Sponsored Legislation:
AB 1701 (Medina) Jump Start Program – creates a five-year grant to the California State University (CSU) system to increase student enrollment in bilingual authorization programs through recruitment and retention of full-time faculty for bilingual authorization programs through its Colleges of Education. The bill left the Assembly Higher Education committee with bipartisan support and is currently sitting in the Assembly Appropriations committee on the suspense file. This legislation has a $25M budget component that we are championing through the budget process to ensure it has the appropriate funding to be implemented.
AB 1868 (Luz Rivas) Long Term English Learner Data – will allow the state to better serve our English learners by requiring the California Department of Education (CDE) to further separate achievement, enrollment, and other outcomes of long-term English learners and students at risk of becoming long-term English learners. This bill was heard in the Assembly Education committee and received unanimous, bipartisan support. It is now headed to the Assembly Appropriations committee for fiscal review. We continue working with CDE on cost estimates based upon the proposed amendments, but we are also elevating this bill through the budget process to ensure adequate funding is provided. AB 1868 is one of The Education Trust-West Equity 8 where they highlight the year’s greatest opportunities to advance educational equity and justice in the legislature.
SB 952 (Limon) Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Programs – provides grants to school districts to help them convert schools with existing dual language immersion strands into schoolwide DLI programs. Converting an under-enrolled school into a dual language school has the potential to attract new families as well as retain families in their current schools. This bill provides school districts with a tool to innovate and establish school program models that are proven to promote strong academic performance among students from all backgrounds and achieve equal or better outcomes in English proficiency and literacy for English learners. SB 952 received bipartisan support in the Senate Education committee and is headed to the Senate Appropriations committee for review. This bill also has a budget component of $15 million to ensure a successful implementation.
Budget Requests:
Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program – We are requesting a one-time $10 million appropriation, with $2 million provided annually for a series of five years, to bring back the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program (BTPDP). This important program used a “grow your own” approach to address the bilingual teacher shortage by allowing eligible local educational agencies to apply for state funds in order to provide professional learning opportunities to increase the number of bilingual authorized teachers. It was a successful and popular program among the grantees, and would like to see it come back.
Educator Workforce Investment Program English Learner Roadmap Policy Implementation – We are pushing for a one-time $20 million appropriation for five years ($4 million annually) to extend funding of the two current grantees, commencing July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2028, for the purpose of continuing the Educator Workforce Investment Program (EWIG) English Learner (EL) Roadmap Policy Implementation Grant Program. The pandemic has increased the need for more robust access to high quality instruction for English learners through this grant program. Many school districts, including charter schools, are not aware of California’s EL Roadmap policy. There continues to be an urgent need for its implementation and adherence by California’s public schools and educators in order to assure EL students will be provided an effective and quality education.
Californians Together is supporting other legislation that aligns with our goals, for a full list of these bills click the link here.