BILL NUMBER: AB 675 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 17, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Eng
FEBRUARY 21, 2007
An act to add and repeal Article 2.5 (commencing with
Section 60620) of Chapter 5 of Part 33 of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Education Code, relating to public school curriculum.
An act to add and repeal Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section
32100) of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Educat
ion Code, relating to school safety.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 675, as amended, Eng. Public school curriculum:
tolerance and intergroup relations instruction. School
safety: School Against Violence (SAV) Emergency Response Project.
Existing law establishes the School Safety and Violence Prevention
Act, for the purpose of promoting school safety and reducing
schoolsite violence.
This bill would establish the School Against Violence (SAV)
Emergency Response Project, which would authorize the State
Department of Education to award $50,000 a year for 2 years to up to
10 schools, to assist schools in recovering from violent or traumatic
intergroup conflict on school campuses.
Existing law requires county offices of education, school
districts, and direct funded charter schools that receive tobacco-use
prevention education funding to complete an annual report of their
activities and expenditures relating to that program.
This bill would require schools participating in the School
Against Violence (SAV) Emergency Response Project to include certain
data in that report relating to the project, as specified.
Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt
statewide academically rigorous content standards in core curriculum
areas, including, but not limited to, history/social science and
requires the board to review and modify existing curriculum
frameworks where appropriate to bring them into alignment with these
content standards.
This bill would establish the Tolerance Education Pilot Program,
to be administered by the State Department of Education, to promote
instruction in public schools on tolerance, as defined, and
intergroup relations as part of the instruction in the history/social
science content standards, as specified. The bill would require the
department to select 10 schools to participate in the program and
receive one-time grants of $25,000 each for one of 2 specified
purposes. The bill would require each participating school to submit
a report to the department on the effectiveness of the program and
the use of program funds and to develop a plan to implement a
tolerance and intergroup relations curriculum. The bill would repeal
those provisions on January 1, 2012.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations reported
in its 2005 Hate Crime Report that in the County of Los Angeles, hate
crimes in or near schools rose 111 percent, and that riots were
reported at 14 campuses. The overall increase in racial hate crimes
in the County of Los Angeles was reported with an increase of 46
percent.
(b) Studies show that pupils who experience bias-related
harassment at school have lower grades, report greater depression,
and are more often absent from school than those pupils who do not.
(c) Research supports that schools that make pupils feel fully
included in their school environment and campus life do better on
tests and have higher test scores.
SEC. 2. Chapter 1.5 (commencing with Section
32100) is added to Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code , to read:
CHAPTER 1.5. SCHOOL AGAINST VIOLENCE (SAV) EMERGENCY RESPONSE
PROJECT
32100. This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the School
Against Violence (SAV) Emergency Response Project, to be administered
by the department.
32101. The purpose of the SAV project is as follows:
(a) To assist schools in recovering from a violent or traumatic
interracial or intergroup conflict in which the learning environment
has been disrupted, and to institutionalize the necessary changes to
minimize the chances of the events recurring.
(b) To provide schools, teachers, parents, and administrators with
the necessary resources and tools to deal with incidents of hate
crime or intergroup conflict on school campuses.
32102. (a) The department shall select up to 10 schools to
participate in the SAV project.
(b) The 10 schools shall receive a grant of fifty thousand dollars
($50,000) each year for two years, for the purpose of providing
support and restoring the learning environment as well as improving
school safety. The funds may be used for the following purposes:
(1) Develop education and training programs designed to prevent
and reduce the incidence of crimes, violence, and conflicts motivated
by hate.
(2) Integrate culturally relevant elements and strategies in the
core curricula that foster respect for differences, including the
development or acquisition of curricula and instructional materials
for the purpose of improving conflict or dispute resolution skills of
pupils, teachers, and administrators.
(3) Provide professional training and development for teachers and
administrators to understand the causes, effects, and resolution of
hate crimes or hate-based conflicts, and to support paragraph (2).
(4) Improve and implement safe school crisis intervention plans to
minimize the impact or extent of intergroup violence or conflict on
campuses and their disruption of the educational process.
(5) Establish community partnership programs to combat harassment
and prejudice in the school and community, and establish workshops
and other activities to increase parent and family involvement.
