Bill Text: CA AB2465 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Pupil instruction: third-grade literacy: literacy grant program.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-08-11 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2465 Detail]

Download: California-2021-AB2465-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  April 18, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2465

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Introduced by Assembly Member Mia Bonta

February 17, 2022

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An act to add Chapter 4.7 (commencing with Section 18885) to Part 11 of Division 1 of Title 1 of, and Chapter 15.5 (commencing with Section 53007) to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of, the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2465, as amended, Mia Bonta. Pupil instruction: third-grade literacy: literacy grant programs: multilingual and dual language immersion educators: libraries.

Existing law authorizes the creation of library districts to establish, equip, and maintain public libraries for the dissemination of knowledge of the arts, sciences, and general literature. Existing law establishes in the State Department of Education a division state government an agency known as the California State Library.

This bill would, contingent on an appropriation, require the department to develop and implement a competitive grant program to award funds to local educational agencies, library districts, and public libraries for the purpose of providing a library card to every public school pupil enrolled in the local educational agency, as provided. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to encourage all residents to use California state libraries, regardless of immigration status, and the department to provide information on its internet website about legal assistance and guidance to undocumented pupils, immigrants, and their families.

This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop an updated state plan of school library standards and submit the plan to the State Board of Education for adoption. The bill would require the department to publish on its internet website information on how local educational agencies can update their schoolsite libraries and access grant funds, as provided. The bill would, subject to an appropriation, require the department to develop a grant program to help local educational agencies add resources to their school libraries, as provided.

Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 6, inclusive, to include certain areas of study, including English, mathematics, social sciences, science, visual and performing arts, health, and physical education, as specified. Existing law requires the study of English to include knowledge of and appreciation for literature and the language, as well as the skills of speaking, reading, listening, spelling, handwriting, and composition. Existing law establishes the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program for teachers seeking to provide instruction in bilingual and multilingual settings.

This bill would create the Family and Community Literacy: Supporting Literacy and Biliteracy in Schools, Families, and Communities Grant Program for the purpose of supporting the goal of all of California’s pupils reading at grade level by third grade and engaging families at every stage of that process. The bill would require the department to award competitive grants from multiple grant programs to local educational agencies and other entities, as provided.

This bill would appropriate $37,500,000 from the General Fund to the department for the California Family Literacy Innovation Project in order to support community literacy and educational enrichment by establishing partnerships between local educational agencies and community-based organizations to engage families to improve literacy and biliteracy outcomes. The bill would require the department to award grants of $1,500,000 each to 25 local educational agencies that partner with community-based organizations to collaboratively design a Family Literacy and Biliteracy Innovation Plan, as provided.

This bill would establish the Sustaining Career Pathways for Multilingual and Dual Immersion Educators Program within the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. As part of the program, the bill would appropriate $25,000,000 from the General Fund to the commission to develop the Next Generation Bilingual and Multilingual Educator Fellowship Grant Program to improve career mobility for bilingual and multilingual educators. The bill would require the commission to award 5 grants of $5,000,000 each for demonstration projects to, among other things, support the development of a total of 500 new bilingual educators and the bilingual credentialing and certification of at least 500 additional educators, as provided.

This bill would require the commission, in collaboration with the department, to develop a statewide plan for teacher recruitment and retention that includes recommendations related to the Next Generation Bilingual and Multilingual Educator Fellowship Grant Program, as provided.

This bill would appropriate $2,500,000 from the General Fund to the department to establish the California READS Nuestro Estado California Outreach Program to support a statewide grassroots, social media, print, and media campaign to promote statewide reading goals specifically targeting families with early-elementary-age children, as provided.

Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: YES   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(a) Early literacy has proven to have a significant relationship to graduation rates because early literacy interacts with many other factors that contribute to academic success. According to research, third graders who are not reading at grade level are among the most vulnerable to dropping out of school later.

(b) A long-term study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that pupils who were not proficient in reading by the end of third grade were four times more likely to drop out of high school than proficient readers. In fact, 88 percent of pupils who failed to earn a high school diploma were struggling readers in third grade.

(c) Third grade has been identified as important to reading literacy because it is the final year children are learning to read, after which pupils are “reading to learn.” If they are not proficient readers when they begin fourth grade, as much as one-half of the curriculum they will be taught will be incomprehensible.

(d) High-quality early education programs provide an opportunity to get children on the right track by building a strong foundation for prereading and school readiness skills.

