AB 121 amends existing law and makes funding appropriations to support and expand existing program allocations as follows:
(1) Authorizes the Superintendent to, in addition to examining the budget of a county office education, review and consider studies, reports, evaluations, or audits of the county office of education that were commissioned by the county superintendent of schools, the Superintendent, or state control agencies that contains evidence that the county office of education is showing fiscal distress according to specified standards and criteria, or that contain a finding by an external reviewer that the county office of education is at moderate or high risk of intervention, as provided. The bill additionally authorizes the Superintendent to conditionally approve or disapprove a budget that does not provide adequate assurance that the county office of education will meet its current and future obligations and resolve any problems identified in the studies, reports, evaluations, or audits, as specified. The bill also requires the Superintendent to notify the president of the State Board of Education, or the president’s designee, if the Superintendent determines that a county office of education is in financial distress. The bill revises and recasts the provision related to fees and costs to instead require a county office of education to pay 75% of, and the Superintendent to pay 25% of, specified administrative expenses incurred or costs associated with improving the county office of education’s financial management practices.
(2) Expands the encumbrance, expenditure, and revision periods for the California Prekindergarten Planning and Implementation Grant.
(3) Extends the expenditure and revision periods for the California Universal Preschool Planning Grant Program. It also extends the deadline by which the Superintendent must report on how the funds were spent by three years.
(4) Reduces the amount of money the Superintendent may allocate from the Inclusive Early Education Expansion Program to address state-level systems building and align local practice with the research and practice-based strategies that best promote pupil outcomes and program quality from $50,000,000 to $10,000,000.
(5) Authorizes funds for the California Community Schools Partnership Program that were initially made available for implementation grants in 2021-2022 and returned to the state to once again be available to extend implementation grants.
(6) Changes when the amount appropriated for warrants is drawn by the State Treasurer for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to occur by July of the same calendar year. It reappropriates $245,604,000 for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. It also requires, for the 2025-26 fiscal year, that warrants for the principal apportionments for the month of June in the amount of $1,874,781,000, or the total June principal apportionment payment, whichever is less, to instead be drawn in July of the same calendar year, except as provided.
(7) Provide that all funds, including any interest earned on funds, in a county school lease-purchase fund for a school district that remains in the fund on and after January 1, 2026, shall not be reported or returned to the state and authorizes the interest to be used by the school district for capital outlay expenditures for school construction.
(8) Authorizes a school district to apply for hardship assistance in cases of extraordinary circumstances, as specified, under the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998.
(9) Appropriates an additional $378,650,000 from the General Fund to the California Department of Education (Department) for transfer to the Learning Recovery Emergency Fund, to be allocated by the Superintendent to those local educational agencies (LEAs) operating in the 2025-26 fiscal year, as provided.
(10) Requires the State Board of Education to approve, by September 30, 2026, criteria and guidance for the selection or development of in-service professional development programs for effective means of teaching literacy in transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, or any of grades 1 to 5, inclusive, with a list of in-service professional development programs that have been deemed to meet those criteria. The bill also requires the Department to post the criteria and guidance on its website. The bill appropriates $200,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department to make available to LEAs to expend from the 2026-27 fiscal year to the 2029-30 fiscal year, inclusive, for purposes of training certificated and classified staff who provide or support literacy instruction, using the professional development programs that meet the criteria and guidance, as provided. LEAs that receive funding are required to report specified information to the Department, and the Department is required to report a summary of information to the Legislature and the Department of Finance, as provided.
(11) Requires that existing accounting systems of LEAs provide a separate accounting of expenditures related to actual payments of legal settlements, judgments, or special assessments by a joint pooling arrangement, because of specified childhood sexual assault claims, and a separate accounting of those expenditures because of all other civil claims, as provided.
(12) It authorizes the use of unused funds as of December 16, 2022, appropriated for the Orange County Department of Education to be used to provide support to LEAs impacted by the fire-related state of emergency proclaimed by the Governor in January 2025, as provided. The bill authorizes the Orange County Department of Education to use up to 15% of those funds for administrative costs.
(13) Amends existing law to authorize the county office of education to grant an LEA an extension of the least amount of time in increments of no more than 45 calendar days, and not to exceed a total of 90 calendar days to complete the required financial audit.
