Many Californians can look back at their time growing up and remember spending hours after school bogged down in homework, but one lawmaker hopes to change that for the next generation.
When the bell rings and the school day is over, for students like Sofia Johnson, the day is nowhere near over. The sixth grader blames that on hours spent doing homework.
“Homework is exhausting. It’s overwhelming,” Johnson said. “It’s depressing that my whole day from when I wake up to when I go to bed is taken up doing schoolwork.”
That’s why Johnson’s mother, assemblymember Pilar Schiavo (D-Santa Clara) says she authored AB 2999, also known as “The Healthy Homework Act.” It was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this year to take effect in 2025.
The legislation will not ban homework, but it formally encourages local school boards and educational agencies to establish homework policies that consider impacts on students’ physical and mental health all with input from parents, teachers, and students themselves.
“It’s addressing homework, which is the top stressor for kids,” Schiavo said. “It’s often number one.”