CPC sponsored bill becomes law as more bills head to governor’s desk
Dear John,
The legislature ended the 2023 session last night, processing hundreds of bills before midnight. Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom has 30 days to decide which bills to sign and which to veto.
Before we get to the bills the governor should veto, we have great news. Gov. Newsom has signed Senate Bill 293 into law, a bill sponsored by CPC and introduced by Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield). SB 293 requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to make its annual student achievement test scores publicly available by October 15th each year so parents and schools can best address student learning issues.
The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) results show how well students are meeting state standards on math, reading and science in public schools and districts throughout the state.
CPC sponsored the bill after it became clear during the 2022 election season that the CDE delayed the release of student test scores to hide the damage to student learning caused by the state’s prolonged school closures during the pandemic.
“Common sense prevailed by enacting SB 293,” said Lance Christensen, CPC's Vice President of Education Policy and Government Affairs. “Now school officials and parents will have the information they need at the start of the school year, and Sacramento bureaucrats won’t be able to politicize the process of releasing state scores.”
Still, the legislature passed a shocking number of bills that are overtly politically-motivated attacks on parental rights, child safety and local school boards.
Accordingly, we ask Gov. Newsom to VETO the following bills:
Assembly Bill 1078 by Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Perris) seeks to gut local school boards’ long-standing authority to make decisions about the curriculum taught in their school district, and give that power instead to Sacramento bureaucrats. This bill is being marketed as an “anti-book banning bill,” but it is designed to silence parents and school board members opposed to politicized and age-inappropriate sexualized instructional materials in schools. The bill is the height of legislative overreach and an affront to school board autonomy.
Senate Bill 596 by Senator Anthony Portantino (D–Burbank) threatens parents and advocates with criminal prosecution for speaking out against school policies, stripping parents of their First Amendment rights. The bill provides that any person who subjects a school employee to “threats” or “harassment” after school hours or outside of school, including on social media, or whose conduct "involves substantial disruption" at a school board meeting, could be found guilty of a misdemeanor. The bill is overly broad and vague, and will chill speech. It goes so far as to define “harassment” as communication that “seriously alarms” the person “that serves no legitimate purpose.”
Assembly Bill 665 by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) lowers the threshold for mental health counselors to provide them unfettered control over minors. It would allow children as young as 12 years old to choose to move out of their family home and into state-run residential shelter services if okayed by a “mental health professional.” It affords parents no real due process before their child is removed from their home. It also opens the door to children being exploited by activists who may encourage kids to leave home if their parents don’t “affirm” their gender transition to enter a state system minors don’t have the capacity to adequately navigate on their own.
Assembly Bill 957 by Assemblymember Lori Wilson (D-Suisun City) would also put kids at risk, but this time during custody battles. The bill would require a judge to consider a parent’s affirmation of their child’s gender identity in any custody dispute. If signed into law, it could be used to intimidate parents into consenting to their child receiving puberty blockers or radical gender-altering surgeries as a condition of having visitation or custody rights. It will certainly encourage some parents to push their children to “transition” under false pretenses to secure a favorable custody order.
Senate Bill 494 by Senator Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) would prohibit the governing board of a school district from terminating a superintendent or assistant superintendent without cause at a special or emergency meeting of the governing board, or within 30 days after the first convening of the board after an election. Superintendents and assistant superintendents serve at the pleasure of the local district’s governing board and can be terminated without cause. This union-backed bill seeks to undermine local control and the discretion of district governing boards, and protect union-installed school officials, making it harder for newly-elected school boards to conduct the people’s business.
Senate Bill 274 by Senator Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) takes discipline out of California’s schools and puts other students at risk both for their personal safety and their learning. The bill eliminates the ability of schools to suspend or expel students for disrupting school activities or willfully defying the valid authority of supervisors, teachers, administrators, school officials or other school personnel. It also prohibits schools from suspending or expelling a student based on school absence or truancy.
If signed into law, the above bills pose serious threats to the health and safety of California’s children, eviscerate the rights of parents, and undermine the ability of school boards and school officials to manage our K-12 schools effectively and keep schools safe for all students.
We ask Gov. Newsom to veto these harmful bills.
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