Reimagining
School Reopening
What is the Reimagining School Environment Coalition?
The Reimagining School Environment legislative slate identifies and addresses existing inequities in the structures that enshrine our educational institutions. We mobilize GENup students to support crucial policies that will meaningfully support California youth. RSE student leaders representing multiple student organizations have testified for bills such as Senate Bill 364, which would provide nutritious meals to all students in need. On April 21, we encourage you all to join us at the RSE policy briefing to learn more about our campaign.
The Reimagining School Environment Coalition is seeking to alter the current public/charter school environments across the state. This means that bills on our policy slate all seek to critically reform or improve the conditions of students, teachers and other staff members on school campuses in order to ensure that every individual is having their needs met.
Policy Slate
SB364 Universal School Meals (Sen. Skinner)
SB364 would provide two nutritious school meals to all K-12 students in California without eligibility restrictions. This bill would additionally incentivize the purveyance of locally sourced organic ingredients for the aforementioned meals in California through a competitive grant. During extended distanced learning or school closure periods extending more than five days, the bill would authorize the BOOST nutrition program to provide additional meals to students. GENup understands that many students in California are food insecure but are not eligible for free or reduced lunch in their respective districts, and we believe that SB364 will significantly reduce childhood hunger in our state, and increase the quality of meals provided to us.
AB14 Internet For All (Asm. Aguiar Curry)
California Assembly Bill 14 introduced by Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry is designed to provide low-latency broadband for all California students and teachers. This bill allows K-12 schools in California to provide universal access to WI-FI hotspots, and will provide resources for state and local broadband management. Notably, the bill also addresses the digital divide by creating locally-managed broadband services in california areas with low rates of internet access resources. As internet access has become a crucial component of the education system, many different student groups have been offered differing educational resources. To achieve our mission of closing the digital divide, GENup supports AB14.
AB10 School Reopenings (Asm. Gonzalez)
GENup supports assembly bill 10, which provides funding for K-12 schools in California to provide in-school instruction after local and state government approval. We believe that safe, measured reopening of schools while following local health orders is imperative to providing quality education to California’s 6.7 million students, which will be provided by AB 10.
AB99 Cradle to Career (Asm. Irwin)
California Assembly bill 99 creates a statewide data infrastructure to oversee and assess California student data collection, and establishes an easily accessible dashboard for students and community members to access said data. This bill would also create a statewide student data office to review and improve survey collection itself. GENup is proud to support this bill because we understand the importance of data collection to help address and improve problems in the education system. As advocates for education reform, data is one of our tools for change, and we are excited to see improvements in our data systems.
AB839 Funding for Career Technical Education (Asm. O'Donnell)
GENup supports California Assembly Bill 839 which expands the statewide Career technical education grant program. By expanding these grants to 300,000,000 dollars each year, AB839 would increase the numbers of CTE eligible students, especially low income students, minority students, rural students, and students without existing access to CTE programs. As a bill designed to increase equitable access to resources, AB839 directly align’s with GENup’s mission to provide every student with the resources they need to thrive; we support this legislation because it will help train more students for college and career readiness.
AB75 Kindergarten-Colleges Facilities Bond (Asm. O'Donnell)
California assembly bill 75 would issue a facilities bond, which would be allocated towards the modernization, replacement, and retrofit of aging school buildings. This bond measure would fund programs to test the drinking water in aging schools, to seismically retrofit buildings, and to create broadband infrastructure in each campus. As students learning in aging school campuses, many of us in GENup understand the many ways to help improve our educational resources. GENup supports AB75 to help create new and improved school facilities for students.
AB306 Teacher Housing (Asm. O'Donnell)
Many teachers living in urban school districts are not able to afford living in the communities where they teach. Students are affected by this issue, as teachers unable to find local housing will have long commutes and live far from their students. By exempting school district and community college districts from internal state construction approval requirements, AB306 would expedite and increase the amount of teacher housing able to be constructed. This bill is necessary to provide enough affordable housing specifically aimed at teachers, to support our crucial educators.
AB883 Prop. 63 Reform (Asm. O'Donnell)
California Assembly Bill 883 increases the funds available for mental health purposes in the state of California, and expands specific programs such as peer counseling, school-site psychologists, and mental health resources to be administered across respective regions. As an organization that prioritizes mental health and wellness as a key tenet of student success, GENup supports reforming proposition 63 to best support our students.
AB104 Summer Credit Recovery (Asm. Gonzalez)
California Assembly Bill 104 addresses credit loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, by allowing students to apply for pass/fail grades during periods of educational shifts. This bill authorizes districts and administrators to determine the optimal grades for students with IEPs following the consultation of stakeholders such as parents and staff members, and allows students who did not complete their requisite coursework to apply for summer or fall credit recovery sessions. GENup supports AB104 to help address inequities in the education system and ensure students who were unable to complete their coursework can continue on to college and career readiness.