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Changes in Law 2017 – Curriculum and Instruction

CCIS
Curriculum

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.

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:

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

Career Technical Education

Early Education

Curriculum and Instruction

English Learners

Instructional Materials

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