AB 2225

Existing law establishes the State Board of Education and requires the state board to study educational conditions and needs of the state and to make plans for the improvement of the administration and efficiency of the public schools of the state. Existing law establishes the State Department of Education under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and assigns to the department numerous responsibilities relating to the governance of the public elementary and secondary schools in the state. This bill would require the Superintendent, with the approval of the executive director of the state board, and on or before July 1, 2027, to select, and thereafter contract with, one or more research or nonprofit organizations that have experience assessing governance structures, improving strategies to close pupil academic achievement gaps, and working with stakeholders throughout the state. The bill would require the selected organization or organizations, on or before September 1, 2027, to convene a working group consisting of 20 specified members and would require 5 members of the working group to be appointed by the Governor, 4 members to be appointed by the Senate Rules Committee, and 4 members to be appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, as provided. The bill would require the working group to (1) elect a chair and vice chair at its first meeting, as specified, and (2) develop and submit to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before March 1, 2028, a plan, to be known as the Closing the Achievement Gap State Operations and Support Plan, that includes, among other things, specific goals and benchmarks for the state to support school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools in closing the achievement gap and recommendations for appropriate remedial action if the state does not meet those benchmarks and goals. The bill would prohibit members of the working group from being compensated for their service as part of the working group, except as provided. The bill would encourage the Assembly Committee on Budget and the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, on or before September 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to evaluate the state’s progress in meeting the benchmarks and goals established in the Closing the Achievement Gap State Operations and Support Plan.