACR 38 (McCarty) – Adult Education Week
Proclaimed the week of April 2, 2017, to April 8, 2017, inclusive, as Adult Education Week, and honors the teachers, administrators, classified staff, and students of adult education programs statewide for their efforts, persistence, and accomplishments.
Chapter 37, Statutes of 2017
Career Technical Education
- AB 579 (Flora) – Apprenticeship: fire protection: firefighter preapprenticeship program
Requires the Division of Apprenticeship Standards, in collaboration with the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee (CAL-JAC), to develop a statewide firefighter preapprenticeship program designed to recruit candidates from underrepresented groups. This bill requires the preapprenticeship program to meet specified objectives. This bill would also require CAL-JAC to deliver the pilot classes established by the preapprenticeship program using existing facilities and training models.
Chapter 344, Statutes of 2017 - AB 1149 (Arambula) – Workforce investment boards: funding
Current law requires local workforce investment boards to spend a minimum percentage of specified funds for adults and dislocated workers on federally identified workforce training programs and allows the boards to leverage specified funds to meet the funding requirements, as specified. Current law authorizes a credit of up to 10% of that funding minimum for leveraged funds, which include Pell Grants and employment training panel grants. This bill expands the types of services to which leveraged funds may be applied to include supportive services and expands the types of leveraged funds that may be applied to the 10% credit, described above, to include specified federal, local, state, and private funds.
Chapter 324, Statutes of 2017 - AB 1336 (Mullin) – California Workforce Development Board
This bill requires the California Workforce Development Board to determine the approach for measuring labor market impacts, provided that, to the extent feasible, the board uses statistically rigorous methodologies to estimate, assess, and isolate the impact of programs on participant outcomes. The bill would modify the requirement that the workforce metrics dashboard be produced using existing available data and resources that are currently collected and accessible to state agencies, to require that it be done to the extent feasible.
Chapter 211, Statutes of 2017
Early Education
- AB 258 (Arambula) – Child care and development services: individualized county child care subsidy plan: County of Fresno
This bill authorizes the County of Fresno to develop an individualized county child care subsidy plan that meets the specific needs of families in the county as a five-year pilot program. The bill requires the plan to be submitted to the local planning council and the Fresno County Board of Supervisors for approval. The bill also requires CDE’s Early Education and Support Division to review and approve or disapprove the plan and any subsequent modifications. If the plan includes stage one child care services, it must also be submitted to the State Department of Social Services (DSS).
Chapter 697, Statutes of 2017 - AB 273 (Aguiar-Curry) – Child care services: eligibility
Under the Child Care and Development Services Act, the Superintendent of Public Instruction administers child care and development programs that offer a full range of services for eligible children from infancy to 13 years of age. Current law establishes eligibility requirements and requires families to meet at least one requirement in each of 2 specified areas, including why the family has a need for the child care service. This bill expands eligibility in that area to families who need child care services because the parents are engaged in an educational program for English language learners or to attain a high school diploma or general educational development certificate.
Chapter 689, Statutes of 2017 - AB 300 (Caballero) – Child care and development services: individualized county child care subsidy plans: Counties of Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz
This bill authorizes the Counties of Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz to develop individualized county child care subsidy plans that meet the specific needs of families in the counties as a five-year pilot program. The bill requires the plans to be submitted to the local planning council and the County Board of Supervisors for approval. The bill also requires CDE’s Early Education and Support Division to review and approve or disapprove the plans and any subsequent modifications. If a plan includes stage one child care services, it must also be submitted to DSS.
Chapter 701, Statutes of 2017 - AB 377 (Frazier) – Child care subsidy plans: Counties of San Diego and Solano
This bill authorizes the Counties of San Diego and Solano to develop individualized county child care subsidy plans that meet the specific needs of families in the counties as a five-year pilot program. The bill requires the plans to be submitted to the local planning council and the County Board of Supervisors for approval. The bill also requires CDE’s Early Education and Support Division to review and approve or disapprove the plans and any subsequent modifications. If a plan includes stage one child care services, it must also be submitted to DSS.
Chapter 701, Statutes of 2017 - AB 435 (Thurmond) – Child care subsidy plans: Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, and Sonoma
This bill authorizes the Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and Sonoma to develop individualized county child care subsidy plans that meet the specific needs of families in the counties as a five-year pilot program. The bill requires the plans to be submitted to the local planning council and the County Board of Supervisors for approval. The bill also requires CDE’s Early Education and Support Division to review and approve or disapprove the plans and any subsequent modifications. If a plan includes stage one child care services, it must also be submitted to DSS
Chapter 703, Statutes of 2017 - AB 603 (Quirk-Silva) – Child care: alternative payment programs: child care providers: electronic payments: notice of service changes
The Child Care and Development Services Act requires the State Department of Education to contract with local contracting agencies to provide for alternative payment programs, and authorizes alternative payments to be made for child care services. The act requires child care providers to submit to the alternative payment program a monthly attendance record or invoice for each child who received services. This bill requires, on or before July 1, 2019, alternative payment programs to establish a program of electronic banking for payments made to licensed or license-exempt child care providers and to send notice to a provider of changes in specified factors related to child care services and rates.