(14) Provides that the existing law, which requires that state funds be prorated among the three segments of public education, school districts, community college districts, and elementary and secondary level instruction, is inapplicable for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
(15) Amends the calculation for average daily attendance to only exclude weekend and intersession days that generated attendance for an attendance recovery program.
(16) Prohibits the Superintendent from making an apportionment for a county office of education if the county board of education or county superintendent of schools’ neglects or refuses to adopt a local control and accountability plan (LCAP) or an annual update to an LCAP, except if the failure to adopt or update the LCAP is because of a natural disaster or other event as prescribed. Similarly, it also prohibits the county superintendent of schools from making an apportionment of state, local, or county money for a school district if the governing board of the school district, charter school, or the school district or charter school neglects or refuses to adopt an LCAP or an annual update to an LCAP, except as provided.
(17) Revises existing law authorizing reimbursement for budget review committee members. The bill authorizes the Superintendent to establish the rate of reimbursement, subject to Board approval. It also prohibits employees of the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team from being eligible for reimbursement.
(18) Requires the county superintendent of schools to provide written notice to the governing board of the school district, the superintendent of the school district, each recognized employee organization of the school district, each recognized parent organization of the school district, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the president of the State Board of Education or the president’s designee if a school district experiences a significant fiscal event that the county superintendent of schools determines will have an immediate severe fiscal impact that will cause a school district to be unable to meet its financial obligations for the current or subsequent fiscal year.
(19) Amends existing to law to require that LEAs (including charter schools) timely transmit LCAPs and annual updates to the LCAPs, as provided. To ensure compliance, the bill authorizes the county superintendent of schools to withhold payment of any stipend, expenses, benefits, or salaries and wages of the district superintendent, charter school administrator, or members of the governing board, as appropriate, until the delinquent reports have been submitted, except as provided.
(20) Amends existing law to require that the Department create a data collection system for salary and benefit data for represented certificated and classified nonmanagement employees by July 1, 2026. The data collection must include salary, benefits, and full-time equivalent employee counts for certificated employees and for specified classified bargaining unit classifications, which the bill requires to be collected in the same manner as for certificated employees. LEAs are required to submit data by August 31, 2026, and thereafter by July 1 annually. The bill requires the Department to report to the Legislature on the progress of LEAs (including charter schools) in increasing salaries for classified and certificated employees, as provided, by January 31, 2027, and thereafter, by November 30 annually thereafter.
(21) Requires the Superintendent to increase the concentration add-on allocation to transitional kindergarten from $2,813 to $5,545 beginning fiscal year 2025-2026. Thereafter, the add-on shall be adjusted for inflation starting fiscal year 2026-2027, as specified.
(22) Amends the definition of “pupils eligible for free or reduced-price meals” to include pupils determined to meet federal income eligibility criteria through a federal Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) – compliant Universal Benefit Application. The bill also provides that, for purposes of the local control funding formula for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 fiscal years, it requires the count of English learner pupils enrolled in transitional kindergarten to be equal to the count of English learner pupils enrolled in kindergarten, as specified.
(23) For charter schools damaged, destroyed, or impacted by the state of emergency declared by the Governor in January 2025, the Superintendent is required to calculate the difference between the charter school’s certified local control funding formula entitlement in the 2025-26 fiscal year and the 2024-25 fiscal year, as specified, and, if there is a difference, allocate the amount of that difference to the charter school for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
(24) Requires the Superintendent to recover overpayments made to a local education agency in any fiscal year, in which there is a decline in the Education Protection Account revenue that results in a non-transfer of funds into the Education Protection Account fourth-quarter payment. The recovery is made from the current year’s second principal apportionment payment, as provided.
(25) Appropriates $405,291,000 from the Public School System Stabilization Account to the Superintendent for allocation for the local control funding formula, as provided for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
(26) Renames the State Assignment Accountability System to the California Statewide Assignment Accountability System and requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialling (Commission) to also identify instances of a teacher shortage, as specified, in each instance where, as of Census Day, either (A) a course or class assignment is permanently filled by an employee who is not fully credentialed or who is not appropriately assigned or (B) the LEA identifies a vacant position or an unfilled position, as provided.
