BILL ANALYSIS SB 1290 Page 1 Date of Hearing: June 16, 2010 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Julia Brownley, Chair SB 1290 (Kehoe) - As Amended: April 28, 2010 SENATE VOTE : 25-3 SUBJECT : Physical education: self-defense and safety instruction. SUMMARY : Requires the state board of education (SBE) to include self-defense and safety instruction in the next revision of the physical education (PE) framework for students in grades 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12. Specifically, this bill defines: 1)Self-defense instruction to include, but not necessarily be limited to, martial arts, boxing, and other defensive techniques. 2)Safety instruction to include, but not necessarily be limited to, awareness and avoidance of potentially dangerous situations. EXISTING LAW : 1)Requires high school PE to be judged on whether or not the course of study provides for instruction in each of the following areas: effects of physical activity upon dynamic health, mechanics of body movement, aquatics, gymnastics and tumbling, individual and dual sports, rhythms and dance, team sports, and combatives for boys. (California Code of Regulation, Title 5, Section 10060) 2)Provides a framework for self-defense instruction to be included in course two of high school PE in the combatives section. (2009 Physical Education Framework) 3)Defines combative activities to include wrestling, fencing, boxing, kickboxing, martial arts, and self-defense. (2009 Physical Education Framework) 4)Prohibits the SBE from reviewing frameworks and adopting instructional materials until the 2013-14 school year. (Education Code 60200.7) SB 1290 Page 2 FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown COMMENTS : This bill requires the PE frameworks to be revised to include self-defense and safety instruction in grades 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12. The committee should consider whether it is appropriate to codify specific instructional topics for a certain course subject. If one considers PE just like any other content area, should the state be more prescriptive with regard to PE instructional topics, as compared to the other subject areas? According to the author, the intent of SB 1290 is to provide school districts with enhanced authority to better prepare students to avoid and handle threatening situations when they arise. On February 25, 2010, a 17-year-old San Diego County resident named Chelsea King was attacked and killed after apparently jogging alone near Lake Hodges. The attacker has confessed to the murders of both Chelsea and Amber Dubois, a 14 year-old victim who was killed in February 2009. Following his arrest, another jogger came forward to allege that she had been assaulted by the same man two months earlier. That jogger had received martial arts training and was able to fend off the attack. Although she had received training in advanced self-defense techniques, her experience demonstrates the public value of educating students on basic self-defense techniques. In an effort to help give all students basic instruction on how to defend themselves against physical assault, SB 1290 aims to incorporate self-defense training into the PE framework for high school students. The bill may not turn California public school students into self-defense experts, but it will ensure that school districts have the option of making pupils familiar with methods of avoiding physical assault and increasing awareness of how to handle unsafe situations. Physical Education Content Standards, Framework & Regulation . The PE model content standards provide guidance for developing PE programs by identifying what each student in California should know and be able to do at each grade level. The standards highlight the fact that participation in physical activity is not the same as learning the content in PE. The content standards address a student's ability to demonstrate motor skills, movement patterns, knowledge of physical fitness, and knowledge of psychological and sociological concepts that apply to physical activity, among others. Decisions about how SB 1290 Page 3 best to teach the standards are left to teachers, schools, and local educational agencies. The PE framework assists administrators and teachers with instituting standards-based PE instruction and programs that are effective for every student; and, provides instructional suggestions for teachers on each standard at each grade level. The framework describes the why, when, and how of assessing student learning and presents detailed examples of different types of assessment. Focusing on the tools for standards-based instruction, the framework highlights the instructional content of the model content standards, student assessments, instructional considerations, universal access, support, and instructional resources. Specifically with regard to self-defense instruction, the PE framework suggests that high school course two (which is grade 10) should address three content areas: combatives, gymnastics and tumbling, and team activities. The framework states, "self-defense is one option for addressing the content area of combatives. Because it is directly related to student safety, it is an important area for physical educators to teach and students to learn. The emphasis of this unit is on how to defend, not how to fight. The unit begins with students learning about potentially unsafe situations and how to avoid them. Safety skills are the initial focus of instruction. Only after learning safety skills do students begin to learn how to protect themselves should they be attacked." Because self-defense and safety are already included in the PE framework for grade 10, this bill only requires the inclusion of self-defense and safety for grades, 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12. State regulation also specifies that school districts shall judge the quality of a high school PE program based upon whether or not the course of study provides for instruction in each of the following areas: effects of physical activity upon dynamic health, mechanics of body movement, aquatics, gymnastics and tumbling, individual and dual sports, rhythms and dance, team sports, and combatives for boys. Framework Adoption Process . The process of adopting instructional materials begins with the review and update of the curriculum framework. The framework development process typically takes 24 months from initiation to approval by the SBE. Once the framework for a particular subject is adopted by SB 1290 Page 4 the SBE, the instructional material adoption process begins, which includes submissions from publishers, review by the Instructional Materials Advisory Reviewer and Content Review Expert, Curriculum Commission hearings and SBE adoption. The adoption process typically takes 30 months. Schools were required to provide pupils with instructional materials within 24 months of adoption by SBE, but this requirement is suspended from the 2008-09 to 2012-13 fiscal year. The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting instructional materials has been suspended since July 2009, pursuant to AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009, which among other things, prohibited the SBE from reviewing frameworks and adopting instructional materials until the 2013-14 school year. AB 2 also extended to the 2012-13 fiscal year the suspension of the requirement to purchase instructional materials within any specific period of time following adoption of those materials by the SBE. A number of recent bills have sought to amend the curriculum standards and frameworks, and some have required instruction in a particular subject matter. Because the education code is permissive, districts can offer self-defense instruction already in high school. The committee should also consider whether self-defense and safety instruction should be included in the next revision of the PE frameworks since they are the blueprint for instruction in PE courses across the state. Committee Amendments : Staff recommends the bill be amended to require the SBE and the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission to include these provisions in the next revision of the PE framework. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : Support California Partnership to End Domestic Violence Planned Parenthood San Diego Unified School District WEAVE Numerous Individuals Opposition SB 1290 Page 5 None on file. Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087