(e) Research documents the importance of early experiences on brain development, and educators and policymakers now have a deeper understanding of how to best foster young children’s learning. Research shows that participation in high-quality early care and education programs, including transitional kindergarten, prekindergarten, Head Start, and Early Head Start, can increase children’s language and literacy skills before school entry.

(f) There are many strategies for addressing early literacy, including aligning standards to enhance kindergarten readiness, improving instruction and teacher preparation, and using developmentally and linguistically appropriate assessment and interventions, such as pupil interviews.

(g) Teacher librarians are the backbone of literacy in California, yet only 9 percent of schools have prioritized funding to maintain a full-time teacher librarian position as a resource to both teachers and pupils. Teacher librarians play a pivotal role in empowering and guiding pupils to use educational resources and become critical thinkers and competent researchers.

(h) Multilingual programs prepare pupils for linguistic and academic proficiency in English and additional languages, and require thoughtful design. Multilingual programs are based on research that demonstrates the program model’s effectiveness at leading pupils toward linguistic fluency and academic achievement in more than one language.

(i) One mission of the State Department of Education is to equip pupils with world language skills to better appreciate and more fully engage with the diverse mixture of cultures, heritages, and languages found in California and the world, while also preparing them to succeed in the global economy. The department has set specific goals in the Global California 2030 Initiative. By 2030, one-half of all kindergarten through grade 12 pupils will participate in programs leading to proficiency in two or more languages, either through a class, a program, or an experience. By 2040, three out of four pupils will be proficient in one or more languages, earning them a State Seal of Biliteracy.

(j) Career ladder and apprenticeship programs have demonstrated strong efficacy in recruiting, training, and strengthening new members of the workforce across different employment sectors. In the education sector, several local educational agencies have used these approaches to grow their workforce in high-needs areas and retain highly qualified bilingual educators.

(k) The health policy brief, titled “Parental Reading and Singing to California’s Young Children – Trends, Predictors, and Association with the Talk. Read. Sing. Campaign,” indicates nearly 90 percent of parents read and sing to their children three times or more per week.

(l) The Talk. Read. Sing. campaign promotes and encourages the engagement of parents and caregivers to talk, read, and sing with their babies from birth. Brain science confirms babies learn from day one and build billions of neural connections by stimulating their brains through experiences, such as when others are talking, reading, and singing with them.

(m) A main mission of a public library is to support literacy. It is to everyone’s benefit that we have a literate society, and one way to help achieve this is to encourage pupils to read and to remove as many barriers to their using local public libraries as possible.

(n) When school libraries close, either due to COVID-19, summer vacation, or any other reason, kids still need and deserve access to e-books, books, periodicals, and the wealth of other online resources libraries have to offer.

(o) All pupils should have equal access to all library resources to level the educational playing field. They should not be penalized due to where they live or the income level of their parents. It is the intent of the Legislature to support programs that will allow thousands of pupils presently denied equal access to have the same access to library materials as all other pupils. Public libraries represent a crucial public service for all of California pupils and families regardless of immigrant status.

SEC. 2.

 Chapter 4.7 (commencing with Section 18885) is added to Part 11 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:

CHAPTER  4.7. Pupil Library Cards

18885.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(1) Public libraries represent a crucial public service for immigrant families. They provide a place for lifelong education and opportunities for immigrant families to participate in their communities and civic life. The California State Library’s commitment to provide opportunities for all residents, regardless of residency status, furthers the inclusivity and diversity of California.

(2) The state of California reaffirms its commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.

(3) The Legislature commits to enacting policies and programs recognizing the diversity of California and furthering the inclusion of all residents.

(4) The Legislature reaffirms the privacy policy of the California State Library and the State of California restrictions on the use of state funds and resources relating to enforcement of federal immigration law.

(5) The Legislature supports the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) “Dreamers” and the immigrant community, and the Legislature intends to ensure that the state provides services to all regardless of residency status.

(b) The department shall provide information on its internet website on legal assistance and guidance to undocumented students, immigrants, and their families.

(c) The Superintendent shall strongly encourage all residents to use California libraries regardless of immigration status.

(d) (1) The department shall develop and implement a competitive grant program, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to award one-time grant funding to local educational agencies, library districts, and public libraries for the purpose of providing every public school pupil enrolled in the local educational agency with a library card.

