The California Senate Education Committee advanced the Healthy Homework Act, authored by Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, during Wednesday’s hearing.
Assembly Bill 2999, which would direct local educational agencies to develop homework policies to promote evidence-based homework practices that support pupil learning and well-being, passed unanimously out of the committee with support from Sen. Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, who sits on the committee.
It now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee where it will be determined how much funding the state would have to expend to satisfy the bill’s requirements.
The Assembly Appropriations Committee’s analysis found that there would likely be one-time Proposition 98 general fund costs of an unknown amount, but likely to be in the millions of dollars. There would also be a one-time cost of about $50,000 for the state to develop guidelines for policies, followed by ongoing costs over the years as local educational agencies continually refine their policies.
“I am thrilled that the Healthy Homework Act has passed in the Senate Education Committee with unanimous, bipartisan support,” Schiavo said in a prepared statement. “I want to thank my colleague, Sen. Wilk, for his support and for sharing his personal story about the stresses of his son’s homework, a sentiment echoed by so many parents I have spoken with about this bill. Homework stress not only impacts our kids, but the entire family, and as we face a student mental health crisis, these are some of the reasons why the California PTA strongly supports this bill. This legislation is a crucial step toward ensuring we are intentional about homework that supports our students’ education, and we also prioritize our students’ mental and physical well-being.”
Should the bill be signed into law as presently written, those policies would be required to be adopted by the end of the 2027-28 school year and must be updated at least once every five years.
The policies would be required to have stakeholder input, “including, but not limited to, pupils, parents, teachers, and education specialists, administrators, and other school staff.” Current homework practices would be studied, including how much time is required for assignments at each grade level, and school districts would have to reflect on how effective those practices are and identify strengths and weaknesses.
“There’s not a lot of research that shows that it’s actually beneficial to have homework or (that it) impacts students’ grades, especially in lower grades,” Schiavo said during the hearing. “So, you know, this really sparked kind of a research on my part, looking at other countries and what they were doing and really thinking about how could we do things differently here in California.”
Schiavo held a news conference in April where she brought her daughter, Sophia, and Casey Cuny, a Valencia High School teacher and one of five 2024 California Teachers of the Year, to explain the bill’s importance.
Sophia, who just finished sixth grade, was present at Wednesday’s hearing as well. She said she typically gets home after 6 p.m. each night due to after-school activities and then spends at least an hour and a half doing homework while eating dinner alone in her room.
“I hope it means that school boards will really look at the impact homework is having on students like me and my friends,” Sophia said. “I love to read and learn. But when it comes to homework, I absolutely dread it.”
According to Denise Pope, senior lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, in a study of 13,000 high school students across the state during the 2023 school year, 45% of respondents reported overall workload and homework as the top source of stress. In that same study, 57% reported that homework was preventing enough sleep.
Pope said during the hearing that high school students should be getting nine hours of sleep per night, while younger students need up to 10 hours of sleep.
“We also know that more than half of students surveyed reported that homework has prevented them from having time for family, friends and other important activities,” Pope said. “We know from extensive research that playtime, downtime and family time are considered protective factors and are fundamental to healthy child and adolescent development.”
Wilk said a bill such as this is “long overdue” after seeing his son staying up until 1 a.m. when he was a junior in high school trying to keep up with his advanced placement history course.
“I finally go, ‘What’s going on?’ And it’s all rote stuff that is just wasting the kid’s time and I said, ‘We’re gonna get you out of that class. I want you to be a kid,’” Wilk said. “He just bought a house I can’t afford, so I don’t think not doing enough homework has hurt him.”
Schiavo’s bill passed unanimously out of the state Assembly in May. Should it move to the full Senate and pass there, it would then move to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom to either sign it into law or veto it.
There is no registered opposition to the bill.