(27) Authorizes the Commission to adopt an off-the-shelf assessment that meets the specified requirements for the reading instruction competence assessment. Credential candidates who are required to pass the reading instruction competence assessment to earn the clear credential are authorized to take and pass the reading instruction competence assessment on or before October 31, 2025, as provided. The bill further requires the Commission to exempt specified preliminary multiple subject credential candidates and preliminary single subject credential candidates who complete specified induction program and service requirements on or before June 30, 2025, from the requirement, and any accompanying regulations, to complete a reading instruction competence assessment, as provided. The bill extends, for purposes of the exemption, the date by which the credential candidates are required to complete the induction program and service requirements by one year.
(28) Amends existing law to provide that an applicant for a preliminary multiple subject teaching credential or a preliminary education specialist instruction credential holds a passing reading instruction competence assessment score prospectively if, within the 10 calendar years following the date the score was earned, the applicant has achieved specified instruction competence assessment examination scores, as provided.
(29) For the 2025-26 fiscal year, appropriate $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department for purposes of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification Incentive Program and for covering National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Certification fees, as provided. The bill makes the funds available for encumbrance until June 30, 2030, and available for liquidation until June 30, 2034. Beginning July 1, 2027, the bill transfers the administrative duties of the program from the Department to the Commission and requires the Department to transfer all unencumbered funds available for the program to the Commission to award grants for the program.
(30) Establishes the Student Teacher Stipend Program under the administration of the Commission to support prospective educators, as defined, during their completion of 500 or more hours of student teaching, as provided. The bill requires LEAs awarded funding pursuant to the program to provide stipends of $10,000 paid during the school year in which the credential candidates are completing their student teaching. By January 1, 2027, and every year thereafter, the Commission must report to the Department of Finance and the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature regarding the status of the program. The bill appropriates, for the 2025-26 fiscal year, $300,000,000 from the General Fund to the Commission for allocation to support the Student Teacher Stipend Program, and requires $5,000,000 of that amount to be made available to the Kern County Superintendent of Schools for specified purposes, including conducting a related multimedia campaign and the establishment of a grants management system, as specified. Starting July 1, 2026, to the extent funds are available, the bill requires up to $100,000,000 to be made available annually for the Commission to award stipends under the program.
(31) Appropriates $70,000,000 from the General Fund to the Commission to augment the Teacher Residency Grant Program to support teacher residency programs that recruit and support the preparation of teachers, as provided.
(32) Beginning the 2025-2026 school year, related to the funding allocation for Expanded Learning Opportunities Program, the bill:
(A) lowers the unduplicated pupil percentage requirement for funding availability, and its associated funding conditions, from 75% to 55%,
(B) revises the auditing requirements for certain LEAs, as specified, and
(C) doubles the minimum funding for LEAs under the program to $100,000 in a fiscal year.
For the 2025-26 fiscal year only, this bill requires the Superintendent calculate the difference between the prior fiscal year average daily attendance from the first period reported kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and the second period reported kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, and, if there is a difference, allocate to the applicable local educational agency the amount of that difference attributable to specified local educational agencies, as provided.
(33) Amends the school day and instructional minute requirements for attendance recovery programs of county community schools, continuation high schools, juvenile court schools, and community day schools.
(34) Requires the Superintendent, by March 31, 2026, to select a list of screening instruments that meet specified requirements to support the identification of multilingual learners, enrolled in transitional kindergarten, as provided, and appropriates $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent to acquire the selected screening instruments and any training materials, and to support field tests of the screening instruments. Once approved, starting with the 2027-2028 school year, LEAs are required to use the screening instrument to identify multilingual learners as required. Appropriates $40,000,000 for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, from the General Fund to the Superintendent for this purpose.
(35) For the 2025-2026 school year, and for each school year thereafter, the Superintendent must withhold a portion of a school district’s or charter school’s local control funding formula entitlement if the school district or charter school fails to comply with maintaining an average of at least one adult for every 10 pupils for transitional kindergarten classrooms at each school site, as provided.
(36) Requires the Department to allocate funds appropriated in the Budget Act to technical assistance centers that carry out activities relating to the education of homeless children and youth for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. It also amends existing law to remove the provision that requires the technical assistance centers to be operative only for the duration of the availability of certain federal grant funds.
