The Inland Empire Community Foundation supported and advocated for legislation that directly impacts children and youth in both the childcare and K-16 spaces; legislation that was recently signed by the Governor.
At IECF, in order to ensure that children and youth have equitable opportunities, we believe we must support and invest in areas that break down the barriers to academic and professional attainment. That is why we are proud that four of the bills we supported and advocated for will soon become law,” said Michelle Decker, IECF President and CEO.
Decker explained the importance of each bill: “For starters, AB 2806 (Rubio) uplifts restorative practices by ensuring that suspension and expulsion tactics are banned in childcare and preschool environments except in extreme circumstances. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Black children represent 18% of preschool enrollment, but make up 42% of the preschool children suspended once, and 48% of the preschool children suspended more than once. This bill helps curb these statistics. AB 102 (Budget Bill) invests $200 million of new funding to better support dual enrollment programming – and improve access for all students across the state of California. AB 288 (Bonta/Calderon) ensures that students who are accepted into universities and provided award letters do not lose their promised funding just because they receive private scholarships. Studies show that 95 percent of California’s students pursuing bachelor’s degrees, whose family incomes are less than $50,000, have unmet need – this bill helps protect their access to college. And lastly, AB 2046 (Medina/Gray) invests over $300 million in both UC Riverside and UC Merced – ensuring that they have the resources they need to improve their facilities and academic programming for our inland communities.”
“IECF’s commitment to education equity could not be more prevalent than in the legislation we helped move,” said Decker, “and these wins could not be possible without the unwavering support and commitment of partners who chose to go all in on collaboration.”
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