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Californians Together

Championing the Success of English Learners

Legislative Updates

Impact of 2022-23 California State Budget Opportunities for Supporting English Learners

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On June 30, Governor Newsom signed a $308 billion State Budget for 2022-23. The approved spending plan presents yet another historic investment in public education, totaling $128.6 billion for K-12 education. This includes a 13 percent increase to the base funding for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) over the 2021-22 levels.

As a coalition focused on improving educational outcomes for English learners, and immigrant and refugee students, we celebrate these historic investments at the same time that we continue to advocate for ensuring that new programs prioritize the needs of our highest need students and those who have been the most impacted by the pandemic, including English learners. The following reflects the approved budget and the budget trailer bill (AB 180) that is currently being negotiated.

Summary of Legislative Priorities
We appreciate the recognition by the Governor and Legislature that we face a teacher shortage and must continue to invest in the training, recruitment, and retention of teachers. In particular, we will continue to shed light on the need for bilingual teachers. With this goal in mind, we reflect on our legislative priorities, co-sponsored by our partners at the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE):

  • Made it in the Budget: We applaud the inclusion of a $20 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to continue the work of the Educator Workforce Investment Grant (EWIG) program in areas of Special Education and in the implementation of the EL Roadmap. It is our hope that these investments will fund non-profits, county offices of education, or county consortia to continue and expand the collaboration across the state of the current grantees.
  • Missed Opportunities: We are disappointed that the following items were not included:
    • $15 million to bring back the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program (BTPDP) which was highly successful and had a “grow your own” approach to assist teachers in the bilingual education space.
    • $25 million in the California State University budget to increase student enrollment in bilingual authorization programs through the recruitment and retention of full-time faculty through their Colleges of Education. However, we are pleased to see a $5 million one-time investment for the Asian Language Bilingual Teacher Education Program Consortium to increase the number of credentialed teachers with Asian bilingual authorization.

Lastly, as AB 1868 (Rivas) moves through the Legislature, we hope that it will pass with a $1 million ongoing appropriation to disaggregate data in order to strengthen California’s guidance and resources to ensure Long Term English Learners (LTELs) students are correctly identified and provided with targeted interventions that best meet their needs.

Educator Investments that Can Help Support the Bilingual Teacher Pipeline
While not all of our legislative priorities were achieved through the Budget, we still see significant opportunities to expand the bilingual teacher pipeline through the broader educator workforce investments listed below. We will continue to advocate for these investments to prioritize bilingual teachers that can best meet the needs of English learners and students in multilingual programs.

  • Career Pathway Programs ($500 million). This one-time investment over seven years will support the development of secondary school pathway programs focused on technology, health care, education (including early education), and climate-related fields. These programs will bring together school systems, higher education institutions, employers, and other relevant community stakeholders to align needs to preparation. We encourage districts to create bilingual teacher pathways that can recruit bilingual staff and students on the path toward the State Seal of Biliteracy to obtain a teaching credential with bilingual authorization after graduation.
  • Teacher Residency Expansion ($250 million). This investment will increase the pipeline of teachers and school counselors. The Budget also enables school counselors, social workers, and psychologist candidates to be eligible for the Golden State Teacher Grant Program, which provides incentives to individuals to consider earning a credential and serving at a priority school in California for four years, within eight years after completing a preparation program. Currently, there are some but few bilingual teacher residencies and with this new funding, we hope they will expand.
  • Support for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Instruction ($85 million). This one-time Proposition 98 General Fund will create Pre-K-12 educator resources and professional learning opportunities to implement the Next Generation Science Standards, the California Math Framework, the California Computer Science Standards, and the math and science domains of the California Preschool Learning Foundations. It is our goal for these funds to support integrated ELD professional learning and the implementation of strategies to help ELs access the curriculum.
  • Waiving Teacher Examination Fees ($24 million). This one-time investment in 2022-23 and 2023-24 will allow candidates to waive certain teacher examination fees.
  • Integrated Teacher Preparation Program ($20 million). This one-time investment will support a competitive grant program that provides grants to public and private institutions to develop and implement integrated teacher preparation programs allowing teacher candidates to receive their credentials simultaneously while completing their Bachelor of Arts degree. It is hoped that bilingual authorization will be included in this integrated model.

