(1) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary education in this state. Under this system, school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools employ personnel to provide instruction to and services for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, at schoolsites throughout the state.

This bill would explicitly define, for purposes of certain provisions relating to the employment of school employees, an “employee” or “person” to mean a natural person.

(2) Existing law prohibits a permanent certificated school employee from being dismissed, except for one or more of certain enumerated causes, including, among other causes, persistent violation of or refusal to obey the school laws of the state or reasonable regulations prescribed for the government of the public schools by the State Board of Education or by the governing board of the school district employing the permanent employee. Existing law subjects a permanent classified employee to disciplinary action only for cause, as prescribed by rule or regulation of the governing board of the school district or community college district.

Existing law establishes the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as the public segments of postsecondary education in the state.

Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to convene a working group, composed as provided, for specific purposes related to artificial intelligence in public schools, as specified. Existing law requires, among other things, the working group to develop, on or before January 1, 2026, guidance for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools on the safe use of artificial intelligence in education, and to, on or before July 1, 2026, develop a model policy for those local educational agencies regarding the safe and effective use of artificial intelligence in ways that benefit, and do not negatively impact, pupils and educators, as provided. Existing law requires the working group to, on or before January 1, 2027, report its findings and recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, as provided.

This bill would prohibit a certificated or classified employee of a local educational agency or an academic or classified employee of a segment of public postsecondary education from being dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against (A) for refusing to use, refusing to deploy, or refusing to direct students to, any form of educational technology, or (B) based on any information on that employee that is transmitted, acquired, collected, or produced via artificial intelligence or automated decision system output. The bill would prohibit a local educational agency or segment of public postsecondary education from deploying educational technology in the workplace unless (A) it enables employees to quickly and easily turn off, pause, or otherwise refuse to use the educational technology, and (B) the local educational agency, segment of public postsecondary education, or the employee, is not charged anything of value for turning off, pausing, or otherwise refusing to use the educational technology. The bill would request the University of California to comply with these provisions.