AB887 - Pupil instruction: high schools: computer science courses: California Computer Science Demonstration Grant Program: reporting.

Amended IN Senate July 17, 2025 Amended IN Senate July 07, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 887 Introduced by Assembly Member Berman (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Wilson) (Principal coauthor: Senator Becker) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bennett and Carrillo) February 19, 2025 An act to add Section 51220.8 to 51220.9 to, and to add and repeal Section 51220.8 of, the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 887, as amended, Berman. Pupil instruction: high schools: computer science courses: California Computer Science Demonstration Project: Grant Program: reporting. Existing law creates the California Computer Science Coordinator as a position within the State Department of Education to provide statewide coordination in, among other things, implementing the computer science content standards and leading the implementation of the Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan, as provided. This bill would establish the California Computer Science Demonstration Project Grant Program for specified purposes, including increasing the number of public high schools offering a computer science course to increase pupil access to computer science education and increasing the computer science course access of pupils eligible for free or reduced-priced meals and pupils that are underrepresented in the field of computer science. The bill would also establish the California Computer Science Demonstration Project Grant Program Working Group that includes the coordinator and nonprofit organizations and private industry stakeholders with relevant expertise and experience in computer science education. The bill would authorize the coordinator to engage with the working group, as provided. The bill would authorize only public high schools that do not offer computer science courses to be eligible to voluntarily participate in the demonstration project. grant program. The bill would require the funding entity or funding entities, as defined, to administer the demonstration project. grant program. If there are multiple funding entities, the bill, among other things, would require each funding entity to determine how the funds that it contributes to the demonstration project grant program will be spent, provided that expenditure aligns with the demonstration project’s grant program’s purposes, and require the funding entities to coordinate implementation of the demonstration project. grant program. The bill would require the funding entities, in coordination with the working group, to select the public high schools to participate in the demonstration project, grant program, as provided. The bill would require the demonstration project grant program to be funded through contributions, gifts, grants, in-kind donations, and donations from the funding entity or funding entities, and would specify the allowable uses of those funds. The bill would require the funding entity or funding entities, in coordination with the working group, to evaluate the effectiveness of the demonstration project grant program and submit an interim report to certain legislative committees on or before July August 1, 2027, and a final report on or before April July 1, 2028, as specified. The bill would separately repeal the grant program’s provisions as of January 1, 2029. The bill would separately require the department, on or before June 30, 2028, and annually thereafter, to publicly post specified computer science course-related data on its internet website, as specified. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) In 2014, Assembly Member Curt Hagman authored, and Governor Jerry Brown signed, Assembly Bill 1539 of the 2013–14 Regular Session, directing the Instructional Quality Commission to consider developing, and recommending to the State Board of Education, computer science content standards, on or before July 31, 2019, pursuant to recommendations developed by a group of computer science experts. The Instructional Quality Commission recommended computer science standards to the State Board of Education in July 2018, and that state board adopted those standards in September 2018. (2) In 2016, Assembly Member Susan Bonilla authored, and Governor Jerry Brown signed, Assembly Bill 2329 of the 2015–16 Regular Session, to require the State Board of Education to create a California Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan (CSSIP). The CSSIP was developed by 23 CSSIP Advisory Panel members, appointed or designated by a variety of entities, including the Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The CSSIP Advisory Panel members had expertise in computer science and included educators from higher education and K–12 educational entities, superintendents, researchers, representatives from industry, and others. The CSSIP recommendations were submitted to the State Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and the Legislature in September 2018 and approved by the State Board of Education in May 2019. The vision statement of the CSSIP states, “California’s vision is to ensure that all students develop foundational knowledge and skills in computer science to prepare them for college, careers, and civic engagement.” The mission statement of the CSSIP states, “All schools offer rigorous and relevant computer science education equitably and sustainably throughout grades K–12. All teachers are adequately prepared to teach rigorous and relevant computer science aligned with the California K–12 Computer Science Standards (CA K–12 CS Standards).” (3) Studies on computer science education prove that computer science education develops computational, critical thinking, and problem solving skills that are foundational knowledge for all pupils, regardless of their ultimate field of study or occupation. The Computer Science Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve, were adopted unanimously by the State Board of Education in 2018, and the Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan states, “computer science for all ensures each and every student develops foundational conceptual knowledge and proficiency in computer science practices to provide the skills to responsibly and productively participate in a world in which digital technologies are broadly integrated.” (4) Despite the value of computer science education, the most recent available data shows that: (A) Forty-nine percent of high schools in California do not offer a single course in computer science. (B) Just 5 percent of the 1,930,000 high school pupils in California are enrolled in a computer science course. (C) Only 34 percent of schools serving high proportions of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Pacific Islander pupils offer computer science courses, compared to 52 percent of schools serving a greater proportion of White and Asian pupils. (D) While female pupils comprise 49 percent of the high school population, just 30 percent of pupils taking computer science courses are female. (E) Schools serving low-income communities are three times less likely to offer core computer science courses, and over two times less likely to offer Advanced Placement courses, than schools serving high-income communities. (F) Rural schools are two times less likely to offer