AB2555 - English learners: reclassification.

Amended IN Senate August 20, 2026 Amended IN Senate August 13, 2026 Amended IN Senate June 10, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 15, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 16, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2555 Introduced by Assembly Member Patel (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Hoover, Lowenthal, Macedo, Muratsuchi, Pellerin, Rivas, and Zbur) February 20, 2026 An act to amend Section Sections 51101 and 51225.33 of, to amend and renumber Section 313.3 of, to amend, repeal, and add Section 313 of, to add Sections 313.3, 313.4, 313.6, 313.7, 313.8, and 313.9 to, and to repeal and add Section 313.5 of, the Education Code, relating to English learners, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2555, as amended, Patel. English learners: reclassification. Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners, and, to the extent required by federal law, each county office of education and each charter school, to assess the English language development of each pupil in order to determine the pupil’s level of proficiency, as specified. Existing law requires the assessment for initial identification to be conducted upon the initial enrollment of a pupil, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to establish procedures for conducting the assessment and for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English proficient. Existing law requires those reclassification procedures to use multiple criteria in determining whether to reclassify a pupil as proficient in English, including, (1) an assessment of language proficiency using an objective assessment instrument, including the English language development test that is developed or acquired by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, (2) teacher evaluation, (3) parental opinion and consultation, and (4) a comparison of the performance of the pupil in basic skills against an empirically established range of performance in basic skills based upon the performance of English proficient pupils of the same age that demonstrates whether the pupil is sufficiently proficient in English to participate effectively in a curriculum designed for pupils of the same age whose native language is English. Existing law provides that parents and guardians of children enrolled in public schools have the right and should have the opportunity, as mutually supportive and respectful partners in the education of their children within the public schools, to be informed by the school, and to participate in the education of their children, as specified, including by, among other things, meeting with their child’s teacher or teachers and the principal of the school in which their child is enrolled within a reasonable time of their request. This bill would make the provisions related to reclassification procedures inoperative on July 1, 2027, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2028. Commencing July 1, 2027, this bill would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to communicate to the parent or guardian of a pupil who is determined to be an English learner in a clear, concise, and comprehensible manner specified information regarding the pupil, including, among other things, that the pupil has been classified as an English learner, that the parent or guardian is encouraged to engage as a partner with the school, as provided, and that the pupil will take an assessment each year to measure the pupil’s progress toward becoming proficient in English. The bill would instead require that an English learner pupil who, in the 2025–26 school year or any school year thereafter, meets the score established by the state board for purposes of reclassification on an assessment of English language proficiency identified or developed by the Superintendent, pursuant to specified provisions, or, if applicable, the pupil meets the score established by the state board for purposes of reclassification on the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, as provided, be reclassified as English proficient. proficient, as specified. Commencing July 1, 2027, the bill would require the department, as those pupil scores become available, to record the pupils who meet the scores established by the state board as reclassified in the appropriate data system. After a pupil is reclassified, the bill would require a local educational agency to ensure that the pupil’s instructional program and placement reflects that the pupil is a reclassified pupil and communicate to the pupil’s parent or guardian that their child has been reclassified, as provided. Commencing July 1, 2028, and subject to the availability of rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks described below, the bill would require a pupil who (1) is an English learner, (2) has an individualized education program (IEP), (3) received English language development instruction but has not achieved the proficiency level required for purposes of reclassification, (4) has used all designated supports and accommodations and any domain exemptions required by the pupil’s IEP, and (5) either scored an overall performance level that is one level below the level established by the state board for purposes of reclassification, or, as applicable, received any score on the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, and whose local educational agency determines that the pupil has demonstrated, through the use of specified alternate coursework and performance tasks, that the pupil has reached a level of proficiency that is comparable to the threshold for reclassification on the assessment of English language proficiency or the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, to be reported to the department by the local educational agency as reclassified as English proficient. The bill would require a local educational agency, for a pupil who has been reclassified as English proficient, to monitor the pupil’s progress to ensure, among other things, that English proficiency is not a barrier to the pupil’s academic success, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would provide that, commencing January 1, 2027, parents or guardians of children enrolled in public schools also have the right to, among other things, meet with their child’s teacher or teachers to discuss their child’s progress toward reaching proficiency in English, as provided. By imposing new duties on public schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2028, to identify (1) means of monitoring reclassified pupils for 4 years after reclassification and (2) an appropriate instrument to be used for purposes of monitoring the progress of reclassified English learners, as provided. