The CFT was successful in introducing sponsored legislation for 2020. Our new bills address priority issues for the CFT, including providing affordable housing for public school employees, ensuring that school employees who are on extended medical leave receive full pay, requiring charter schools to participate in CalSTRS and CalPERS, and providing support for community college and University of California faculty.

However, due to the coronavirus outbreak and the recent emergency passage of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 189, which enacted a joint legislative recess from March 20 until April 13, it’s unclear when these bills will be heard. 

NEW SPONSORED BILLS

Below is a summary of CFT’s sponsored bills for 2020.

PreK-12 Schools

School safety — active shooter training for staff
Assembly Bill 2590 (Gipson, D-Carson) would require school districts to provide, but not mandate, active shooter training to all employees at a school site at the same time (intent of amended version).

Limit administration of standardized student assessments
Assembly Bill 2636 (Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton) would prohibit preK-12 school districts from requiring the administration of additional standardized student assessments beyond what is required by the state or federal government.

California School Employee Housing Assistance Pilot Program
Assembly Bill 2743 (McCarty, D-Sacramento and Berman, D-Meno Park) would provide 10 competitive planning grants of up to $100,000 each to school districts to begin the planning process to build affordable rental housing for certificated and classified school employees.

Classified employees — part-time employee regular assignments
Assembly Bill 3237 (Maienschein, D-San Diego) would require school districts to have existing classified employees take on additional assignments for no more than 20 days a year before that additional assignment becomes a part of their regular assignment.

School employee absence due to illness or accident
Senate Bill 796 (Leyva, D-Chino) would guarantee a full salary for school employees for five months who go on extended medical leave. Currently, they only receive 50 percent of their salary or differential pay.

University of California

Amend the Higher Education Employer-Employee Act (HEERA)
Assembly Bill 3036 (Cervantes, D-Riverside) would ensure that unionized workers at the University of California remain represented by their union when the UC Board of Regents changes the composition of the Academic Senate (intent of amended version). 

TWO-YEAR BILLS

These CFT-sponsored and co-sponsored bills are carried over from the previous legislative session.

All-Union

Student loan servicing
Assembly Bill 376 (Stone, D-Scotts Valley) would establish the Student Borrower Bill of Rights which would ensure that student loan borrowers are given reliable information, quality customer service and meaningful access to student loan repayment and forgiveness programs.

PreK-12 Schools

Education finance — Local Control Funding Formula
Assembly Bill 39 (Muratsuchi, D-San Francisco) would express the intent of the Legislature to establish new, aspirational base grants to school districts beginning in 2020-21 to amounts equal to the national average per pupil funding. In addition, the bill would express the intent of the Legislature to apply a cost-of-living adjustment above the COLA in current law. This increase in the base grant would in turn increase the supplemental and concentration grant amounts proportionally per current law.

Early childhood education funding, access, & standards
Assembly Bill 123 (McCarty, D-Sacramento) would provide the intent of the legislature to offer targeted universal pre-K for 4-year-olds that reside in school attendance areas where 70 percent of children are enrolled in free and reduced-price lunch programs; offer an additional year of preschool for 3-year-olds living in poverty; and improve quality standards with evidence-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum that is aligned to the K-12 standards (will be amended significantly).

Early childhood education reimbursement rates
Assembly Bill 125 (McCarty, D-Sacramento) would provide for the intent of the Legislature to establish a single regionalized state reimbursement rate system for childcare, preschool and early learning services with the intent to increase the compensation of early childhood educators.

Charter schools participation in CalSTRS and CalPERS
Assembly Bill 462 (Rodriguez, D-Pomona) would require new charter schools to participate in CalSTRS and CalPERS without an ability to opt-out of participation. In addition, the bill would require the appropriate local educational agency in which a charter school’s funding is passed through to withhold up to three months of funding for the purposes of paying the charter school’s obligation to each system ensuring that retirement contributions are made on time (intent of amended version).

Assumption Program of Loans for Education (APLE)
Assembly Bill 843 (Rodriguez, D-Pomona) would provide loan assumption benefits to a person who holds a credential appropriate for teaching and who teaches mathematics, science, special education, bilingual education or career technical education in a school district that is determined to be in need of differentiated assistance. In addition, AB 843 would express the intent of the Legislature to restore the funding for the Assumption Program of Loans for Education to its 2011-12 fiscal year level.

Community Colleges

Increase load for part-time faculty
Assembly Bill 897 (Medina, D-Riverside) would increase the maximum amount of instructional hours that a part-time faculty member in a California Community College can teach at any one community college district.