Bill Text: CA SB952 | 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: dual language programs: Pathways to Success Grant Program.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2022-08-11 - August 11 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. [SB952 Detail]

Download: California-2021-SB952-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Senate  March 10, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 952

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Introduced by Senator Limón

February 09, 2022

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An act relating to pupil instruction. An act to add Article 11.5 (commencing with Section 33450) to Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 952, as amended, Limón. Pupil instruction: dual language immersion. Pupil instruction: dual language programs: Expanding Culture and Language Learning in Schools Grant Program.

Existing law establishes the Pathways to Success Grant Program with the goal of providing pupils in preschool, transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, with dual language immersion programs, developmental bilingual programs for English learners, or early learning dual language learners programs, as those terms are defined. Contingent upon an appropriation for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or other statute, existing law requires the State Department of Education to administer the program and award grants to school districts and consortia of school districts in partnership with other specified entities, as provided.

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would provide grants to school districts to support the conversion of existing schools into dual language immersion schools.

This bill, subject to an appropriation, would establish the Expanding Culture and Language Learning in Schools Grant Program with the goal of growing capacity for high-quality dual language learning in preschools, transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as provided. The bill would require the State Department of Education, commencing October 1, 2023, to award a minimum of 20 one-time grants of up to $750,000 per grant to school districts, county offices of education, certain charter schools, and specified preschool programs, as provided. The bill would require the department to, among other things, determine grant award selection criteria, review applications, award grants, identify and determine how data will be collected and shared with the public, and meet quarterly with grantees to share practices and resources and resolve implementation issues. The bill would require the department to hire a consultant to coordinate program activities and provide technical assistance to the department. The bill would require the department to contract for technical assistance and strategic planning services for grantees and would exempt those contracts from various state contracting requirements. The bill would require the department to submit to the appropriate policy and budget committees of the Legislature an annual progress report and, on or before October 1, 2029, a one-time report, with specified information about the progress and outcomes of the grant program.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(1) The California Education for a Global Economy Initiative, approved by the voters as Proposition 58 at the November 8, 2016, statewide general election, which was passed by an overwhelming 73.5 percent of California voters, calls for: (A) multilingual opportunities for all pupils, including English learners; (B) eliminating restrictions on instructing English learners imposed by Proposition 227 of 1998; and (C) placing the decision of how to educate English learners back in the hands of school districts, schools, and communities.

(2) The approval of the English Learner Roadmap by the State Board of Education on July 12, 2017, helps to inform the implementation of Proposition 58. The English Learner Roadmap is the first new language policy adopted in nearly 20 years to serve the 1.062 million English learners identified in California in the 2020–21 school year. The English Learner Roadmap provides guidance to school districts on the implementation of high-quality services and programs for English learners by addressing the systemic considerations necessary to support effectiveness as well as the alignment and articulation within and across grades and schools. The English Learner Roadmap assists school districts in their efforts to provide English learners with intellectually rich and developmentally appropriate learning experiences, as well as meaningful access.

(3) Extensive research has demonstrated the cognitive, economic, and long-term academic benefits of multilingualism and biliteracy.

(4) Researchers assert the benefits of bilingualism and biliteracy to promote the multilingual and multicultural competencies necessary for a global business job market, while ameliorating the significant achievement gap between language majority and language minority pupils.

(5) Parents now have the opportunity to participate in building innovative new programs offering pupils greater opportunities to acquire 21st century skills, such as multilingualism and biliteracy.

(6) Parents now have a choice and a voice to seek the best education for their children, including access to language programs that improve their children’s preparation for college and careers and allow them to be more competitive in a global economy.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that all children in California have access to high-quality dual language immersion, establishing schoolwide dual immersion programs for preschool, transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as models for accelerating achievement, reversing declining enrollment, and implementing an asset-based program as defined in state policy and the English Learner Roadmap.

(c) It is further the intent of the Legislature that all children in California are prepared to succeed in a global economy by increasing the number of dual language programs and growing the numbers of pupils graduating with the State Seal of Biliteracy.

