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Californians Together

Championing the Success of English Learners

Legislative Updates

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. 

Congratulations are in order! AB 2514

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For the past eight years we have worked closely with Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Instruction and have accomplished so much for English Learners and biliteracy for all students in California. We are thrilled to now have the opportunity to work with a dedicated leader who has championed the fight for a quality and equitable education for all California students, Superintendent-elect Tony Thurmond. His election brings energy and a vision of bilingualism and biliteracy for all students in California.

As an Assembly Member, Tony authored AB 2514 creating grants to consortia of districts to initiate or expand dual immersion or developmental bilingual programs pre K – 12th grade. He supported the appropriation of $5 million for grants to increase the bilingual teacher pool and knows that this is just the beginning of what is needed to staff the expanding demand for bilingual teachers across California. We look forward to working closely with our new State Superintendent of Instruction and to move forward with a positive and progressive agenda for English Learners.

As one of his first appointments, we are very pleased that Lupita Cortez Alcalá will be returning to the California Department of Education as the Chief Deputy Superintendent, serving as the leader of all Divisions in the California Department of Education.  Prior to her leaving the Department she served as the Deputy Superintendent Teaching and Learning Support Branch which included the Division of English Learner and Migrant Education. Under her leadership, she supported and led the development of the English Language Development Standards, the formation of a Division for English Learners and Migrant Education, supported the creation and implementation of the Seal of Biliteracy, the development of the English Language Arts/ English Language Development Framework and was a clear voice for bilingualism and biliteracy for all students.

Californians Together offers our services and support to these two great leaders. We look forward to working with them and continuing to promote high-quality programs and instruction for English Learners.

AB 2735 (O’Donnell) is signed into law, ensuring access to a full curriculum for English Learners

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When all of our voices are heard, English Learners and their families win.  Friday, September 7, 2018, Governor Brown signed AB 2735 (O’Donnell) into law prohibiting English Learner students from being denied enrollment in core curriculum courses, courses required for high school graduation or courses for purposes of recognition for college admission, such as advanced placement or honors courses.

With the Governor’s signature, we’ve reached an important step in ensuring all English Learners have access to a full curriculum.  The law takes effect on January 1, 2019.  We will keep you posted as to how information on these new requirements will be disseminated.  Thank you for taking the time to respond to our Action Alerts.