Bill Text: CA AB2845 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2845

Bill Title: Migrant education: California Mini-Corps program and currently migratory children.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-30 - Re-referred to Com. on APPR. [AB2845 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2845-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 29, 2024

Amended IN Assembly April 15, 2024

Amended IN Assembly April 01, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2845

Introduced by Assembly Member Robert Rivas
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Muratsuchi)

February 15, 2024

An act to add Section 54446 to, and to add Article 3.3 (commencing with Section 54447) to Chapter 4 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of, the Education Code, relating to migrant education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2845, as amended, Robert Rivas. Migrant education: California Mini-Corps program and currently migratory children.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Education under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Existing law assigns numerous duties and responsibilities to the department, including, among others, the management of the federally funded Migrant Education Program (MEP), which includes the California Mini-Corps (CMC) program, a statewide program designed to provide direct instructional services for currently migratory children in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, through a cadre of trained college tutors with the goals of increasing currently migratory children’s academic achievement and developing future bilingual-bicultural, credentialed teachers. The Budget Act of 2023, among other things, appropriates $287,157,000 to the department from the Federal Trust Fund for migrant education. Of that amount, existing law requires the department to use no less than $6,500,000 and up to $8,000,000 for the CMC program.

This bill would codify the CMC program and would require the department ~~to, through a competitive grant process,~~ to annually select one county office of education to voluntarily administer the CMC program for the next fiscal year and would require the chosen county office of education to operate not less than 20 program sites at institutions of higher education, as provided. The bill would require the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to, on or before July 31 of each year, report to the chosen county office of education the number of tutors from the prior fiscal year’s cohort who subsequently enrolled in an educator preparation program or who subsequently earned a preliminary teaching credential. The bill would require the department to, on or before December 1 of each year, provide an annual report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance that includes the number of currently migratory children served by the program statewide and includes the data reported by the commission, as provided. The bill would require the department to annually report on its internet website the total number of ~~currently migratory~~ migrant children ~~enrolled in schools~~ statewide, as provided.

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

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

SECTION 1.

The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The California Mini-Corps (CMC) program was established in 1967, and was modeled after the Peace Corps, a United States federal governmental agency, to engage and support bilingual college students with rural migrant backgrounds to serve as teacher assistants in migrant-impacted schools.

(b) The CMC program annually provides educational support to over 5,000 currently migratory children and introduces over 400 college tutors from across the state to careers in education.

(c) California has long experienced a teacher shortage and is currently experiencing a severe teacher shortage, including a particularly acute shortage of teachers with bilingual authorizations.

(d) Currently migratory children bring many linguistic and cultural assets to schools but often struggle academically because of high mobility and therefore require targeted instructional support to meet their needs.

SEC. 2.

Section 54446 is added to the Education Code, immediately following Section 54445, to read:

54446.

Using data collected pursuant to applicable federal law, the department shall annually report on its internet website the total number of ~~currently migratory~~ migrant children ~~enrolled in schools~~ statewide ~~and~~ and, as applicable, disaggregated by school district, county offices of education, and charter schools.

SEC. 3.

Article 3.3 (commencing with Section 54447) is added to Chapter 4 of Part 29 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

Article 3.3. The California Mini-Corps Program

54447.

(a) The California Mini-Corps program is hereby established to do both of the following:

(1) Provide a statewide supplemental instructional program to serve the academic needs of currently migratory children in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.

(2) Support the state’s educator workforce needs by providing teaching experience to bilingual and former migratory college students interested in pursuing a teaching credential.

(b) The department shall do all of the following:

(1) ~~Through a competitive grant process, annually~~ (A) Annually select one county office of education to administer the program for the next fiscal year.

(B) Participation of a county office of education in the administration of a program pursuant to this section is voluntary.

(2) Ensure that the sites selected pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) are located in geographical regions that serve high concentrations of currently migratory children.

(3) Adopt criteria for the selection of program sites, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(A) A demonstrated capacity and commitment to support the academic success of currently migratory children by training tutors in instructional practices and cultural competencies to meet the needs of currently migratory children and supporting tutors during their participation in the program.

(B) A demonstrated commitment to bilingual and multilingual education and bilingual teacher development by doing both of the following:

(i) Establishing partnerships with teacher preparation programs, including integrated programs of preparation, if available, that provide a pathway for all interested tutors to work toward obtaining a teaching credential.

(ii) Informing tutors of financial aid programs to support them in obtaining a teaching credential and bilingual authorization, including the Golden State Teacher Grant Program established pursuant to Article 5.1 (commencing with Section 69617) of Chapter 2 of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title 3 and the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program established pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 52200) of Chapter 7 of Part 28.

(C) A demonstrated capacity to provide data and other information regarding the implementation of the program, as required by the department.

(4) (A) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code and on or before December 1 of each year, provide an annual report to the Legislature and the Department of Finance that includes both of the following:

(i) The number of currently migratory children served by the program statewide and disaggregated by site for the prior fiscal year.

(ii) The number of tutors from the prior fiscal year’s cohort who subsequently enrolled in an educator preparation program or subsequently earned a preliminary teaching credential.

(B) A report to be submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(c) A county office of education that is selected pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) shall do both of the following:

(1) Operate not less than 20 program sites at institutions of higher education for the purposes of providing tutoring programs to currently migratory children during the school year.

(2) Offer a summer outdoor education program and a summer indoor institute.

(d) The Commission on Teacher Credentialing shall, on or before July 31 of each year, report to the county office of education selected pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) the number of tutors from the prior fiscal year’s cohort who subsequently enrolled in an educator preparation program or subsequently earned a preliminary teaching credential.

(e) This section shall be implemented in a manner that is consistent with applicable federal law and regulations governing the Migrant Education Program, authorized pursuant to Part C of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.

(f) Funds allocated for purposes of this section shall supplement, and shall not supplant, any federal funds or resources provided for this program.

(g) For purposes of this section, “currently migratory child” has the same meaning as in Section 54441.

(h) It is the intent of the Legislature that, commencing with the 2024–25 fiscal year, the annual Budget Act provide sufficient funding to (1) support the restoration of programs that have been closed in the last five years due to a lack of ~~funding~~ funding, (2) increase the number of tutors that participate in the program, and to (3) support a cost-of-living adjustment for tutor ~~stipends.~~ compensation.