Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1512793
2023 Legislative Gains Permanent Status: Adult Education Teachers (AB 897 — McCarty); CTA co-sponsored. Allows adult education teachers to obtain permanent sta- tus, commencing July 1, 2024, and requires a probationary employee of an adult education program to be deemed to have served a complete school year if the employee serves for at least 75% of the hours constituting a full-time equivalent position for adult education programs in the school district. Employment: leave for reproductive loss (SB 848 — Rubio); CTA supported. Extends existing unpaid bereavement leave benefits (five days) to individuals who suffer from child loss events, includ- ing miscarriage or a failed adoption. Occupational safety: workplace violence: restraining orders and workplace violence prevention plan (SB 553 — Cortese); CTA supported. Authorizes a collective bargaining representative of an employee to seek a temporary restraining order and an order after hearing on behalf of the employee and other employees at the workplace; requires every employer to 1) establish, implement and maintain an effective workplace violence prevention plan (WVPP); 2) record incident infor- mation in a violent incident log; 3) provide effective training to employees on the WVPP, when changes are made to the plan and when new/previously unrecognized workplace vio- lence hazards are identified; 4) create and maintain records of workplace violence hazard identification, evaluation and correction; violent incident logs; and workplace incident investigation records. Requires the Division of Occupational Safety and Health to enforce the WVPP including proposing, by Dec. 1, 2025, plan standards. Pupil enrollment: class size: report (SB 872 — Min); CTA supported. Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to provide an annual public report of public school enrollment information for the public to easily determine information regarding class size for each school site in every school dis- trict, county office of education (COE) and charter school. Instructional materials and curriculum: diversity (AB 1078 — Jackson); CTA supported. Prohibits a governing board from refusing to use or prohibits the use of any textbook, instructional material, supplemen- tal instructional material, or other curriculum for classroom instruction or any book or other resource in a school library on the basis that includes a study of the role and contribution of any individual or group as specified as part of the Fair, Accu- rate, Inclusive, and Respectful Education Act. Specifies that a complaint may be filed with the school district, COE or charter school under the Uniform Complaint Procedures or with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction if there is a viola- tion. Governing boards will have an opportunity to remedy the deficiency in textbooks and materials; if a board fails to pur- chase appropriate textbooks/materials, they will be purchased for them and deducted from future apportionments. M U L T I P L E B I L L S that CTA co-sponsored or supported were signed into law in 2023, including: Continued on Page 35 34 cta.org Advocacy