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Among the 28 bills Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law yesterday, four bear directly on California educators and students.

One bill, SB 5, sponsored by Sen. Alex Padilla (D, Pacoima), aims to create better teachers by allowing graduate students to spend an additional year in training before becoming a teacher. Until now, the state had limited graduate students to just one year of study.

Two other bills signed by Brown are intended to expedite the state’s transition to digital learning.

A measure, AB 133, from Assemblyman Curt Hagman (R, Chino Hills) requires a publisher or manufacture of printed educational material to also provide the content in a digital format. The bill, SB 185, from Sen. Mimi Walters (R, Irvine) gives school districts, county offices of education and charter schools the unrestricted ability to negotiate directly with publishers the price of their print and digital instructional material. Until now, negotiations were handled by the State Board of Education.

A fourth bill, from Sen. Marty Block (D, San Diego) amends the requirements of the governing board of California State University to open the two student positions on the board to sophomores. Before, the students had to be at least juniors. The bill also waives the tuition fee for the students on the board for his or her term of office.

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