Chapter 706, Statutes of 2017 - AB 752 (Rubio) – Child care: state preschool programs: expulsion
This bill prohibits a state preschool program from expelling or unenrolling a child because of the child’s behavior unless the program has expeditiously pursued and documented reasonable steps to maintain the child’s safe participation in the program and determined that the child’s continued enrollment would present a continued serious safety threat to that child or other enrolled children. Prior to unenrolling the child, the program must first refer the parents or legal guardians to other potentially appropriate placements, the local child care resource and referral agency, or any other referral service available in the local community.
Chapter 708, Statutes of 2017 - AB 818 (Burke) – CalWORKs: welfare to work
Current law requires a recipient of CalWORKs to participate in certain welfare-to-work activities as a condition of eligibility for 24 cumulative months, and then to meet other federal requirements afterwards. Current law also authorizes each county to provide an extension of the 24 months for recipients who are unlikely to meet the federal requirements, and authorizes a recipient to request the extension and present evidence to the county that he or she meets a specified circumstance, including if the recipient has achieved satisfactory progress in an educational program that would meaningfully increase the likelihood of employment. This bill provides that for purposes of the educational or treatment program circumstance, a high school education or its equivalent is presumed to meaningfully increase the likelihood of the recipient’s employment.
Chapter 141, Statutes of 2017 - AB 1106 (Weber) – Child care and development services: alternative payment programs
The Child Care and Development Services Act requires CDE to expand existing alternative payment programs and fund new alternative payment programs to the extent that funds are provided by the Legislature. This bill requires an alternative payment program, with certain exceptions, to have no less than 36 months to expend funds allocated to that program in any fiscal year, and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop a contracting process enabling that expenditure timeframe.
Chapter 716, Statutes of 2017 - SB 360 (Skinner) – Public social services: prosecution for overpayment or overissuance of benefits
This bill exempts an individual from criminal prosecution for an overpayment or over issuance of California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS) or CalFresh benefits for any month in which the county human services agency was in receipt of Income and Eligibility Verification (IEVS) data match information indicating such overpayment or over issuance but had not provided timely and adequate notice to the individual for the collection of the overpayment or the over issuance.
Chapter 390, Statutes of 2017 - SB 401 (Pan) – Child care facilities: state employees
Under current law, the indoor area of child care space in state-owned buildings is restricted to no larger than 2,100 square feet and to no less than that required to accommodate 30 children, and outdoor play area space must correspond with the indoor play area. This bill instead replaces those space requirements with a requirement that the indoor activity space and outdoor activity space comply with existing state regulations (Title 22) governing all licensed child care facilities.
Chapter 235, Statutes of 2017 - SB 570 (Newman) – CalWORKs
This bill exempts the benefits and related allowances received by a veteran, or spouse or dependent of a veteran, through the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for education, training, vocation, or rehabilitation from consideration as income for purposes of determining eligibility for CalWORKs program benefits and calculating grant amounts.
Chapter 463, Statues of 2017
Curriculum and Instruction
- AB 491 (Muratsuchi) – California Civil Liberties Public Education Act
The California Civil Liberties Public Education Act establishes a grant program, administered by the State Librarian, for the stated purpose of sponsoring educational activities and the development of educational materials to ensure that the events surrounding the exclusion, forced removal, and internment of citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry will be remembered and so that the causes and circumstances of this and similar events may be illuminated and understood. This bill revises the act to, among other things, expand the scope of the grant program to include content linking the exclusion, forced removal, and internment of citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry with current civil liberties challenges, as specified.
Chapter 292, Statutes of 2017 - AB 616 (Aguiar-Curry) – Pupil instruction: California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science: funding: tuition
This bill extends the sunset date by five years related to tuition and financial aid for the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS), operated by the University of California (UC), from January 1, 2018, to January 1, 2023.
Chapter 781, Statutes of 2017 - AB 643 (Frazier) – Pupil instruction: abusive relationships
Current law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires school districts to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education. This bill requires the information included in the instruction about adolescent relationship abuse and intimate partner violence to also include the early warning signs thereof.
Chapter 574, Statutes of 2017 - AB 1227 (Bonta) – Human Trafficking Prevention Education and Training Act
The California Healthy Youth Act requires school districts to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education. Under the act, this instruction includes, among other things, information about sexual harassment, sexual assault, adolescent relationship abuse, intimate partner violence, and sex trafficking. This bill requires that instruction to additionally include information about sexual abuse and to include information about human trafficking instead of sex trafficking.
Chapter 558, Statutes of 2017 - ACR 16 (Baker) – Abraham Lincoln’s birthday
This measure declared that President Abraham Lincoln be honored on February 12, 2017, the anniversary of his birthday.