(37) Amends existing law to instead of allowing a pupil to elect to be exempt from taking economics if they complete a personal finance course, to allow the LEA to exempt the pupil from economics if the pupil completes a stand-alone course on personal finance.
(38) Expands the list of recommended curriculum frameworks the Instructional Quality Commission should include when it revises the history-social science curriculum on financial literacy to include the California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program.
(39) Amends existing law to assess a financial penalty of 20% of the LEA’s second principal apportionment local control funding formula entitlement, if the LEA, including charter schools, fails to timely adopt or update their LCAP.
(40) Requires the State Board of Education to update the performance criteria for LEAs assistance and intervention as provided, no later than July 15, 2026, based on the findings and recommendations provided in the 2021-2022 evaluation of the state’s technical assistance system and its implementation, and the need to appropriately focus resources and supports where the demonstrated needs are greatest.
(41) Appropriates $2,000,000 for the 2025-2026 fiscal year from the General Fund to the Superintendent to award to county offices of education serving as regional English learner lead agencies, contingent on federal funding. The allocation is for the 11 regional county offices of education previously selected for the work. The selected regional county offices of education must provide their final report to the Department of Finance and the executive director of the state board, no later than December 30, 2026, on their performance on the specified metrics. The bill requires the Department, on or before July 1, 2026, to select county offices of education to serve as regional English learner lead agencies, pursuant to a process that ensures that no fewer than 5 and no more than 7 regional English learner lead agencies are selected in a manner that ensures statewide coverage. The regional English learner lead agencies shall be selected for a term not to exceed 4 years. The bill also authorizes the Department to either renew the selection of the existing regional English learner lead agency or reopen the selection process, as provided.
(42) Requires schools to participate in the federal School Breakfast Program or National School Lunch Program to establish a pupil’s Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) eligibility status through a specified application, as provided.
(43) Amends existing law to require, for the 2024-2025 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, that the Superintendent calculates the amount of funding generated by short-term residential therapeutic program placements, as well as community treatment facility placements, as defined, based on the average daily population at both, as provided. The bill also makes conforming changes.
(44) Revises the financial penalty calculation assessed against an LEA, including a charter school, if the governing board of the LEA is found to violate the prohibition on adopting or approving the use of any textbook, instructional material, supplemental instructional material, or curriculum that subjects a pupil to unlawful discrimination.
(45) Amends existing law to require the Superintendent to select one or more county offices of education to administer the California Center for Inclusive College (the center.) The center is required to convene an advisory workgroup consisting of representatives from at least two, but not more than six, existing inclusive college programs throughout the state to consult with the center, as specified.
(46) Adds to the list of programs that are authorized for block grant funding instead of program-specific reimbursement to include requirements relating to ensuring pupil compliance with completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or a form for purposes of the California Dream Act, as provided.
(47) Requires the school district governing board to have an approved 5-year school facilities master plan for the rehabilitation of school facilities before collecting fees from a residential development project that has not received a certificate of occupancy or temporary certificate of occupancy.
(48) Extends the deadline to use the funds appropriated for the Clean Energy Job Creation Fund in the Budget Act of 2017 to June 30, 2026, so long as one or both fund conditions are met.
(49) Extends the deadline to use the funds appropriated for the Department to contract with an LGBTQ+ organization to develop an online LGBTQ+ cultural competency training platform to June 30, 2025. The funds were previously appropriated under the Budget Act of 2021.
(50) Extends the time to use funds allocated to the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence in the Budget Act of 2021 to January 1, 2028.
(51) Amends existing law to require that regional K-16 education collaboratives commit to creating two occupational pathways, including either accelerated degree or credential programs that incorporate work-based learning, based on the identification of primary priority sectors in collaboration with the California Jobs First Council. The bill delays the deadline for both criteria by two years, to instead be June 30, 2028. It also extends the period that those monies are available for encumbrance or expenditure until June 30, 2030. Appropriates, for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, $250,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent for this purpose.
(52) Revises and recasts the Reading and Literacy Supplementary Authorization Incentive Grant Program by renaming it as the Mathematics Instructional Added Authorization and Reading and Literacy Supplementary Authorization Incentive Grant Program, includes mathematics authorizations in the program, as specified, increases the award amount a participating teacher is eligible to receive and reduces the local match requirements of the program, as provided, and makes conforming changes to reporting requirements related to the program. The bill extends the date the funds are available for encumbrance to instead be June 30, 2030.
