AB 857
School employees: cultural competency training.
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Majority
Fiscal committee
No
Appropriation
No
Current location
Appropriations
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Bill overview
This bill requires California school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide annual cultural competency training to all school employees, starting in the 2027-28 school year and continuing through the 2031-32 school year. The State Department of Education will develop an online training platform and curriculum. Employees may be exempt based on specific credentials or prior training, and districts must track and document completion of the training. The requirements will expire on July 1, 2033, and be repealed on January 1, 2034.
Key provisions
- Requires the State Department of Education to develop an online cultural competency training platform and curriculum.
- Mandates annual cultural competency training for all school employees in districts and schools serving K-12 students.
- Establishes exemptions for teachers with specific credentials (English learner authorization, Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development certificate, or bilingual authorization).
- Requires districts to track and document employee completion of the training.
- Requires training to be provided on paid time during regular work hours or professional development hours.
- The department will monitor compliance through existing annual compliance monitoring.
- A report summarizing compliance data will be submitted to the Legislature within nine months of the 2031-32 school year.
- The bill includes a provision for reimbursement to local agencies and school districts if the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill contains state-mandated costs.
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AB857:v98#DOCUMENT
Bill Start
| Amended IN Assembly March 28, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 857
| Introduced by Assembly Member Gipson (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Bryan, Elhawary, Jackson, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Ransom, Sharp-Collins, and Wilson) (Coauthors: Senators Richardson, Smallwood-Cuevas, and Weber Pierson) |
| February 19, 2025 |
An act to add and repeal Article 1 (commencing with Section 44675) to of Chapter 3.1 of Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to school employees.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 857, as amended, Gipson. School employees: cultural competency training.
Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law authorizes local educational agencies to employ personnel to provide services in schools pursuant to that system.
This bill would require the State Department of Education to, on or before July 1, 2027, develop an online cultural competency training delivery platform and online cultural competency training curriculum for school employees to support pupils of color. The bill would, commencing with the 2027–28 school year, year and ending with the completion of the 2031–32 school year, require a school district, county office of education, or charter school serving pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to annually provide that training to all school employees, unless an employee is exempt from the training or an employee provides proof of completion for a cultural competency training completed while employed at another local educational agency, as provided. The bill would also require local educational agencies to provide a proof of completion to school employees that complete the training and to ensure that all school employees complete the required training on paid time during the employees’ regular work hours or designated professional development hours, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department to (1) monitor compliance with the training requirement as part of the department’s annual compliance monitoring of state and federal programs, (2) report data, within 9 months of the completion of the 5-year training period, from that compliance monitoring to the Legislature, and (3) post the report on the department’s internet website, as provided. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2033, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2034.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES
Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Article 1 (commencing with Section 44675) is added to Chapter 3.1 of Part 25 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:
Article 1. Cultural Competency Training
44675.
(a) On or before July 1, 2027, the department shall develop an online cultural competency training delivery platform and online cultural competency training curriculum for school employees to support pupils of color.
(b) Local educational agencies shall do all of the following:
(1) Provide Commencing with the 2027–28 school year and continuing through the 2031–32 school year, provide and require at least one hour of the training developed by the department pursuant to subdivision (a) to all school employees as follows: annually.
(A)For all current school employees, within the 2027–28 school year.
(B)(i)Except as provided in clause (ii), for all school employees hired during or after the 2027–28 school year, within six weeks of commencing employment.
(ii)Employees may provide a proof of completion for a cultural competency training completed while employed at another local educational agency to satisfy the requirement of this subparagraph.
(2) Provide a proof of completion to school employees that complete the training and maintain records documenting the date that each employee satisfied the requirements of this section.
(3) Ensure that all school employees complete the training required by this section on paid time during the employees’ regular work hours or designated professional development hours unless otherwise negotiated and mutually agreed upon with the employees’ exclusive representative.
(c) (1) A teacher or certificated employee shall be exempt from the annual requirement specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) if the teacher or certificated employee has a valid English learner authorization, Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development certificate, or bilingual authorization that was issued within the last 10 years.(2) Employees may provide a proof of completion for a cultural competency training completed while employed at another local educational agency to satisfy the requirement specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) for the applicable year.(d) Nothing in this section shall prohibit a local educational agency from providing longer, more frequent, relevant in-service training to meet the online training standards, provided that it is mutually agreed upon with the employees’ exclusive representative.(e) The department shall monitor compliance with the training required pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) through its existing annual compliance monitoring of state and federal programs.(f) (1) The department shall provide a report to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature within nine months after the conclusion of the 2031–32 school year, summarizing the data collected through compliance monitoring over a five-year period, including the local educational agencies selected for monitoring and relevant compliance findings, if any, pursuant to this section. The department shall publicly post the report on its internet website.(2) The report required by paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(c)
(g) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Cultural competency” means the active engagement in an ongoing process of self-reflection that informs deeper understanding and respect of cultural differences where an increase in cultural competency can lead to behaviors, programs, policies, practices, and services that are more culturally appropriate.
(2) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school serving pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
44675.3. This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2033, and, as of January 1, 2034, is repealed.
SEC. 2.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.