Assembly Bill 998 proposes significant changes to the process by which the Council on Early Literacy Curricula (CELC) recommends early literacy curricula and instructional materials to the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Under the current law, CELC is required to make these recommendations annually, but the bill amends this requirement to mandate that CELC must recommend curricula at least once every three school years. Additionally, the bill shortens the timeline for DPI to submit these recommendations to the Joint Committee on Finance (JCF) from 30 days to 14 days after receiving them.

Furthermore, the bill introduces a requirement for DPI to submit both CELC's recommendations and any additional recommendations from DPI itself to the appropriate legislative standing committees simultaneously with the submission to JCF. This change aims to enhance transparency by indicating which recommendations come from CELC and which are from DPI. The bill also removes the stipulation that the recommendations are only for use in the following school year, allowing for a broader application of the recommended curricula.

Statutes affected:
Bill Text: 118.015(1m)(a)(intro.), 118.015, 118.015(1m)(b)1