(53) Extends the deadline to use and report on the use of funds allocated for expansion of kitchen infrastructure upgrades that will increase a school’s capacity to prepare meals served through a federal school meal program, as defined, to June 30, 2026. The funds are available for certain school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, as specified.
(54) The Budget Act of 2024 appropriated to the Department $770,000 to support costs associated with developing an online training delivery platform and curriculum to support LGBTQ+ cultural competencies for teachers and other certificated employees in grades 7 through 12 by July 1, 2025. The bill extends the deadline from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2030, thereby making an appropriation.
(55) The Budget Act of 2022 appropriated $4,000,000,000 for the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program and made those funds available for encumbrance until June 30, 2023, and for liquidation until June 30, 2025. The bill extends the availability of the funds for liquidation until July 31, 2025.
(56) Repeals the appropriation of $4,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent to select a county office of education to research models of hybrid and remote learning at public schools across the state and provide guidance, support, and resources to local educational agencies to build their own hybrid and remote learning programs to support innovative learning opportunities and instructional continuity.
(57) Requires, on or before January 31, 2026, the Superintendent, in consultation with the Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges, as applicable, examine and determine the feasibility of streamlining specified career technical education grant application and reporting processes into a single universal application and collecting program reports and data in a consolidated process, and provide the chairs of the relevant policy committees and budget subcommittees of the Legislature, the executive director of the state board, and the Director of Finance with information, in writing, relating to that streamlining, as provided. The Superintendent and the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges are required, on or before October 15, 2025, to each provide related information, as specified. The Chancellor, in consultation with the Superintendent, on or before January 31, 2026, is required to provide information, in writing, with an update on steps that the Chancellor is taking to better align the timelines, application components, and reporting requirements of the K-12 Strong Workforce Program with the identified streamlined application and reporting processes, as specified.
(58) The Director of Finance, as part of the budget submitted to the Legislature by January 10, 2026, is required to:
(A) provide an updated estimate of the Proposition 98 funding requirement for the 2024-25 fiscal year and the sum of all previous appropriations counting toward that requirement,
(B) identify the additional amount required to meet the Proposition 98 funding requirement in 2024-25 and propose a plan for appropriating that amount, as specified, and
(C) account for that amount that is available to support school programs before making any reduction otherwise allowed by law.
(59) Codifies and extends for the 2025-26 school year, certain provisions of executive orders issued by the Governor as a result of a state of emergency that was declared by the Governor in January 2025, including provisions relating to the use by school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools in the County of Los Angeles of temporary facilities located outside of district boundaries, the collection of average daily attendance for those pupils served outside of district boundaries, the suspension of provisions relating to the leasing of local educational agency property to impacted local educational agencies in the County of Los Angeles, the authorization of a site-based charter school within the County of Los Angeles whose school site was damaged or is inaccessible due to the emergency to establish an alternative site anywhere within the County of Los Angeles, and the suspension of any requirement that a classroom-based charter school that provides independent study programs due to facility inaccessibility, damage, or destruction, or pupil displacement, as a result of the emergency, submit a funding determination, pursuant to specified law, and any requirement to obtain a material revision from the chartering authority of the charter school to offer non-classroom-based instruction.
(60) For the 2025-2026 fiscal year, appropriates $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent for allocation to the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence for the digitization of the state standardized individualized education program (IEP) template. The California Collaborative for Educational Excellence is required to enter into a contract with a California special education student information system vendor to convert the IEP template into a user-dynamic software platform, develop an interactive digital version of the IEP template that is accessible to the public at no cost, and make those digitized templates available to LEAs and the public, respectively, on or before June 30, 2026. The bill appropriates, contingent upon federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2025 for the translations of the digitized state standardized individualized education program template not being available due to a reduction in California’s receipt of federal funds, for the 2025-26 fiscal year, $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent to allocate up to $1,000,000 to a county office of education for the translation of the digitized IEP template into the top 10 most commonly spoken languages in California other than English.
(61) Requires a basic aid school district, as defined, that experiences a decrease in local property tax revenues because of the Eaton and Palisades Fires in the County of Los Angeles in January 2025 to be reimbursed by the General Fund by the Controller for losses experienced in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 fiscal years, as provided, thereby making an appropriation.