(2) Local educational agencies, library districts, and public libraries that apply for grant funding shall submit a grant application to the department in a form and by a date established by the department. As a condition of submitting an application, the local educational agencies, library districts, and public libraries shall submit a written memorandum of agreement or memorandum of understanding.

(3) Each grant application shall include a plan describing how the local educational agencies, library districts, and public libraries will work together to ensure each pupil has a library card, and how long each memorandum of agreement or memorandum of understanding established pursuant to paragraph (2) will be in place. Each grant application shall also include any other information required by the department.

(4) The department shall base the award amount on the duration of each memorandum of agreement or memorandum of understanding, and any other criteria established by the department.

(e) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.

SEC. 3.

 Chapter 15.5 (commencing with Section 53007) is added to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

CHAPTER  15.5. The Family and Community Literacy: Supporting Literacy and Biliteracy in Schools, Families, and Communities Grant Program

53007.

 (a) For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Community-based organization” means a public or private nonprofit organization that is representative of a community or a significant segment of a community and works to meet community needs.

(2) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.

(b) The Family and Community Literacy: Supporting Literacy and Biliteracy in Schools, Families, and Communities Grant Program is hereby established for the purpose of supporting the goal of all of California’s pupils reading at grade level by third grade and engaging families at every stage of that process.

(c) The department shall award competitive grants to local educational agencies pursuant to this chapter. A grant application shall include, at minimum, the particular context in which the local educational agency is operating, including the assets of, and challenges faced by, the local educational agency, and the number of pupils that would be impacted by the program, resources, or activities funded by the grant.

(d) A local educational agency may apply to the department for a grant for one or more of the grant programs described in this chapter.

53007.5.

 (a) The sum of thirty-seven million five hundred thousand dollars ($37,500,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the department for the California Family Literacy Innovation Project, which is hereby established in the department.

(b) In developing and implementing the California Family Literacy Innovation Project, the department shall support community literacy and educational enrichment by establishing partnerships between local educational agencies and community-based organizations to engage families to improve literacy and biliteracy outcomes. The department shall award grants in the amount of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1,500,000) each to 25 local educational agencies that meet all of the following criteria:

(1) Seventy-five percent or more of pupils enrolled in the local educational agency meet the definition of “unduplicated pupil” pursuant to Section 2574 or 42238.02.

(2) The local educational agency has scored in the bottom quartile (25%) (25 percent) in one or more significant literacy indicators described by the Local Control Funding Formula.

(3) The local educational agency shall establish, or already have existing, partnerships with a community-based organization to assist with engagement and outreach efforts, and an institution of higher education for purposes of consultation, training, assessment, and evaluation. These partnerships shall include data-sharing agreements or comparable access to pupil data that is needed to design interventions.

(c) Those local educational agencies and community-based organizations applying for grant funds shall collaboratively design a Family Literacy and Biliteracy Innovation Plan that includes at least three of the following five strategies:

(1) Family literacy plans that identify literacy and biliteracy goals, benchmarks, and roles for all family members. Family literacy plans shall be developed by teachers and literacy coaches at the schoolsite in collaborative meetings with families. Every family member shall have specific roles and benchmarks in both supporting their pupils and advancing their own educational goals.

(2) Family literacy home visiting programs. Local educational agencies shall create partnership programs in collaboration with community-based organizations to establish literacy and biliteracy home visits to engage families in how to best support their pupils and every family member in reaching their literacy goals.

(3) Bilingual Family literacy promoters, also known as “promotoras,” or literacy outreach coordinators. This strategy shall include professional learning for specific support staff training in family and community engagement for literacy and biliteracy.

(4) Extended-day, summer, or weekend family institutes related to literacy and biliteracy. Local educational agencies shall work with both in-house expanded learning programs and with community-based expanded learning partners to establish literacy and biliteracy support programs and literacy enrichment programs during after school, weekend, and summer hours.

(5) Public library family literacy partnerships.

(d) Local educational agencies receiving grant funds pursuant to this section shall have three years to spend the funds.

53007.8.

 The commission, in collaboration with the department, shall develop a statewide plan for teacher recruitment and retention. This plan shall include recommendations related to the Next Generation Bilingual and Multilingual Educator Fellowship Grant Program and shall guide local educational agencies agencies, nonprofit educational organizations, and community-based organizations to the appropriate strategies for teacher recruitment and retention. retention, including a focus on the recruitment and retention of recipients of the State Seal of Biliteracy in high school.

