Pupil achievement: Closing the Achievement Gap State Operations and Support Plan.

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 state board, in consultation with the department, and on or before March 1, 2027, to establish a competitive process to select, and thereafter contract with, an organization that has 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, on or before April 1, 2027, to convene a working group consisting of specified members and would require the working group, on or before December 1, 2027, to develop and submit to the Governor and the Legislature 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 local educational agencies in closing the achievement gap and recommendations for appropriate remedial action if the state does not meet those benchmarks and goals. The bill would require the Assembly Committee on Budget and the Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, on or before March 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to hold a joint hearing to evaluate the state's progress in meeting the benchmarks and goals established in the Closing the Achievement Gap State Operations and Support Plan.