(62) For the 2025-2026 fiscal year, $160,000,000 is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department for the establishment of the Universal School Meals Support Grant, as provided. Of that amount, the following shall be available to LEAs (A) $145,000,000 for the continued implementation of universal school meals, (B) $10,000,000 to support the retention and recruitment of food service workers, as specified, and (C) $5,000,000 for the Department to contract with the Marin County Office of Education for a study of, and report on, particularly harmful ultra-processed foods being offered in school meals in California, as provided.
(63) On or before June 30, 2026, appropriates an amount to be determined by the Director of Finance from the General Fund to the Superintendent in augmentation of a certain item in the Budget Act of 2025. The funds are available only to the extent that revenues distributed to LEAs for special education programs from successor agencies are less than the estimated amount determined by the Director of Finance. The bill requires, on or before June 30, 2026, the Director of Finance shall determine if the revenues distributed to LEAs for special education programs from successor agencies exceed the estimated amount reflected in the Budget Act of 2025 and, if so, requires a reduction to the specified appropriation in the Budget Act of 2025 by the amount of that excess.
(64) Appropriate $1,696,718,000 from the General Fund to the Department to establish the Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant, for allocation to county offices of education, school districts, charter schools, and the state special schools for discretionary purposes, including, among other things, providing standards-aligned professional development for teachers on the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework, the Literacy Roadmap, and the Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools and addressing rising costs, as provided.
(65) Extend the time to use funds appropriated to the Teacher Residency Grant Program to June 30, 2032.
(66) Establish the Secondary School Redesign Pilot Program to develop and identify effective models of middle and high school redesign, as provided. The bill appropriates $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent for the program for allocation to the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence as the lead agency to administer the program. Authorizes up to $1,000,000 of the appropriated funds to be used by the lead agency for program administration and evaluation, as provided, and requires up to $300,000 of the appropriated funds to be made available to reimburse the Marin County Office of Education, the administrative agent of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, for costs associated with the administration of these provisions. The bill requires participating schools and LEAs to participate in the pilot program for two years, develop and implement programs to redesign middle and high schools to better serve the needs of all pupils, and collect and report data and resources, as provided.
(67) Extends the date to liquidate the funds appropriated in the Budget Act of 2023 for the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program from June 30, 2026, to July 31, 2026.
(68) Appropriates $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent for allocation to the Riverside County Office of Education for allocation to the Special Olympics of Northern and Southern California for specified purposes, as provided, and requires the Riverside County Office of Education to be the fiscal agent for those funds for the Special Olympics of Northern and Southern California.
(69) Appropriates, for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent for allocation to a county office of education to contract with one or more research or nonprofit organizations to study the processes by which other states develop curriculum guidance and to make recommendations about how to improve and streamline California’s processes, as provided.
(70) Appropriates, for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, $250,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent to allocate to the administrative agent for the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence to partner with one or more research organizations, institutions of higher education, or other nonprofit organizations with expertise in evidenced-based literacy instruction to develop guidance for the state board to adopt on or before January 31, 2026, to support the follow-up adoption and subsequent implementation of English Language Arts/English Language Development instructional materials by the Instructional Quality Commission and the state board, as provided.
(71) Appropriates, for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, $215,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent to augment the previously established Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Grant Program. Of that amount, the following allocations are required:
(A) $200,000,000 to LEAs for eligible school sites, as defined, to develop school literacy programs, employ and develop literacy coaches and specialists, and develop and implement interventions for pupils in need of targeted literacy support, as provided, and
(B) $15,000,000 to select a county office of education or a consortium of county offices of education with expertise in both literacy instruction and multilingual education, through a competitive process, to provide training for educators to become literacy coaches and provide credentialing opportunities for educators to become reading and literacy and bilingual specialists, as provided.
(72) Appropriate, for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, $15,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent to allocate to the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence to:
(A) make $7,500,000 available to convene a Statewide Literacy Network to support statewide implementation of evidence-based practices aligned to the English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework, the English Learner Roadmap, the Literacy Roadmap, and the use of data to support effective instruction, as provided, and
(B) make $7,500,000 available to convene a Statewide Mathematics Network to support statewide implementation of evidence-based practices aligned to the Mathematics Framework and the use of data to support effective instruction.