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to identify appropriate interventions for pupils who have been determined as needing additional support for their English language, as provided. Commencing with the 2027–28 school year, and subject to state and federal law regarding the privacy of pupil information, the bill would require the department to annually post on its internet website the reclassification rates of each local educational agency and charter school, statewide reclassification rates, and outcomes of reclassified pupils, as provided. Existing law requires the Sacramento County Office of Education to utilize specified funding appropriated in the Budget Act of 2026 to develop resources and provide technical assistance to support the implementation of alternative pathways and means to a diploma, as provided. This bill, subject to an appropriation for these purposes, bill would require the department or a county office of education Sacramento County Office of Education to utilize the same funding described above to (1) contract for the development of develop rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks to enable pupils who are English learners and have IEPs to demonstrate proficiency for purposes of reclassification, and (2) post submit the completed rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks on its internet website to the department on or before January 1, 2028, and (3) 2028. By expanding the purposes for which previously appropriated funds may be used, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the department to (1) post the completed rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks submitted by the Sacramento County Office of Education on its internet website on or before June 30, 2028, and (2), subject to an appropriation for these purposes, contract for an evaluation of the effects of the changes to the reclassification criteria and process required by the bill to be completed and sent to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2032, as provided. This bill would delete obsolete provisions. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 51101 of the Education Code proposed by SB 1412 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1412 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Digest Key Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: NO YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES 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) California’s vision for English learner success, as articulated in the California English Learner (EL) Roadmap Policy, adopted by the State Board of Education in 2017, is that English learners attain high levels of English proficiency, mastery of grade level standards, and opportunities to develop proficiency in multiple languages. The EL Roadmap Policy also states that California schools should value and seek to build upon the cultural and linguistic assets pupils bring to their education. California’s system for reclassifying pupils as fully English proficient is a critical part of realizing this vision. (2) The Legislature recognizes the importance of the English learner classification, as this classification entitles pupils to specialized support for their English language development. (3) The Legislature also recognizes that reclassification policies must be carefully designed to avoid reclassifying pupils too early, which can leave pupils with insufficient English proficiency to succeed academically, and reclassifying pupils too late, which can restrict pupils’ opportunity to learn and segregate them from their peers. (4) California’s reclassification system was established nearly 50 years ago through amendments to the Chacon-Moscone Bilingual-Bicultural Education Act of 1976 (Article 3 (commencing with Section 52160) of Chapter 7 of Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code) and has not materially changed since then. (5) Federal law requires states to establish and implement standardized, statewide reclassification procedures for English learner pupils to enter and exit from English learner programs, services, and status. Since the passage of this law, the number of states with one criterion for reclassification has doubled, and as of 2023, 44 states use only a pupil’s English language proficiency as the sole criterion for reclassification. California is the only state using four criteria. (6) Many of California’s systems, including its accountability, support, and finance systems, are built on the assumption that the state has a consistent definition of “English learner” around the state. (7) However, research shows that the current system is characterized by inconsistency, redundancy, subjectivity, and complexity, and is highly influenced by different mindsets about reclassification. (8) According to research by the Learning Policy Institute, roughly one-half of all English learners who are not reclassified by the end of elementary school scored proficient on the state’s assessment of English language proficiency. This means that roughly one-half of long-term English learners statewide are proficient in English. (9) Research also indicates that there are significant gaps in reclassification rates by home language. This holds true even for pupils scoring at the same proficiency level on the assessment of English language proficiency. (10) On average, it takes 226 days for a pupil who scores proficient in English to be reclassified, and many pupils score proficient for multiple years before they are reclassified. (11) Factors unrelated to English proficiency, such as attendance, behavior, discipline, and homework completion, are often incorporated into reclassification decisions. Grades, which often incorporate nonacademic measures and are inconsistent from teacher to teacher, are also frequently used. (12) Many school districts use more measures, and a higher level of rigor on those measures, than is necessary. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, as of 2025, 52 percent of school districts use two assessments for the basic skills criterion and 30 percent of school districts use three. (13) Local educational agencies also report that reclassification for English learners with an individualized education program whose disability affects their ability to show proficiency in English is highly challenging. (14) California has invested in the development of alternative coursework and performance tasks for educators to use for pupils with disabilities who are not eligible for the statewide alternate assessments so that those pupils can demonstrate completion of the state graduation requirements through alternate means. (15) While the current reclassification criteria require a consultation with parents about reclassification, parents report that communication about reclassification is ineffective, piecemeal, and disjointed, and deprives them of the opportunity to engage as partners with schools to support their children’s language development. (16) Federal law requires that local educational agencies monitor reclassified English learners for four years after they are reclassified. Unlike some other states, California does not h [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]