Significant Investments that Can Be Leveraged to Improve EL Outcomes
In addition to the education and LCFF increase, there are several new and continued investments that can greatly expand educational access for English learners. It is our hope that as LEAs expand programs with these investments they prioritize the needs of students that have been the most negatively impacted by the pandemic, including ELs.

  • Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant ($7.9 billion). This grant will support LEAs in establishing learning recovery initiatives through the 2027–28 school year, with investments in instructional learning time, closing learning gaps, student support, instruction, and academic services. As these grants are allocated, we support efforts to increase accountability to ensure that they are improving services for the highest need students such as enhancing both designated and integrated ELD and biliteracy.
  • Arts, Music, and Instructional Materials Block Grant ($3.6 billion). This grant will allow LEAs to expand arts and music programs, deliver standards-aligned professional development, acquire quality instructional materials, develop diverse book collections, and cover operational costs and expenses related to the COVID-19 Pandemic. We hope that LEAs will utilize these resources to secure quality instructional materials for ELs and expand both school and classroom libraries with multilingual books and instructional materials.
  • Expanded Learning Opportunities Program ($3 billion). This investment, on top of the $1 billion allocated through the 2021 Budget Act as part of a multi-year investment plan, increases total ongoing program funding to $4 billion. This additional investment will accelerate the implementation timeline, and beginning in 2023-24, LEAs will be required to offer expanded learning opportunities to all low-income students, English language learners, and youth in foster care. Moreover, LEAs with the highest concentrations of these students will be required to offer expanded learning opportunities to all elementary students.
  • Community Schools ($1.1 billion). In addition to the $3 billion included in the 2021 Budget Act, this additional investment will assure that eligible LEAs interested in applying on behalf of its high-needs schools have access to the community schools grants. These new monies are necessary given the large demand for community school grants received by the California Department of Education earlier in 2022, with over $700 million in total application requests far exceeding the $400 million grant round.
  • Early Literacy ($250 million). This one-time funding, available over five years, will provide grants to high-needs schools to train and hire literacy coaches and reading specialists. The Budget also includes statutory language that clarifies that Expanded Learning Opportunities Program funds may be used to hire literacy tutors that would assist students as part of the program’s enrichment activities. It is our hope that these funds will support bilingual literacy coaches so that this investment continues to support the expansion of pathways to biliteracy.
  • Dual Enrollment Access ($200 million). This one-time funding, available over five years, will strengthen and expand student access and participation in dual enrollment opportunities, which allows high school students to take classes that count towards high school graduation and earning college credit. This can be an opportunity to expand access for ELs, including high school newcomers and LTELs.
  • Community Engagement Initiative ($100 million). This additional one-time funding will allow the initiative to expand its reach to hundreds of additional LEAs. The goals of this initiative are to build positive relationships between schools and their communities through authentic family engagement, which will align with work to build community schools. Strategies within this initiative should include engaging in the home languages spoken by family members.

Expansion of Early Childhood Education
We also continue to applaud the continued investments in the State Preschool Program and Transitional Kindergarten. We see tremendous opportunity for these investments to provide greater access to culturally and linguistically relevant instruction for the 60 percent of children birth to five, who come from a household where another language other than English is spoken.

  • Expansion of State Preschool Programs ($485 million). This will support programs in serving students with disabilities, dual language learners, and childhood mental health. This also includes new requirements for State Preschool providers to incrementally ramp up to serving at least 10 percent of students with disabilities by July 1, 2024, and provide additional supportive services for dual language learners. This additional funding also increases access to more families by raising eligibility from 85 percent of state median income to 100 percent of state median income.
  • Transitional Kindergarten ($614 million). This ongoing Prop 98 funding will begin in the 2022-23 school year, supporting the first year of expanded eligibility for transitional kindergarten, shifting from all children turning five years old between September 2 and December 2 to all children turning five years old between September 2 and February 2. Additionally, the Budget provides $383 million Proposition 98 General Fund to add one additional certificated or classified staff person to every transitional kindergarten class, reducing student-to-adult ratios to more closely align with the State Preschool Program. The Budget also increases the pipeline of qualified transitional kindergarten teachers by allowing the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to issue a one-year emergency specialist teaching permit in early childhood education that authorizes the permit holder to teach transitional kindergarten provided that they hold a bachelor’s degree or higher and meet other requirements. This is an opportunity to initiate multilingual programs beginning in TK.