(73) Appropriate $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent to allocate to the county office of education selected to administer the California Dyslexia Initiative to contract with the University of California, San Francisco Dyslexia Center to continue to expand the capacity of a certain reading difficulties screening tool for California’s diverse pupil population and to support its use. The bill makes the funding contingent on the maintenance of a reading difficulties screening tool that remains accessible to LEAs at no cost to California public schools to be administered to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. The bill establishes annual summary reporting requirements for the University of California, San Francisco Dyslexia Center, through the designated county office of education, to submit to the department, the Department of Finance, the state board, and the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature.
(74) Appropriate, for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, $150,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department, subject to pending legislation. The bill requires the Department, upon the signing of that legislation, to transfer the funds to the administering entity identified in the legislation, if applicable, by no later than May 1, 2026. If that legislation is not enacted by January 1, 2026, the bill instead requires the appropriated funds, on or after January 1, 2026, to be used for the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program, as provided.
(75) Appropriates $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent for allocation to the Kern County Superintendent of Schools for the Mathematics Professional Learning Partnership to support educator training, including mathematics coaches, teachers, and school administrators for implementation of the new mathematics curriculum framework in LEAs. The bill requires the Mathematics Professional Learning Partnership to, among other things, continue to support the California Mathematics Project along with its other existing partners, as specified. Requires the Kern County Superintendent of Schools to submit expenditure plans on behalf of the Mathematics Professional Learning Partnership to the Department of Finance for approval by January 31, 2026.
(76) Appropriates $20,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department to allocate to the Sacramento County Office of Education to, in partnership with the Santa Clara County Office of Education, award competitive grants to LEAs participating in specified cohorts of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative that are determined to be qualified, as provided. Requires the Sacramento County Office of Education to, on or before March 1, 2026, and in partnership with the Santa Clara County Office of Education, provide a report to the state board, the Department of Finance, the State Department of Health Care Services, the California Health and Human Services Agency, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature that includes specified data, including, among other things, the number and amounts of awards granted, as provided.
(77) Makes Legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the West Side Union Elementary School District.
(78) Authorizes the Plumas Unified School District, through the Superintendent, to request emergency apportionments in the form of cashflow loans from the General Fund for a total of up to $20,000,000. The Controller, upon order of the Director of Finance, must draw warrants against the General Fund to the Plumas Unified School District once a loan is approved by the Director of Finance, thereby making an appropriation. The bill specifies conditions the District must follow in receiving the funds and repaying the loans.
(79) Authorizes a school district to sell property owned by the school district from September 1, 2025, to June 30, 2028, inclusive, and use the proceeds from the sale to reduce or retire the emergency loan, and prohibits the school district from being eligible for financial hardship assistance under the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 from September 1, 2025, to June 30, 2028, inclusive.
(AB 121 amends Sections 1622, 1623, 1630, 8281.5, 8320, 8337, 8902, 14041.5, 14041.6, 14041.8, 32526, 41020.2, 41203.1, 41344.1, 41490, 41601, 42127.1, 42127.6, 42128, 42129, 42238.01, 42238.016, 42238.02, 44258.9, 44283, 44395, 46120, 46211, 46392, 48000.1, 48857, 51225.3, 51284.5, 52064.5, 56836.168, 60151, and 66032.2 of, adds Sections 1631, 17037, 17075.11, 33319.6, 41011.1, 42238.017, 42252.1, 44283.1, 44415.8, 48004, 49506.5, 52065.1, 52073.4, and 53009 to, adds Article 13.5 (commencing with Section 44400) to Chapter 2 of Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of, and to repeal Section 42120 of, the Education Code, amends Sections 17581.6 and 66007 of the Government Code, amends Sections 137 and 152 of Chapter 44 of the Statutes of 2021, to amend Sections 121, 126, and 132 of Chapter 52 of the Statutes of 2022, to amend Section 108 of Chapter 48 of the Statutes of 2023, to amend Section 110 of Chapter 38 of the Statutes of 2024, to repeal Section 112 of Chapter 38 of the Statutes of 2024, to amend the Budget Act of 2017 (Chapter 14 of the Statutes of 2017).)