(6) Designate and support personnel to work on creating an
effective antiharassment program in consultation with parents,
pupils, community groups, and human relations organizations.
(7) Adopt and implement a written anti-harassment and anti-hate
policy that is in full compliance with applicable laws and is clearly
communicated to all members of the school community so that school
personnel and pupils are held accountable for their actions.
(8) Develop guidelines and procedures for collaboration with law
enforcement officials, make appropriate referrals to outside
agencies, and designate liaison personnel.
32103. (a) A school awarded a grant pursuant to this chapter
shall use and report preproject and postproject survey data on the
numbers and types of bias-related harassment incidents from pupils in
grades 9 and 11 in the Healthy Kids Annual Report required pursuant
to Section 104450 of the Health and Safety Code, to demonstrate the
impact of the programs that are funded pursuant to this chapter.
(b) The department shall publish the reports submitted by the
schools pursuant to subdivision (a) on the department's Internet Web
site.
32104. A school may apply to the department for a grant under
this chapter by submitting an application that includes all of the
following:
(a) Description of the school district, including demographic
information and the number of enrolled pupils.
(b) Description of the hate crime or conflict problems within the
school.
(c) Description of the impact the incident has had on the learning
environment.
(d) Description of proposed activities and programs designed to
restore learning environment.
(e) Description of procedures to ensure proper and efficient
administration of the program.
(f) Fiscal control and fund accounting procedures, as may be
necessary to ensure prudent use, proper disbursement, and accurate
accounting of funds received pursuant to this chapter.
32105. In awarding grants under this chapter, the department
shall consider the incidents of crimes and conflicts motivated by
bias in the applicant school.
32106. Implementation of this chapter is contingent upon funding
made available for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or other
statute.
32107. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends
that date.
SECTION 1. Article 2.5 (commencing with Section
60620) is added to Chapter 5 of Part 33 of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Education Code, to read:
Article 2.5. Tolerance Education Pilot Program
60620. This article shall be known, and may be cited as, the
Tolerance Education Pilot Program.
60621. (a) The Tolerance Education Pilot Program is hereby
established and shall be administered by the department.
(b) The purpose of the program is to promote instruction on
tolerance and intergroup relations as part of the instruction
provided pursuant to the history/social science content standards, as
adopted by the State Board pursuant to Section 60605.
(c) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this article
that funding provided to schools pursuant to the program be used to
supplement instruction that is aligned with the history/social
science content standards, as adopted by the State Board pursuant to
Section 60605.
(d) For purposes of this article, the term "school" means a public
school that provides instruction in kindergarten or any of grades 1
to 12, inclusive.
(e) For purposes of this article, "tolerance" means attitudes and
behaviors that convey respect toward individuals and groups,
especially those individuals and groups that have been, and continue
to be, systematically and historically marginalized. Tolerance does
not mean a passive allowance or indulgence of the beliefs or
practices of another individual.
60622. (a) A school may apply to the department to receive funds
pursuant to the program. The department shall select 10 schools to
participate in the program and to receive one-time grants of
twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) each.
(b) Funding provided pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be used by
schools for either of the following purposes:
(1) Purchasing supplemental instructional materials that promote
tolerance and intergroup relations.
(2) Providing professional development for teachers on tolerance
and intergroup relations.
(c) In developing professional development training on tolerance
and intergroup relations pursuant to the program, schools are
encouraged, prior to providing instructional materials to pupils and
in order to integrate instruction on tolerance and intergroup
relations, to consult and partner with human relations commissions
and civil rights organizations that are involved in addressing
discrimination based on actual or perceived gender, ethnic group
identification, race, national origin, religion, mental or physical
disability, sexual orientation, immigrant status, familial status, or
association with a person or group with one or more of these actual
or perceived characteristics.
(d) Each school that is selected to participate in the program and
that receives funding pursuant to this article three years after its
initial receipt of funding, shall submit a report to the department
on the effectiveness of the program and the use of program funds by
the school.
(e) Each school that is selected to participate in the program
shall develop a plan to implement a tolerance and intergroup
relations curriculum.
(f) Implementation of the program is contingent upon funding made
available for this purpose in the annual Budget Act.
60623. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2012, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2012, deletes or extends
that date.