SEC. 2.

 Article 11.5 (commencing with Section 33450) is added to Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

Article  11.5 Expanding Culture and Language Learning in Schools Grant Program

33450.

 For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(a) “California state preschool program” has the same meaning as defined in Section 8205.

(b) “Dual language immersion program” is a program that enrolls both English learners and native speakers of English and provides integrated language learning and academic instruction for native speakers of English and native speakers of another language, with the goals of high academic achievement, first and second language proficiency, and cross-cultural understanding. The term includes two-way bilingual immersion programs.

(c) “Dual language immersion school” is a school in which all classrooms, pupils, and teachers in the school are implementing the dual language immersion program model based on the grade level being taught. The term includes schoolwide dual language immersion programs.

(d) “Dual language immersion strand” is a program within a school where a dedicated number of classrooms at each grade level are implementing the dual language immersion program model based on the grade level being taught.

(e) “Dual language learners” means children from birth to five years of age who are learning two or more languages at the same time, or who are learning a second language, such as English, while continuing to develop their home language.

(f) “English learner” has the same meaning as defined in Section 306.

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

(h) “Native speaker of English” means a pupil who has learned and used English in the pupil’s home from early childhood and English has been the primary means of concept formation and communication of the pupil.

33451.

 The Expanding Culture and Language Learning in Schools Grant Program is hereby established with the goal of growing capacity for high-quality dual language learning by doing all of the following:

(a) Establishing schoolwide dual language immersion programs in existing elementary and secondary schools.

(b) Establishing early learning dual immersion programs for dual language learners in existing California state preschool programs as a component of schoolwide dual language immersion programs.

(c) Expanding existing dual language immersion strands within schoolsites to schoolwide dual language immersion programs.

(d) Expanding the number of dual language immersion schools.

(e) Increasing pupil enrollment in schools experiencing declining enrollment.

(f) Increasing the academic achievement of English learner pupils.

(g) Empowering pupils to engage with a culturally and linguistically diverse community in California and the world.

33452.

 (a) The department shall administer the Expanding Culture and Language Learning in Schools Grant Program, which shall be a five-year grant program. Commencing October 1, 2023, the department shall award a minimum of 20 one-time grants of up to seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) per grant, to entities described in subdivision (b) for the purposes described in Section 33451.

(b) (1) The following entities are eligible and may apply to the department to receive a grant pursuant to this article:

(A) A school district.

(B) A county office of education.

(C) A charter school, other than a for-profit charter school, that has been established before January 1, 2022.

(D) Existing California state preschool program contractors not already covered in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive.

(2) Participation in the program is voluntary.

(c) When awarding a grant to an applicant proposing to establish a dual language immersion program in a target language other than Spanish, the department shall provide additional funding of up to thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars ($37,500) over the amount of the grant awarded pursuant to subdivision (a).

(d) Priority for grant awards shall be given to both of the following:

(1) Proposals for schoolwide dual language immersion programs with an enrollment that consists of at least 40 percent English learners at the elementary school level and at least 40 percent English learners and reclassified fluent English proficient pupils at the middle and high school levels.

(2) Proposals for dual language immersion programs at schools with declining enrollment.

(e) In accordance with Section 33453, the department shall identify criteria for evaluating applicants and awarding grants.

(f) An applicant shall include a description of all of the following in its application:

(1) Any existing programs for English learners offered at the schoolsite or schoolsites to be transformed into dual language immersion schools, and any bilingual staff at the schoolsite or schoolsites.

(2) Pupil enrollment data for the 3 years before the date of the application, disaggregated by English learners, dual language learners, reclassified fluent English proficient pupils, and native speakers of English.

(3) How the applicant will secure bilingual teachers, bilingual preschool educators, bilingual paraeducators, and bilingual program staff, including by partnerships with institutions of higher education, as applicable.

(4) How the applicant will sustain an expanded or new dual language immersion program beyond the five-year grant period.