Chapter 26, Statutes of 2017 - ACR 58 (Chu) – Public schools: history education
This measure urged the State Board of Education, county offices of education, and local school governing bodies to increase emphasis in their curricula on the bravery, sacrifice, and heroism of the United States and allied forces that engaged in military activity in the China-Burma-India Theater of World War II.
Chapter 104, Statutes of 2017 - AJR 9 (Mark Stone) – The March for Science
Supports the April 22, 2017, March for Science and affirms the importance of basic and applied scientific research, the scientific education of all schoolchildren, and the foundational role of independent, rigorous scientific discovery and inquiry in the policymaking process at all levels. The measure urges the President and Congress of the United States to work together to support, encourage, and heed the truths established by scientists and scientific research in policymaking to keep the United States of America the world’s global leader in scientific research and business innovation.
Chapter 162, Statutes of 2017 - HR 9 (Cristina Garcia) – Relative to Women’s History Month
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Legislature takes pleasure in joining the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls in honoring the contributions of women, and proclaimed the month of March 2017 as Women’s History Month.
Adopted - HR 16 (O’Donnell) – Relative to Read Across America Day
Relative to Read Across America Day.
Adopted - HR 29 (Weber) – Relative to pupil curriculum
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the state will establish an ethnic studies graduation requirement for all high school pupils.
Adopted - SCR 11 (Pan) – Day of Remembrance
This measure declared February 19, 2017, as a Day of Remembrance in order to increase public awareness of the events surrounding the internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II.
Chapter 21, Statutes of 2017 - SCR 12 (Pan) – Philippine Independence Day
This measure recognized June 12, 2017, as the 119th Anniversary of Philippine Independence and called upon the people of the state to observe the month of June with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities.
Chapter 123, Statutes of 2017 - SCR 13 (Pan) – Lunar New Year Celebration
This measure recognized the Lunar New Year Celebration on January 28, 2017.
Chapter 11, Statutes of 2017 - SCR 14 (Pan) – May 2017: Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month
This measure recognized May 2017 as Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Month.
Chapter 77, Statutes of 2017 - SCR 17 (Fuller) – California Girls and Women in Sports Week
This measure recognized female athletes, coaches, officials, and sports administrators for their important contributions in promoting the value of sports in the achievement of full human.
Chapter 5, Statutes of 2017
English Learners
- AB 81 (Gonzalez Fletcher) – English learners: identification: notice
This bill requires the notice of assessment of a child’s English proficiency that is provided to that child’s parent or guardian to include specified information, including whether a child is a long-term English learner or is an English learner at risk of becoming a long-term English learner. The bill authorizes also an LEA to send an alternative notice to comply with this requirement.
Chapter 609, Statutes of 2017 - AB 1142 (Medina) – High school diplomas: State Seal of Biliteracy: English learners
Current law establishes the State Seal of Biliteracy (SSB) which provides recognition to high school students who have demonstrated proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing in one or more languages in addition to English. In order for a student to have the SSB insignia affixed to their diploma or transcript, the student must have met certain criteria. This bill updates the criteria used to determine eligibility for the SSB to reflect the new state assessments in English language development and English language arts. In addition, the bill authorizes the SSB for students who seek to qualify for the SSB through a language that is not characterized by listening, speaking, or reading, or for which there is no written system.
Chapter 208, Statutes of 2017
Instructional Materials
- AB 37 (O’Donnell) – Pupil instruction: visual and performing arts: content standards in media arts
This bill requires the State Superintendent to additionally recommend visual and performing arts standards in the subject of media arts to the State Board of Education by January 31, 2019. The bill requires those recommendations to go through the same development, public review, and approval process for recommended revisions to the visual and performing arts content standards. The bill specifies the National Core Arts Standards shall serve as the basis for the recommended standards in media arts.
Chapter 102, Statutes of 2017 - AB 738 (Limón) – Pupil instruction: Native American studies: model curriculum
This bill requires the development of a model curriculum in Native American studies and requires school districts which elect to offer one course in Native American studies to make the course available in at least one year during a student’s enrollment in grades 9-12.
Chapter 614, Statutes of 2017 - AB 1354 (Kiley) – Pupil instruction: repeal of programs
This bill deletes provisions of the Education Code that have been rendered inoperative or obsolete by the adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The bill repeals statutory provisions related to the following programs:- The California International Studies Program
- The Reading First Plan
- The Early Warning Program
- The No Child Left Behind Liaison Team
- The Education Technology Grant Act of 2002
- The Educational Improvement Act of 1969
- The School Improvement Act of 1970
- The Education Incentive Improvement Program
- The Demonstration of Restructuring in Public Education
- The State Instructional Materials Fund
- The Evaluation and Sunsetting of Programs
Chapter 130, Statutes of 2017
- HR 12 (Gomez) – Relative to voter education
This resolves that during the next revision of the history-social science curriculum framework after January 1, 2018, the Assembly requests the Instructional Quality Commission to consider including content on the importance of preregistering to vote in local, state, and federal elections, how to preregister to vote, both online and by mail, and the requirements for preregistering to vote, as appropriate, in that framework.
Adopted
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