computer science courses than urban schools. (5) The introduction of the California Computer Science Standards for Public Schools: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve (the California computer science standards) highlights the importance of inclusive computer science opportunities, stating “The standards are designed for each and every student, including underserved populations: girls, low-income students, homeless students, rural students, African American and Latinx students, students who are English learners, students with disabilities, and foster youth. Students’ access to and achievement in computer science must not be predictable on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, language, religion, sexual orientation, cultural affiliation, or special needs.” (6) California lags behind the national average, and behind 36 other states, in the percentage of high schools offering at least one computer science course, making California in the lowest 25 percent of states. (7) Thirty-two other states currently require high schools to offer a computer science course, with 11 of those states requiring a computer science course for graduation. (8) As of January 2023, California has 45,245 open computing jobs that have an average salary of $153,544, yet there were only 9,339 graduates in computer science in 2020. California has the highest number of open computing jobs in the nation. (9) A lack of diversity and representation in computer science and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields has long been a concern. In April of 2021, the Pew Research Center indicated that Latinx and Black workers are underrepresented in the STEM workforce, while White and Asian workers are overrepresented. Women were reported to make up a mere quarter or less of all computer and engineering jobs. To address this issue, it is crucial to start early in the educational pipeline, which makes K–12 schools an ideal setting for nurturing diversity, inclusion, and equal access. (10) California has made significant investments in in-service professional development education opportunities in computer science for teachers throughout California. To date, California has invested $20,000,000 for professional learning for educators through the Educator Workforce Investment Grant Program for computer science. An additional $15,000,000 has been invested in the Computer Science Supplementary Authorization Incentive Grant Program to support educators in credentialing. The $50,000,000 Mathematics, Science, and Computer Science Professional Learning Grant reflects further investment in computer science, and Assembly Bill 1251 (Chapter 834, Statutes of 2023), requires the Commission on Teaching Credentialing to, upon appropriation by the Legislature, convene a workgroup to discuss options for expanding credentialing options for computer science. (11) In accordance with the concepts in the California computer science standards, a comprehensive computer science foundation for pupils includes conceptual understanding and skills of the five concept areas of the standards, which are computing systems, networks and the internet, data and analysis, algorithms and programming, and impacts of computing. Artificial intelligence (AI) touches upon each of these concept areas. Computer science is referred to as a core subject in the State Board of Education-adopted California computer science standards, designed for all K–12 pupils. In alignment with these K–12 standards, as pupils gain the ability to navigate computing systems, utilize networks and the internet responsibly, analyze and interpret data with an antibias lens, solve problems using algorithms and programming, and carefully consider the ethics of computing technologies, they become informed digital citizens who can leverage AI and other technologies to promote social justice and equity. (12) The importance of computer science is recognized at a national level, with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law 114–95) including computer science as part of a “well-rounded education.” Computer science concepts permeate nearly every industry in our midst, with the California computer science standards emphasizing its interdisciplinary nature and relevance in our digitally connected society for computer science. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a pilot program to increase pupil access to computer science courses and to increase educator availability and capacity, in participating public high schools that do not offer computer science courses, as a step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that all California public high schools operated by school districts and charter schools offer computer science. SEC. 2. Section 51220.8 is added to the Education Code, to read: 51220.8. (a) The California Computer Science Demonstration Project Grant Program is hereby established for all of the following purposes: (1) Increasing the number of public high schools offering a computer science course to increase pupil access to computer science education. (2) Increasing the computer science course access of pupils eligible for free or reduced-priced meals, as defined in Section 42238.01, and pupils that are underrepresented in the field of computer science. (3) Reporting disaggregated data on the number of pupils who enroll in each new computer science course that results from the pilot program and submitting an interim report and a final report to the Legislature. (b) The California Computer Science Demonstration Project Grant Program Working Group is hereby established and shall include nonprofit organizations and private industry stakeholders with relevant expertise and experience in computer science education. The California Computer Science Coordinator may engage with the working group provided that any engagement by the coordinator aligns with the existing duties and responsibilities of the coordinator and does not result in additional state costs. shall serve as member of the working group. (c) (1) The pilot program shall be administered by the funding entity or funding entities. If there are multiple funding entities, all of the following shall apply: (A) Each funding entity shall determine how the funds that it contributes to the pilot program will be spent, provided that the expenditure completely aligns with the purposes of the pilot program, as described in subdivision (a). (B) The funding entities shall coordinate with each other to implement the purposes of the pilot program, as described in subdivision (a). (C) The funding entities shall coordinate with each other to submit one interim report and one final report pursuant to subdivision (d). (2) Public Only public high schools that do not offer any computer science courses may shall be eligible to voluntarily participate in the pilot program. (3) A public high school that voluntarily participates in the pilot program shall comply with applicable federal and state laws to protect individual privacy, including, but not limited to, the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g). (3) (4) The funding entity or funding entities, in coordination with the California Computer Science Demonstration Project Grant Program Working Group, shall select the public high schools to participate in the pilot program from the eligible public high schools that apply to part [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]