California Bill AB 1947 (Rivas)
California state preschool programs: contracting agencies: staff training days.
Thank you to our bill author Assemblywoman Luz Rivas for her commitment to uplifting the needs of Dual Language Learners, most recently with AB 1947—we are deeply grateful for her work in championing this bill. Read Governor Newsom’s veto message.
Early Edge is proud to sponsor AB 1947 (Rivas) which will support CSPP educators in receiving professional development that allows them to provide equitable, high-quality learning experiences for all children, including DLLs, as envisioned in Governor Newsom’s Master Plan for Early Learning and Care (MPELC).
California is home to the nation’s largest population of Dual Language Learners (DLLs). These young children have the potential to reap the academic, social, and cultural benefits of bilingualism when they are in Early Learning environments that effectively support the development of both the home language and English.
Thanks to Governor Newsom’s signing of Early Edge-sponsored bill AB 1363 in 2021, California State Preschool Programs (CSPPs) are identifying and collecting data related to DLLs. There is an opportunity to use this data to ensure educators are equipped to meet the needs of the DLLs they serve by receiving much needed professional development (PD). AB 1947 (Rivas) takes another critical step in implementing recommendations from the Governor’s MPELC for supporting all DLLs, and it builds on the progress made by AB 1363 in achieving the goals of the MPELC to identify and support DLLs.
Specifically, this bill will accomplish the following:
- Expand the number of allowable staff training days under a CSPP contract from 2 to 6 days.
- Specify that when a CSPP contractor enrolls at least 25% DLLs and opts to provide 3 or more days of staff training, one of those days must include DLL PD.
- Deem that when PD is provided during regular hours of operation those days are considered days of operation to meet the minimum number of days for part-day and full-day CSPP.
