BILL ANALYSIS Ķ
AB 339
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 339 (Bonilla)
As Amended July 6, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |52-27|(May 31, 2011) |SENATE: |22-14|(August 29, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt
regulations for conducting social content reviews of
instructional materials conducted at the request of a publisher
outside of the primary adoption process, and authorizes the
California Department of Education (CDE) to assess a fee on
publishers for the reviews.
The Senate amendments add a five-year sunset and repeal the
provisions of the bill on January 1, 2017.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires instructional materials used in schools to accurately
portray the contributions of both men and women in all types
of roles, including professional, vocational, and executive
role and the role and contributions of Native Americans,
African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans,
European Americans, and members of other ethnic and cultural
groups to the total development of California and the United
States (U.S.), as well as the role and contributions of the
entrepreneur and labor in the total development of California
and the U.S.
2)Prohibits school districts from adopting instructional
materials that contain any matter reflecting adversely upon
persons because of their race, color, creed, national origin,
ancestry, sex, handicap, or occupation or any sectarian or
denominational doctrine or propaganda contrary to law.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
AB 339
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FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, potentially significant costs that will be fully
reimbursed by fees.
COMMENTS : Current law requires instructional materials, in
addition to meeting the requirements of the content standards,
curriculum frameworks, and evaluation criteria, to also be
approved for social content. For example, state law specifies
that instructional materials must portray the contributions of
both men and women in professional, vocational, and executive
roles, and the role and contributions of Native Americans,
African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, European
Americans, and members of other ethnic and cultural groups to
the total development of California and the U.S.
CDE currently conducts social content reviews for state-adopted
instructional materials, and up until last year, was also
conducting reviews for non-adopted instructional materials, such
as supplemental materials. This bill authorizes CDE to assess a
fee to a publisher or manufacturer that requests an out-of-cycle
social content review. The CDE contends that the social content
review of non-SBE-adopted instructional materials is a service
offered to school districts to ensure all instructional
materials comply with social content requirements.
The author states, "Without AB 339, the California Department of
Education will not be able to charge fees to support the follow
up process necessary to conduct review of instructional
materials. Therefore, local districts will have to conduct
their own review of instructional materials for out-of-cycle
social content. This result places a burden on those local
districts and allows the possibility of inconsistencies in
social content reviews from district to district."
Previous legislation: SB 734 (Torlakson), Chapter 476, Statutes
of 2007, reenacts the requirement to conduct follow-up
adoptions, added the social content review provisions for
out-of-cycle adoptions, and repealed both provisions on January
1, 2011.
Senate Bill 1058 (Torlakson), Chapter 806, Statutes of 2003,
establishes CDE's ability to charge fees to cover the costs of
follow up adoptions. These provisions were repealed on January
1, 2007.
AB 339
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Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Aviņa / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0001936