The Overview

If your child is in transitional kindergarten in California and speaks a language other than English at home, the school district now has an extra year before it must screen them to identify multilingual learner needs. California's Elementary and secondary education omnibus bill, AB 2467, became law when Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed it Sept. 27. ​

California has been rethinking how to identify 4-year-olds who need language support, including developing new screening tools for transitional kindergarten children whose home language is not English, according to EdSource. The bill is an urgency statute that takes effect immediately.

What the Law Does

The delay shifts by one year, to the 2028–29 school year, the requirement that districts screen transitional kindergarten pupils whose home language is not English to identify multilingual learners; a related field test of screening instruments is pushed back similarly, to 2027–28. The $10 million set aside for those tools and training now has until June 30, 2029, to be spent or committed.

High school students can now earn the State Seal of Biliteracy by scoring at level 3 on the California Spanish Assessment, retroactive to the 2024–25 school year.

Military families can now use off-base hotel addresses when enrolling a child in school, in addition to on-base options. Teacher credentialing candidates must verify they hold a valid permit or have applied for a certificate of clearance before entering a preparation program, and programs must report enrollment and completion data to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing within 30 days. Charter school chartering authorities must now provide written notice of any material monitoring concern by July 1 each year.

Legislative Status

The bill's lead author is the Committee on Education. Across six recorded committee and floor votes, the bill drew 108 yes votes and zero no votes, passing every committee unanimously before the full Assembly approved it 66–0 on May 7. The bill was pulled from the Senate Consent Calendar to the inactive file on Aug. 6, then amended and passed by the Senate 40–0 on Aug. 30. The Assembly concurred in Senate amendments 77–0 the same day.

The California School Boards Association listed the law among signed bills and described it as making several changes to education law.

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