New graduation requirements coming for California seniors

In addition to existing curriculum requirements like English, math and science, the class of 2031 will have to pass a personal finance class, an ethnic studies course and a health class discussing the dangers of fentanyl use.

California high school seniors will have additional graduation requirements beginning as soon as the 2026-27 school year.

In addition to existing requirements like English, math and science, the class of 2031 will have to pass a personal finance class, an ethnic studies course and, in many cases, a health class discussing the dangers of fentanyl use.

Last week, California became the 26th state to require high school students to take a stand-alone, one-semester financial literacy course when Gov. Gavin Newsom approved Democratic Assemblymember Kevin McCarty’s bill, AB 2927.

The personal finance course will teach students a range of topics, including banking, budgeting, loans, insurance, investing and credit.

Schools will be required to offer the course by the 2027-28 school year, and the course will be a graduation requirement for the class of 2030-31.

“We need to help Californians prepare for their financial futures as early as possible,” Newsom said in a recent statement. “Saving for the future, making investments and spending wisely are lifelong skills that young adults need to learn before they start their careers, not after.”

McCarty, who represents the Sacramento area, said offering high school students a finance class can help them make smart money decisions that will benefit them throughout their adult life. He said his teenage children took a financial literacy course last summer and are learning the difference between a credit card and a debit card or a loan and a grant.

“It’s such an important life skill,” he said. “The stressors that young people face today — especially student loans, renting, buying a house, credit cards — all those things are so critically important and if you fall behind. The consequences have a serious impact later in life.”

Tuesday night, Newsom approved AB 2429 by Assemblymember David Alvarez (D-San Diego). Alvarez’s bill requires school health classes to include curriculum on the dangers of fentanyl use no later than the 2026-27 school year. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate last month.

While health education is required in California schools, districts can determine whether the course is a graduation requirement. If a school does require high schoolers to take a health class to graduate, AB 2429 will mandate students learn about the risks of fentanyl.

The bill aims to ensure students learn the differences between opioids and other drugs, variations of fentanyl, the lethal dose of fentanyl and how often fentanyl is put into illegal drugs without a user’s knowledge. The curriculum mandate will also require students to learn how to detect fentanyl in drugs and how to potentially save a person from an overdose.

Alvarez said California has been “disproportionately hit hard” by the fentanyl epidemic. According to the state’s health department, opioid related deaths spiked 121% between 2019 and 2021.

“I think it’s important… that we share facts with young people, especially these days as they rely more and more on social media with misinformation,” Alvarez said. “There’s still no better trusted source than our schools for students and for families to receive the information that they need in order to make better decisions and better choices.”

Alvarez said the newly enacted bill marks the first mandated fentanyl education in California schools.

Additionally, California high school students will have to take a one-semester ethnic studies course beginning in 2025-26, and the class of 2030 will have to pass it in order to graduate.

The course requirement has caused a controversial battle over curriculum in several school districts, including Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, Hayward Unified High School District, Morgan Hill Unified School District, Sequoia Union High School District and Berkeley Unified School District.

Alvarez said the curriculum changes coming to the state are reflective of a changing society.

“The world is changing very rapidly. And if we cannot respond as quickly as the world is changing, then we’re going to create more problems for our students and for California,” he said. “If the legislature doesn’t respond to those changing dynamics, then we’re not doing our job.”