BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Alan Lowenthal, Chair
                             2011-12 Regular Session
                                         

          BILL NO:       AB 1967
          AUTHOR:        John A. Pérez
          AMENDED:       June 21, 2012
          FISCAL COMM:   Yes            HEARING DATE:  June 27, 2012
          URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill

           SUBJECT  :  Pupil instruction:  organ and tissue donation.
          
           SUMMARY   

          This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission and 
          the State Board of Education (SBE) to ensure that the health 
          and science frameworks adopted in the course of the next 
          submission cycle, include the subject of organ procurement 
          and tissue donation, as appropriate.

           BACKGROUND  

          Academic content standards define the knowledge, concepts, 
          and skills that pupils should acquire at each grade level.  
          Curricular frameworks are the blueprint for implementing the 
          standards, and include criteria by which instructional 
          materials are evaluated.

          Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt 
          content standards in the curriculum area of health education, 
          based on the recommendations of the Superintendent of Public 
          Instruction.  The SBE adopted the current Health Education 
          Content Standards in March 2008.  (EC § 51210.8)  

          The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting 
          instructional materials have been suspended since July 28, 
          2009.  The State Board of Education (SBE) is specifically 
          prohibited from reviewing frameworks and adopting 
          instructional materials until the 2015-16 school year.  
          (Education Code § 60200.7)  

          California does not require the completion of a health course 
          as a condition for graduation from high school.  (EC § 
          51225.3)

           ANALYSIS  



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           This bill  :

          1)   Requires the Instructional Quality Commission and the 
               State Board of Education (SBE) to ensure that the health 
               frameworks and the science frameworks adopted in the 
               course of the next submission cycle include the subject 
               of organ procurement and tissue donation, as 
               appropriate.

          2)   Makes findings and declarations about the number of 
               people on the national organ transplant list and the 
               percentage of California drivers designated as organ or 
               tissue donors.  

           STAFF COMMENTS  

           1)   Need for the bill  :  According to information provided by 
               Donate Life California, sponsor of this bill, there are 
               more than 113,000 people on the national organ 
               transplant waiting list, of which nearly 21% are 
               Californians.  The author's office reports that one 
               organ donor can save up to 8 lives and one tissue donor 
               can improve the lives of 50 others.  Although California 
               makes it easy for individuals to register as an organ 
               donor, the California Department of Motor Vehicles 
               indicates only 25% of individuals applying for or 
               renewing a driver's license check "yes" to donation.  
               Information provided by the author's office indicates 
               that approximately 18 people die each day awaiting 
               life-saving organ transplants.  By making organ donation 
               education more widespread and educating high school 
               students about organ donation, the author hopes this 
               bill will result in more people registering as an organ 
               donor.  

           2)   Curriculum Frameworks  .  Neither the health education 
               standards nor the frameworks require students to learn 
               about organ procurement or tissue donation.  Similarly, 
               the current science standards and frameworks do not 
               include information about the subject of organ and 
               tissue donation.  This bill requires both the health 
               frameworks and the science frameworks to include the 
               subject of organ procurement and tissue donation when 
               those framework documents are next updated and adopted 
               by the SBE.  Although organ donation is not currently 
               included in the state's academic content standards, 



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               nothing in current law precludes school districts or 
               teachers from educating students about organ donation.  

          As part of the effort to develop standards common across 
               states, California is one of 26 lead states in the 
               effort to develop the Next Generation Science Standards 
               (NGSS).  The development process for NGSS is following a 
               different developmental pathway than did the Common Core 
               State Standards in English language arts and 
               mathematics.  The process for the science standards 
               development was informed by the contributions of the 
               scientific and research community.  The first draft of 
               these standards was released nationally for public 
               comment on May 11, 2012.  A second opportunity for 
               public feedback will occur in Fall 2012.  Conceivably, 
               the topic of organ procurement and tissue donation could 
               be incorporated into these standards during the SBE's 
               adoption process, which would precede the adoption of 
               new frameworks.  

          Opponents argue that the subject of organ/tissue donation is 
               not appropriate for high school students who may be 
               impacted by an emotionally presented curriculum and 
               should not be included in the health and science 
               frameworks.  


           3)   Organ donation  .  There are currently two ways to 
               register as an organ donor:  

               a)        Each application for a new or renewal driver's 
                    license or identification card provides a place for 
                    the applicant to indicate if he or she wants to be 
                    an organ donor.  If the person affirms this desire, 
                    the pink donor dot symbol is pre-printed on the 
                    driver's license or identification card.  
                     
               b)        Since 2006, the Donate Life California website 
                    provides a way to register online as an organ 
                    donor.

           4)   Related and prior legislation  .  The Legislature has 
               considered a number of measures concerning curriculum 
               instruction, including the following bills concerning 
               subject of organ/tissue donation:  

          AB 1118 (J. Perez, 2011) would have required high schools 



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               that offer health classes in 9th and 10th grade to offer 
               instruction on organ donation in California.  This bill 
               was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  

          SB 552 (Padilla, 2010) would have required a school district, 
               beginning with the 2010-11 school year, to offer health 
               classes to ninth and tenth graders and provide at least 
               15 minutes of instruction on organ procurement and 
               tissue donation.  This bill was held under submission by 
               the Assembly Appropriations Committee.  

           SUPPORT
           
          Association of California School Administrators
          California Transplant Donor Network
          Donate Life California
          Donate Life Florida
          Head-Royce School, Oakland, CA
          Lifeline of Ohio
          Los Angeles County Office of Education
          National Organization for Renal Disease
          New York Alliance for Donation
          OneLegacy
          Santa Clara County Deputy Superintendent of Schools, Cary 
          Dritz
          Sierra Donor Services
          State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson
          University of Wisconsin Organ Procurement Organization
          Individual letters

           OPPOSITION
           
          California Right to Life Committee