We will continue to work with the administration and Legislature to advocate for English learners and the expansion of pathways to biliteracy within our budget priorities. It is our goal to ensure that the inclusion and success of the State’s English learners be inserted in several program initiatives and be prioritized.

For more information about the 2022-23 California Budget and the Budget Trailer Bill click here.

To download the Impact of 2022-23 California State Budget Opportunities for Supporting English Learners as a pdf click here.

Community Schools Grants Announced: An Opportunity to Align with the EL Roadmap

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Community Schools present an opportunity to rethink partnerships and the role that schools have in meeting the needs of students and families. They are defined by the Partnership for the Future of Learning as a public school with “strong and intentional community partnerships ensuring pupil learning and whole child and family development.” This model can be a powerful strategy to improve English learner education, empower multilingual families, bring resources to support immigrant and refugee students, and strengthen connections between elementary and early childhood education. It is for these reasons that Californians Together was excited when California’s 2021-22 Budget included a $3 billion investment in community schools. 

On May 18, the State Board of Education (SBE) approved the first round of Planning Grants and Implementation Grants, impacting 163 school districts and county offices of education and 105 charter schools. 

  • The Planning Grants (totaling $38.2 million) will provide up to $200,000 for up to two years to 106 schools districts and county offices of education and 86 charters schools with no existing community schools—the school districts and county offices of education grantees serve a total of 202,152 English learners across 35 counties.
  • The Implementation Grants (totaling $611 million) will provide $150,000-$500,000 over five years to 57 schools districts and county offices of education and 19 charters schools for new, expanded, or continuing community schools—the school districts and county offices of education grantees serve a total of 285,834 English learners across 25 counties.

Across both sets of school district grantees, over one in five of all students is an English learner. Moreover, 14 of the 20 districts with the largest number of English learners are grantees. 

The SBE also approved a $12 million three-year contract for the Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) to serve as a lead technical assistance center. The ACOE will be a support hub for the program, co-led with the UCLA Center for Community Schooling, and in partnership with Californians for Justice and the National Education Association.

It is important to note that additional planning and implementation grants are expected to be allocated in the 2022–23 school year. Moreover, the high demand for these grants prompted the Governor to include an additional $1.5 billion in the 2022-23 Budget May revise.

Current and future grantees will have an opportunity to build or expand Community Schools with an intentional focus on high quality programs and instruction for English learners and the English Learner Roadmap (EL Roadmap) as a central component. To support this alignment, Californians Together recently released Alignment of Community Schools with the English Learner Roadmap Policy, adapted from Section 4: Engaging the Whole Village (pages 44-57) of the California English Learner Roadmap Implementation Guide and Toolkit for Administrators Volume 5: Aligning and Articulating Practices Across the System. In the coming months, Californians Together will also be releasing a series of four briefs focused on how Community Schools can improve English Learner education, empower multilingual families, support immigrant and refugee students, and strengthen connections between elementary and early childhood education to support dual language learners.

Check Out Our Legislative Advocate Update!

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The appropriations suspense files were released on Thursday, May 19th, and we are excited to see two of our sponsored bills (AB 1868 & SB 952) moving forward. Unfortunately, AB 1701 (Medina) Jump Start Program was held in suspense and is not moving forward this year, but we are committed to expanding the bilingual teacher pipeline and making sure that faculty are available to provide course access for students to move through bilingual authorization programs.  We’re excited to keep pushing these bills closer to the finish line! 

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.   
  • Status: Held in the Assembly Appropriation committee, the bill will no longer be moving for the remainder of the year. 

AB 1868 (L. Rivas) Disaggregation of Data for Long Term English Learners   

  • This bill will allow the state to better serve our English Learners by requiring the California Department of Education to further separate achievement, enrollment, and other outcomes of long-term English learners and students at risk of becoming long-term English learners.
  • Status: Assembly Floor, awaiting vote by the entire Assembly in order to be sent to the Senate for consideration. 

