BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 777|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 777
Author: Kuehl (D), et al
Amended: 9/6/07
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-2, 4/17/07
AYES: Corbett, Kuehl, Steinberg
NOES: Harman, Ackerman
SENATE FLOOR : 23-13, 5/24/07
AYES: Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Corbett, Correa,
Ducheny, Kehoe, Kuehl, Machado, Migden, Negrete McLeod,
Oropeza, Padilla, Perata, Ridley-Thomas, Romero, Scott,
Simitian, Steinberg, Torlakson, Vincent, Wiggins, Yee
NOES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Ashburn, Cogdill, Cox, Denham,
Dutton, Hollingsworth, Maldonado, Margett, McClintock,
Runner, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Battin, Florez, Harman, Lowenthal
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 43-32, 9/11/07 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Discrimination: The California Student Civil
Rights Act
SOURCE : Equality California
DIGEST : This bill revises the current list of prohibited
bases of discrimination and the kinds of prohibited
instruction, activities, and instructional materials in the
Education Code, and instead refers to the protected
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characteristics contained in the definition of hate crimes
in the Penal Code. This bill also defines disability,
gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, and
sexual orientation for this purpose. This bill changes the
current references to "handicapped" individuals in the
Education Code to, instead, refer to individuals with
physical disabilities.
Senate Floor Amendments of 5/10/07 make various
clarifications and technical revisions.
Assembly Amendments (1) added double-jointing language, and
(2) made technical and corresponding cross-reference
changes for consistency purposes.
ANALYSIS : According to the Senate Judiciary Committee
analysis:
"The right to a public education in California is a
fundamental right fully guaranteed and protected by the
California Constitution. In recognition of the
importance of education in our society, the Legislature
has enacted numerous laws designed to promote equality in
educational opportunities and to safeguard students
against discriminatory practices in public schools.
"The Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of 2000
(Act) [AB 537, Kuehl et al., Ch. 587, Statutes of 1999],
created an expansive law banning discrimination in
schools against individuals of specified categories known
as 'protected classes.' This law applies to all
publicly-funded educational programs and activities and
includes a prohibition of discrimination based on sexual
orientation, gender identity and association with another
person who is protected under these categories.
"Although the Act created broad protections, there are
additional nondiscrimination statutes in the Education
Code that vary in lists of protected classes they cover.
This bill is intended to amend these statutes so that the
list of prohibited discrimination is consistent
throughout the Education Code, and with the cross
referenced sections of the Penal Code."
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Existing law states that it is the policy of the state to
afford equal rights and opportunities to all persons in the
public or private schools and educational institutions of
the state regardless of their sex, ethnic group
identification, race, national origin, religion, or mental
or physical disability.
Existing law prohibits a person from being subject to
discrimination on these specified bases and contains
various provisions to implement that policy.
Existing law prohibits a teacher from giving instruction,
and a school district from sponsoring any activity, that
reflects adversely upon persons because of their race, sex,
color, creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry.
Existing law prohibits the State Board of Education and the
governing board of a school district from adopting for use
in the public schools any instructional materials that
reflect adversely upon persons because of their race, sex,
color, creed, handicap, national origin, or ancestry.
Existing law defines "hate crime" as a criminal act
committed, in whole or in part because of a person's actual
or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or
ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association
with a person or group with one ore more of these
characteristics.
This bill enacts the Student Civil Rights Act.
This bill revises the current list of prohibited bases of
discrimination and the kinds of prohibited instruction,
activities, and instructional materials in the Education
Code, and instead refers to the protected characteristics
contained in the definition of hate crimes in the Penal
Code.
This bill also defines disability, gender, nationality,
race or ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation for
this purpose.
This bill changes the current references to "handicapped"
individuals in the Education Code to, instead, refer to
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individuals with physical disabilities.
Existing law provides that no teacher shall give
instructions that reflects "adversely upon persons" because
of a characteristic listed in Section 220 of the Education
Code.
This bill deletes "adversely upon persons" and instead
states "or promotes a discriminatory bias against any
person" listed in Section 220 of the Education Code.
This bill is double-jointed with SB 859 (Scott) and AB 14
(Laird).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/11/07)
Equality California (source)
AIDS Project Los Angeles
Ally Action
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
Anti-Defamation League
Asian Americans for Civil Rights
Asian Law Caucus
Bienestar Human Services
California Commission on Status of Women
California National Organization for Women
California Parent Teacher Association
California Teachers Association
Caruthers High School
Children of Lesbian and Gays Everywhere
City of West Hollywood
Gay and Gender Research
Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services
Gay Straight Alliance Network
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
GLSEN Orange County
Hillcrest Youth Center of the San Diego LGBT Community
Center
Inland County Stonewall Democrats
Lambda Letters Project
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Light House Center
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Our Family Coalition
Planned Parenthood
Project 10
Rockway Institute at Alliant International University, Los
Angeles
Transgender Law Center
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/11/07)
California Family Council
Campaign for Children and Families
Capitol Resource Institute
Catholics for the Common Good
Concerned Women for America
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author states:
"Harassment based on discrimination is frequent in
schools in California. Data from California Healthy Kids
Survey (CHKS), the largest study of 7th-12th grade
students, shows that each year, 14.3% of all students
report harassment because of their race or ethnicity,
9.1% report harassment because of their religion, and
7.5% report harassment because they are gay or lesbian or
someone thought they were, and nearly 400,000 students
are harassed because of their race.
"Discriminatory harassment is a serious problem because
it is linked to higher levels of academic, health and
safety risk. Students who reported discriminatory
harassment were twice as likely to be depressed, were
more likely to use and abuse alcohol and other
substances, and reported significantly lower grades than
students who reported no harassment.
"Research has shown that inclusive school policies and
curriculum make a difference: when students report that
their schools have non-discrimination and anti-harassment
policies that include sexual and gender identity, and
when they say that they have learned about LGBT [Lesbian,
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Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] issues at school, they
report less harassment and they feel safer."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents contend that this
bill bans any instruction or activities in schools that
reflect adversely upon homosexuals, transgenders and
bisexuals, and therefore "any teaching promoting
traditional families would be discriminatory. Any
activities such as having a prom king and queen or
gender-specific bathroom would also be considered
discriminatory." [Letter from Capitol Resource Institute,
dated April 9, 2007]
Opponents further argue that this bill "silence[s] students
and teachers from the free expression of beliefs and
opinions that run contrary to total and complete acceptance
of all forms of sexual behavior." [Letter from California
Family Council, dated April 10, 2007] "Schools must be
careful not to (through curriculum, ancillary materials,
activities or publications) foster acceptance of behaviors
involving sexuality and practices that often contradict the
moral and religious teaching within families." [Letter
from Concerned Women for America of California, dated April
11, 2007]
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Arambula, Bass, Beall, Berg, Brownley, Caballero,
Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeSaulnier, Dymally,
Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez,
Huffman, Jones, Karnette, Krekorian, Laird, Leno, Levine,
Lieber, Lieu, Ma, Mendoza, Mullin, Nava, Portantino,
Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Solorio, Soto, Swanson,
Torrico, Wolk, Nunez
NOES: Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Benoit, Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fuller,
Gaines, Garcia, Garrick, Horton, Houston, Huff, Jeffries,
Keene, La Malfa, Maze, Nakanishi, Niello, Parra, Plescia,
Sharon Runner, Silva, Smyth, Spitzer, Tran, Villines,
Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Carter, Galgiani,
Strickland, Vacancy
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RJG:mw 9/19/07 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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