53008.

 (a) The Sustaining Career Pathways for Multilingual and Dual Immersion Educators Program is hereby established within the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

(b) (1) As part of the program described in subdivision (a), the sum of twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to develop the Next Generation Bilingual and Multilingual Educator Fellowship Grant Program to improve career mobility for bilingual and multilingual educators. The commission shall award five grants of five million dollars ($5,000,000) each for demonstration projects to entities described in paragraph (2). Grant funds shall support retention and recruitment for hard-to-fill positions, including bilingual and special education positions, and the training and certification of paraprofessionals and substitute teachers across the state as a strategy to bolster teacher recruitment.

(2) Individual local educational agencies or regional consortia of smaller local educational agencies, in partnership with an identified institution of higher education, may apply for funding for demonstration grant funds.

(3) (A) Each demonstration project shall support the development of 100 new bilingual educators and the bilingual credentialing and certification of at least 100 educators, for a total of at least 1,000 new bilingual educators across the five demonstration projects.

(B) In order to meet the goal of supporting the bilingual credentialing and certification of at least 100 educators, the local educational agencies and institutions of higher education comprising each demonstration project shall develop funding supports for educator fellows and shall include a plan to increase bilingual credentialing and certification over the course of the grant cycle. These supports may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(i) Tuition reimbursement or moneys for commission fees.

(ii) Paraeducator employment.

(iii) Mentorship.

(iv) Counseling, academic, and career guidance supports.

(4) In addition to the requirements of paragraph (3), each demonstration project may also use grant funds for the following purposes:

(A) Building career ladder programs for current high school seniors seniors, including those who are recipients of the State Seal of Biliteracy, and community college students who strive to become multilingual educators.

(B) Designing a bilingual or multilingual training institute for current staff members. The institute may use grant funds to achieve any of the following:

(i) Designing, curating, and executing professional learning opportunities and communities of practice.

(ii) Supporting paraprofessional staff in bilingual and dual immersion programs.

(iii) Offering language classes to interested staff and families.

(c) Bilingual and Multilingual Educator Fellows supported through the grant funds described in subdivision (b) shall commit to five years of service at a high-needs school in the local educational agency or consortium.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that all communities be considered for grant funds, including programs for tribal communities for Indigenous languages and programs that offer Indigenous language supports.

53008.5.

 (a) The Superintendent shall develop an updated state plan of school library standards. This plan shall enable local educational agencies to improve, invest in, and instruct libraries on best practices for a schoolsite library. The Superintendent shall submit the plan to the state board for adoption.

(b) (1) The department shall publish on its internet website information on the following:

(A) How local educational agencies can update and modify their schoolsite libraries. The Curriculum Frameworks Instructional Resources Division within the department shall establish updated standards that local educational agencies may choose to follow.

(B) How local educational agencies can use grant funds described in Sections 53007.5 and 53008 to support libraries.

(c) Subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or other legislation for this purpose, the department shall develop a grant program to help local educational agencies add resources to their school libraries. Local educational agencies shall submit a plan to the department for adding resources to their school libraries. Permissible expenditures of grant funds include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Culturally relevant books, including books related to LGBTQ+, Black, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, and Jewish cultures and communities.

(2) School technology, including tablet devices.

(3) Technology that mimics the reading process for pupils.

(4) Items to address language barriers.

53009.

 (a) The sum of two million five hundred thousand dollars ($2,500,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the department to establish the California READS Nuestro Estado California Outreach Program to support a statewide grassroots, social media, print, and media campaign to promote statewide reading goals specifically targeting families with early-elementary-age children, in order to support the development of literacy and biliteracy skills for those early-elementary-age children.

(b) Through a competitive grant process, the department shall contract with media professionals to design and execute a campaign that includes the following:

(1) Branding, marketing, and logos that support the statewide literacy and biliteracy goals of pupils in public elementary and secondary education.

(2) Partnerships with libraries, community centers, clinics, and businesses to promote program materials on multiple platforms and venues.

(3) A bilingual and culturally fluent social media campaign geared toward specific actions for families to support the literacy and biliteracy goals of their children in public elementary and secondary education.

(4) A series of virtual and in-person events throughout the state that celebrate reading, literacy, and biliteracy and promote the goal of all California pupils reading at grade level by third grade.