Torrance, CA – Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), Chair of the Assembly Education Committee, is sponsoring a K-12 education bill package that the State Assembly approved this week. These bills will advance many critical education priorities facing the State of California.
"As the world's fourth largest economy, California must invest in our students and our educators to support student success and well-being," said Assemblymember Muratsuchi. "These bills will advance critical educational priorities like teaching every child to read, protecting immigrant and undocumented students, increasing pay for teachers and school employees, strengthening charter school oversight and accountability, providing affordable education workforce housing, and addressing California's ongoing teacher shortage."
The Assembly passed the following education bills authored or jointly authored by Assemblymember Muratsuchi:
- AB 49: California Safe Haven Schools Act – Protects undocumented students and their families by prohibiting immigration enforcement officers from entering school sites without valid identification, a judicial warrant, a court order, or claims of exigent circumstances necessitating immediate action.
- AB 84: Strengthen Charter School Oversight and Accountability - Strengthens transparency and accountability in charter school operations and authorizing practices. The bill would codify charter school oversight reforms recommended by the Legislative Analyst's Office, Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, State Controller's Task Force, California Charter Authorizing Professionals, and the San Diego County District Attorney.
- AB 477: Fair Pay for Educators Act - Proposes state funding targets to increase school funding to increase teacher and classified school employee salaries by 50 percent over the next decade to close the pay gap between teachers and college graduates in other professions.
- AB 640: Mandatory School Board Training on Budget and Fiscal Issues - Requires members of governing boards of school districts and county offices of education, and members of governing bodies of charter schools, to receive training on K-12 fiscal and accountability issues.
- AB 642: School Employee Catastrophic Leave – Supports students and staff impacted by wildfires by allowing school employees to transfer catastrophic leave to affected colleagues and requires the state to track displaced students to ensure continued educational support.
- AB 1021: Education Workforce Housing – Streamlines the process by which school districts and county offices of education dedicate school property for the development of workforce housing to address the staffing crisis in California's education workforce.
- AB 1123: Early Childhood Education – Adds three voting members representing Early Childhood Education (ECE) to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, to ensure that the Commission membership has expertise on ECE issues.
- AB 1128: Student Teacher Pay – Establishes the California Student Teacher Support Grant Program for local education agencies to compensate teacher candidates during student teaching hours as part of their teacher preparation programs.
- AB 1306: English Learner Teacher Credentialing – Allows local educational agencies to develop affordable, standards-aligned programs to increase the number of credentialing programs that can prepare teachers to teach English Learners and provide bilingual instruction.
- AB 1381: Educational Workforce Housing – Establishes a revolving loan account in the Office of the California State Treasurer to provide zero-interest loans to assist local educational agencies to prepare for educational workforce housing projects.
- AB 1454: Early Literacy Instruction – Provide grants to local school districts to support professional development, update instructional materials and provide administrator training to promote evidence-based literacy instruction.
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi represents California's 66th Assembly District, which includes El Segundo, Gardena, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, San Pedro and Torrance. Muratsuchi is Chair of the Assembly Education Committee, and a member of the Committees on Budget, Budget Subcommittee on Education, Higher Education, and Natural Resources.
CONTACT: Kerry Jacob, (310) 806-0893, Kerry.Jacob@asm.ca.gov