SB 952 (Limon) Dual Language Immersion Program 

  • Provides $15 million for 20 schools over 5 years to convert to dual language immersion (DLI) schools. The grants would allow school districts to pay the costs related to securing bilingual educators, training programs, curriculum, materials, and other necessary start-up costs. 
  • Status: Senate Floor, awaiting vote by the entire Senate in order to be sent to the Assembly for consideration.

To download the full legilative update click here. 

Governor’s May Revision of the California State Budget

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The Governor presented a May Revision budget with a $97.5 billion surplus which includes funding for Proposition 98 and Proposition 2, leaving approximately $49 billion surplus for discretionary spending. The May Revision focuses on allocating the vast majority of the discretionary surplus to one-time investments that can be adjusted in future years, if needed. The budget reflects $37.1 billion in budgetary reserves, in response to financial uncertainties and projections of financial troubles by 2025-26 fiscal year.  The May Revision does not trigger the State Appropriations Limit – it is just $2.6 billion below hitting the limit. 

An overarching theme that we have seen this year is the recognition by the Governor and Legislature that we face a teacher shortage and the need to continue investing in the training, recruitment and retention of teachers. We appreciate the recognition and would like to further shed light on the need for bilingual teachers. Our priorities, co-sponsored by our partners at the California Association for Bilingual Education, are in perfect alignment to these goals and would be great assets to expand the state’s bilingual educator workforce.

  • We applaud the Governor’s inclusion of $15 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to continue the work of the Educator Workforce Investment Grant program in areas of Special Education and support for English learners but would like to highlight the need for more funding to be able to better serve our English learners.
  • We would also like to see the inclusion of a $10 million appropriation to bring back the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program which was highly successful and had a “grow your own” approach to assist teachers in the bilingual education space. 
  • We would also like to see the inclusion of  a $25 million appropriation in the California State University budget to increase student enrollment in bilingual authorization programs through the recruitment and retention of full-time faculty through their Colleges of Education.
  • Lastly, we would like to see a $1 million ongoing appropriation to disaggregate data in order to strengthen California’s guidance and resources to ensure Long Term English Learners (LTELs) students are correctly identified and provided with targeted interventions that best meet their needs. 

Other Funding for the Teacher Training,  Retention and Recruitment: 

  • $500 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to expand residency slots for teachers and school counselors and also allow school counselors, social worker, and psychologist candidates to be eligible for the Golden State Teacher Grant program. 
  • $300 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to augment resources available to local educational agencies for professional learning through the Educator Effectiveness Block Grant with a priority for STEM educator support.
  • $85 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to create Pre-K through 12 grade educator resources and professional learning to implement the Next Generation Science Standards, the California Math Framework, the California Computer Science Standards, and the math and science domains of the California Preschool Learning Foundations. 
  • $80 million ongoing Proposition 98 General Fund for the Classified School Employee Summer Assistance Program, which provides matching funds for intersessional pay for classified employees who work less than 12 months per year.
  • $20 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to support a K-12 Teacher Residency Program Technical Assistance Center.
  • $15 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund over three years to support 6,000 teachers in completing the coursework necessary to receive a supplementary state certification in reading and literacy.
  • $15 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund to continue the work of the Educator Workforce Investment Grant program in computer science. 

Major Proposition 98 Spending Proposals

Community Schools 

  • Last week, the State Board of Education approved $635 million in planning and implementation grants for 265 LEAs. 
  • Despite the limited ability of LEAs to apply for community school grants due to staffing/pandemic issues, the California Department of Education received applications requesting $700 million for implementation grants, far exceeding the $400 million grant round. 
  • The Governor is proposing an additional $1.5 billion one-time appropriation in the May Revision, equating to a 50% increase in the overall community schools investment, to address anticipated need in future grant application rounds. 

Expanded Learning Opportunities Program 

  • To accelerate the implementation of this program,  an additional $3.4 billion ongoing Proposition 98 General Fund to the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program, increasing total ongoing program funding to $4.4 billion
    • Focuses on LEAs with the highest concentrations of low-income students, English learners, and youth in foster care.
    • Projected to be implemented by 2025-26 which is an earlier start date.

Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) 

  • Cost-of-living adjustment was updated to 6.56 percent, now the largest cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in the history of LCFF. 
  • Discretionary ongoing funds: To help LEAs address ongoing fiscal pressures, staffing shortages, and other operational needs, the May Revision includes $2.1 billion ongoing Proposition 98 General Fund to increase LCFF base funding.
  • Enables LEAs to utilize a modified version of 2021-22 average daily attendance to determine their 2021-22 LCFF allocations. The May Revision also proposes further modifying the three-year rolling number average to conform with this adjustment. 
  • The total ongoing costs associated with these policies is estimated to be $3.3 billion ongoing Proposition 98 General Fund and $463 million one-time Proposition 98 General Fund.

We will continue to work with the administration and legislature to incorporate our budget priorities. It is our goal to ensure that the inclusion and success of the State’s English learners be inserted in several program initiatives.

To download the full summary of the Governor’s budget proposal summary click here.

Check Out Our April 2022 Legislative Advocate Report!

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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 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 support, it is now headed to the Assembly Appropriations committee for fiscal review. We continue  working with the California Department of Education (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 part 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 existing schools into schools that can offer DLI programs. Dual language schools have generated high interest amongst parents. Converting an under enrolled school to a dual language school has the potential to attract and 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. 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 M 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.

Statement Regarding Governor’s Proposed 2021-2022 State Budget

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Statement from Californians Together regarding Governor Newsom’s Proposed 2021-2022 State Budget

Record Investments in Public School 

During these challenging times, Californians Together is proud to see Governor Gavin Newsom committed to making record investments in our public schools. The governor has taken a step in the right direction by allocating resources to address the needs of students who have been negatively impacted by distance learning, such as English learners (ELs), resulting in learning loss by providing $2 billion for in-person instruction and by providing $4.6 billion in one-time funding for expanded learning and academic intervention grants targeted to students such as English learners.

We’re pleased that the $4.6 billion allocated to support expanded learning time calls out ELs and other vulnerable students. As districts develop intervention grants, we hope they look at the different types of ELs, such as newcomer students and Long-Term English learners, who have different needs. We also applaud the commitment to addressing social-emotional needs, supporting the teacher pipeline in high need areas, like bilingual certification and we appreciate his commitment to early childhood education, especially training and professional development with a focus on Dual Language Learners. 

The proposal drives California’s path toward expanding dual language programs and multilingualism. The investments in staff professional development call out high-need areas, which can include bilingual staff. In addition, the $100 million investment in teacher residency programs includes a focus on bilingual education while the $50 million support for Transitional Kindergarten (TK) and kindergarten teachers includes support for ELs/DLLs. 

We are also excited to see the continued growth of ethnic studies, which will be supported by a $5 million investment to fund professional development and instructional materials for Local Education Agencies (LEA) offering these courses.  

 

Areas of Revision

While there is much to celebrate in the governor’s budget, we also want to call out areas we hope will be revised before it's adoption this Summer.

  • It's concerning that English learners are not called out as a priority under the incentive grants for in-person instruction, which also need stronger requirements for adequate in-person instruction times. English learners, disproportionately impacted by distance learning, would benefit greatly from in-person instruction as language is learned through modeling from both teachers and peers. 

 

  • We support additional requirements for tracking attendance and engagement, but data should be reported and disaggregated by the student group to better understand the impact of this crisis on our most vulnerable students. 

 

  • Stronger language that ensures that Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) supplemental and concentration carryover funds remain as supplemental and concentration to increase or improve services for its intended students is needed. These are changes that were included in Assembly Bill 1835 last year, which the Governor vetoed and promised to fix within the budget.

 

  • In addition to the teacher preparation programs that will be receiving proposed allocations, the Bilingual Teacher Preparation Program, which is a "grow your own" teacher capacity program ends June 30. 2021 and should be funded.

We urge the state legislature to take these points into consideration and hope to see them reflected in the revisions presented in May before enacting the 2021-22 budget.