(5) Evidence of support by the applicant school district’s or districts’ county board or boards of education or the governing board or boards of the school district or districts, the applicant charter school’s or charter schools’ authorizing body or bodies, or the applicant California state preschool program’s or programs’ authorizing body or bodies.

(6) Evidence of support by the community in which the school or schools of the applicant are located, including evidence from current pupils and parents.

(g) A local educational agency applicant shall also include in its application a description of how the program the local educational agency intends to operate using the grant aligns to one or more goals included in the local educational agency’s local control and accountability plan, and how participation in the grant program will improve outcomes for pupils served by the program.

33453.

 In administering the Expanding Culture and Language Learning in Schools Grant Program, the department shall perform all of the following functions:

(a) Determine application procedures and selection criteria for grant awards.

(b) Review applications and award grants.

(c) Identify data to be collected by grant recipients for reporting to the department.

(d) Identify how the department will collect data from grant recipients and make that data available to the public.

(e) Meet quarterly with grant recipients to share promising practices and resources and resolve issues of implementation.

(f) Hire a dual language immersion program consultant to coordinate program activities and provide technical assistance for the grant program to the department.

(g) Contract with one or more service providers with demonstrated expertise and experience specific to dual language immersion programs to provide technical assistance and strategic planning to grant recipients. Notwithstanding any other law, contracts awarded pursuant to this subdivision are exempt from the personal services contracting requirements of Article 4 (commending with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the Public Contract Code, and the State Contracting Manual, the approval of the Department of General Services, and the California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program requirements of Article 6 (commencing with Section 999) of Chapter 6 of Division 4 of the Military and Veterans Code.

33454.

 (a) Subject to subdivisions (b) and (c), a grant recipient shall use the grant received under this article for any of the following purposes:

(1) School administrator, teacher, and staff training specific to the implementation and maintenance of a dual language immersion program.

(2) Recruitment of bilingual preschool, elementary, and secondary school teachers and paraeducators.

(3) Professional development for teachers after the initial establishment of the program.

(4) Ongoing outreach to families of pupils, including strategies for family engagement.

(5) Establishment and support of language learning professional learning communities for teachers.

(6) Instructional coaches with demonstrated expertise and experience in implementing a dual language immersion program and instruction.

(7) Standards-based instructional materials and assessments in target languages for proposed dual language immersion programs.

(8) Attendance at the quarterly grant recipient meetings described in Section 33453.

(9) Employment of a dual immersion teacher specialist to provide support for program implementation, including teacher recruitment and professional development, facilitation of teachers and administration collaboration, coordination of the purchasing of instructional materials, and engagement with parents and pupil recruitment.

(b) A grant recipient shall use the grant to supplement funding used for ongoing program costs received pursuant to its local control funding formula allocation and federal funding, such as Title I, II, or III funding.

(c) A grant recipient may use grant funds in the first year of program participation for strategic planning.

33455.

 (a) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the department shall submit an annual progress report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature commencing January 1, 2024, and continuing through the duration of the Expanding Culture and Language Learning in Schools Grant Program. The department shall collect from each grant recipient both of the following information as necessary for each annual progress report:

(1) A description of how each grant recipient has used or plans to use the grant funds, and how the use or intended use aligns with the goals of the program.

(2) Pupil enrollment data for each grant recipient, including dual language immersion program pupil enrollment and waitlist data.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, in addition to the annual progress report described in subdivision (a), the department shall submit a report to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before October 1, 2029, that includes all of the following:

(1) Grant program selection criteria and a list of grant recipients.

(2) A description of how each grant recipient has used the grant funds to establish or expand the recipient’s dual language immersion program.

(3) Annual pupil enrollment data for each grant recipient, for the duration of the grant program and including data from three years before grant program participation, disaggregated by English learners, dual language learners, reclassified fluent English proficient pupils, and native speakers of English.

(4) A description of activities carried out by the technical assistance providers described in subdivision (g) of Section 33453.

33456.

 This article shall be implemented only upon an appropriation for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or other statute.

SECTION 1.

It is the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would provide grants to school districts to support the conversion of existing schools into dual language immersion schools.