California families will have to wait for school choice

School choice legislation has been enacted in 32 states, but in California, families will have to wait. This week, every Democrat on the state Senate Education Committee voted against the school choice bill introduced by Republican Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) and sponsored by California Policy Center. The good news? Senator Grove promised to bring the bill back next year.

Senate Bill 292 — the California Education Savings Account (ESA) Act of 2024 — would create an individual “ESA” for every California student and allow parents to use state education dollars to send their child to any accredited K-12 school that best suits their child’s needs. Bonus: Any unused ESA funds can be saved from year-to-year to pay for college or vocational training upon graduation from high school.

Lance Christensen, CPC’s Vice President of Education Policy and Government Affairs, testified in support of the bill at the committee hearing Wednesday.

“California is 50th in literacy,” Christensen said. “We are consistently ranking below other states’ students in the bottom tiers of almost every academic metric. Parents need more options.”

Republican senators Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) and Rosiclies Ochoa Bogh (R-Yucaipa) both made compelling speeches in support of the bill before voting for it. When Democrats voted down the bill, Grove asked Committee members to at least give the ESA program a try as a pilot program for students most in need.

“Let’s try it with our lowest performing schools, the lowest income earners in the state of California, give them this access to this $17,000,” Grove said. ”Let those parents use that money to just send their kid across town to the school that works best in that area but they’re not allowed to go to because it’s two streets over from where they live.”

After the hearing, Senator Grove vowed to bring the bill back next year — potentially as a pilot program for California’s worst performing schools.

We highly recommend you watch the discussion of SB 292 at this week’s hearing here which begins at the 17-minute mark.

CPC’s Lance Christensen joins Sen. Shannon Grove and education reform advocates after the Senate Education Committee votes on SB 292 and SB 293.

Bill demanding timely release of student performance scores passes

Another bill from Senator Grove passed out of the Senate Education Committee Wednesday: SB 293, which would set a deadline of October 15 for the state Dept. of Education to release California’s annual student achievement test scores. In 2022, the department delayed the release of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) scores during election season to hide the devastating impact the state’s Covid school closures had on student learning. Senator Grove’s bill sets a deadline for scores to be released so education officials can’t hide poor student performance from voters, and to make sure parents and teachers have the information they need to best address student learning issues.

Senate Education Committee okays gutting school authority to discipline willfully defiant students

A bill CPC strongly opposes, SB 274, also made its way out of the Senate Education Committee. The bill introduced by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) would gut the ability of school administrators to maintain a safe learning environment for teachers and students. Believe it or not, SB 274 would eliminate the authority of schools to suspend or expel students for disrupting school activities, willfully defying teachers and school officials, and for excessive school absences or truancy.

Assembly Education Committee Chair Al Muratsuchi kills bill on parents’ right to be notified of their child’s gender switch

AB 1314, sponsored by Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Riverside), was essentially killed earlier this month when Committee Chairman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) refused to even consider the bill. The legislation is a straightforward affirmation of parents’ rights when it comes to their child: It would require a school to notify parents if their child is assuming a gender at school or school activities that is different from their sex assigned at birth. The bill also would clarify confusion over existing law which activists are exploiting to convince schools that a student’s gender transition must be kept private.

“They believe the government owns our children and that parents do not have a right to know what is happening with their own children at school,” Essayli said in a statement responding to Muratsuchi’s decision to deny a hearing.

In a a letter to the committee in support of the bill, CPC’s Lance Christensen put it this way: “Public schools are meant to support parents in their efforts to educate their children, not to subvert it.”

To learn more about each of the above bills and contact your local legislators about them, visit CPC’s Take Action page here.

Next Week: Local school boards’ authority over curriculum at risk

Next Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at 1:30 pm, Lance Christensen will be back at the Senate Education Committee to oppose one of the worst bills introduced this year: AB 1078. The bill introduced by newly-elected Assemblyman Corey Jackson (D-Riverside) would strip local school boards of their authority over the curriculum taught in their school district and give that power to the state.

The bill is an attack on parents and school boards pushing back against the teachers unions’ drive to teach Critical Race Theory and inappropriate sexualized curricula in K-12 schools. The legislation would require school boards to receive approval from the state board of education before removing any instructional materials or books from classrooms and school libraries or “ceasing to teach any curriculum.”

As Lance Christensen explains in CPC’s letter in opposition to the bill submitted to the committee:

Instead of local school boards having the final say over what is taught in their districts — where they can be accountable to the people most closely affected by these decisions — Assembly BIll 1078 will give all the power to the California State Board of Education.

California’s education system — like our national education system — is based on local control. School board members are elected to represent parents, teachers, students and taxpayers in their district, and to make the decisions for district schools based on the needs of students in diverse districts. If AB 1078 becomes law, local school boards in the 944 districts across the state will have their hands tied over something that is fundamental to a school district’s mission and performance: curriculum. Instead, insulated and unaccountable state bureaucrats will dictate what schools can or must teach.

School board trustees must remain accountable to the parents in their district who are ultimately responsible for their children’s education.

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at 1:30 pm. You can watch the Assembly Education Committee hearing live here. The Committee is not accepting phone calls in support of or opposition to the bill during the hearing, so those opposed to AB 1078 must appear in person. AB 1078 is the 17th bill on the Committee Agenda.

UPDATE: California’s rogue Civil Rights Department

Also this week, Lance Christensen spoke at budget hearings in both the Assembly and Senate before subcommittees that oversee the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) budget. Christensen called the committees’ attention to the study California Policy Center released last week revealing that CRD has abandoned its founding principles of mediation and settlement to become a litigious bully that steps over plaintiff workers and strong-arms companies.

The reason? A “bounty hunter” provision that allows the Department to keep court awards to fund its own budget. The CPC report recommends legislative fixes that will assist with refocusing the Department’s mission to assist those with real civil rights problems.

Following Christensen’s testimony before Senate Budget Subcommittee 4, Senator Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) told committee members that he had read the CPC report.

“It is very interesting reading,” Senator Niello said. “I personally am a bit troubled with the trend that’s taken place in the last few years there. And I would commend that report to all of my legislative colleagues.”

“Take Back California Education Tour” stops in Los Angeles April 22 & 27

Lance Christensen’s “Take Back California Education Tour” will make two stops in Los Angeles County over the next week. There’s still time to register for the townhall in Bel Air tomorrow! Register to attend any of the education reform townhalls on Lance’s route here.

Upcoming dates: