Assembly hearing spotlights governor's proposal to study California curriculum adoption processes

The Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Education Finance heard the governor's proposal to fund a study of how other states develop and adopt curriculum frameworks, standards and instructional materials.

Hugo Solis Galena of the Department of Finance told the committee the governor's January budget proposes $1,000,000 in one‑time Proposition 98 General Fund for the superintendent of public instruction to allocate to a county office of education to contract with research or nonprofit organizations to study other states' approaches and report findings to the Legislature and the Department of Finance by Jan. 1, 2027. He also described a separate $250,000 one‑time General Fund allocation to develop supplemental guidance for English language arts and English language development following the ELA/ELD adoption.

Why it matters: California has no predictable schedule for updating content standards, curriculum frameworks or instructional materials, the Department of Education told the panel. Mike Torres, director of the Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division at the California Department of Education, said the current process can leave guidance "wildly out of date" and cited the history–social science standards as last adopted in 1998.

Torres said the state's process typically requires at least nine months to draft a standards or framework revision and publishers tell officials they need 18 to 24 months to produce aligned instructional materials. "CDE staff would embrace a consistency with an 8‑year cycle or less for standards and framework development and ultimately the instructional materials adoption," Torres said.

The Legislative Analyst's Office said it had no formal comment at the hearing but remained available to answer questions. Committee members asked how the study would produce actionable changes: the administration's answer was that the study would identify practices other states use that California could adapt; any policy changes would come later and could be reflected in the May revision.

Panelists highlighted specific expectations for the contractor. Torres said a useful contractor should be familiar with California Education Code and current regulations and be prepared to interview CDE, the Instructional Quality Commission and State Board of Education staff. He also said the study should examine how other states structure professional development and publisher timelines so guidance can be incorporated into materials within the roughly 18–24 month publisher window.

Committee members also asked whether the State Board of Education had requested the study. Department of Finance staff said the proposal is an administration initiative that was drafted in consultation with State Board staff; the board has been consulted but the proposal is part of the governor's budget.

The committee held the item open for further consideration and directed staff to work with the administration on clarifying study scope in the May revision.

Sources: Department of Finance presentation; California Department of Education remarks; Legislative Analyst's Office.