AB 1797: Pupil instruction: Open Enrollment Act.
This bill revises the Open Enrollment Act. The parent of a pupil enrolled in a school district can submit an application for the pupil to attend a school district other than their own. The bill defines "school district" and "enrolled pupil" to clarify the terms. The definition of a "low-achieving school" is removed, and the focus shifts to the pupil's current school district of enrollment. The bill also updates references to outdated funding sources, such as the Academic Performance Index and the Federal Race to the Top Fund.
| May. 19, 2026 | From committee: Without further action pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a). |
| Apr. 22, 2026 | In committee: Set, first hearing. Failed passage. |
| Feb. 23, 2026 | Referred to Com. on ED. |
| Feb. 11, 2026 | From printer. May be heard in committee March 13. |
| Feb. 10, 2026 | Read first time. To print. |
| Introduced by Assembly Member Johnson |
February 10, 2026 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 48351 of the Education Code is repealed.The purpose of this article is to improve pupil achievement, in accordance with the regulations and guidelines for the federal Race to the Top Fund, authorized under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5), and to enhance parental choice in education by providing additional options to pupils to enroll in public schools throughout the state without regard to the residence of their parents.
SEC. 2.
Section 48352 of the Education Code is amended to read:48352.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:(a)“Low-achieving school” means any school identified by the Superintendent pursuant to the following:
(1)Excluding the schools, and taking into account the impact of the criteria in paragraph (2), the Superintendent annually shall create a list of 1,000 schools ranked by increasing API with the same ratio of elementary, middle, and high schools as existed in decile 1 in the 2008–09 school year.
(2)In constructing the list of 1,000 schools each year, the Superintendent shall ensure each of the following:
(A)A local educational agency shall not have more than 10 percent of its schools on the list. However, if the number of schools in a local educational agency is not evenly divisible by 10, the Superintendent shall round up to the next whole number of schools.
(B)Court, community, or community day schools shall not be included on the list.
(C)Charter schools shall not be included on the list.
(b)
(c)
(d)
SEC. 3.
Section 48353 of the Education Code is repealed.The state board shall adopt emergency regulations to implement this article.
SEC. 4.
Section 48354 of the Education Code is amended to read:48354.
(a) The parent of a pupil enrolled in a(b)(1)Consistent with the requirements of Section 1116(b)(1)(E) of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), on or before the first day of the school year, or, if later, on the date the notice of program improvement, corrective action, or restructuring status is required to be provided under federal law the district of residence shall provide the parents and guardians of all pupils enrolled in a school determined in subdivision (a) of Section 48352 with notice of the option to transfer to another public school served by the school district of residence or another school district.
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)