BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






                            SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Alan Lowenthal, Chair
                              2011-2012 Regular Session
                                          

             BILL NO:       SB 994
             AUTHOR:        Vargas
             AMENDED:       March 29, 2012
             FISCAL COMM:   Yes            HEARING DATE: April 25, 2012
             URGENCY:       No             CONSULTANT:    Lynn Lorber

              SUBJECT  :  California Latino curriculum.
             
              SUMMARY
              
             This bill requires the California Department of Education 
             to establish the California Latino Curriculum Committee 
             for the purpose of developing California Latino 
             curriculum.

              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.

             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)

             The history-social science framework was last adopted in 
             2005.  A review of this framework was underway and nearly 
             complete when the state suspended the process in July 
             2009, due to budget constraints.  

             The history-social science standard was adopted in 1998.

              ANALYSIS
              
              This  bill requires the California Department of Education 
             to establish the California Latino Curriculum Committee 




                                                                  SB 994
                                                                  Page 2



             for the purpose of developing California Latino 
             curriculum.   Specifically, this bill:

             1)   Requires the CDE, before January 1, 2014, to 
                  establish the California Latino Curriculum Committee 
                  for the purpose of developing California Latino 
                  curriculum pursuant to Education Code § 51204.5.


             2)   Requires the California Latino curriculum to be 
                  consistent with the history-social science curriculum 
                  framework and academic content standards.

             3)   Provides that the California Latino curriculum is for 
                  use in K-12 public schools.

             4)   Requires the California Latino Curriculum Committee 
                  to be composed of the following individuals:

                       a)             The Director of the Center for 
                       the Study of Latino Health and Culture at the 
                       University of California, Los Angeles.

                       b)             The senior curator of LA Plaza de 
                       Cultura y Artes.

                       c)             A representative of the 
                       California Teachers Association.

                       d)             A representative of the 
                       Association of California School Administrators.

                       e)             A representative of the 
                       California Association of Latino Superintendents 
                       and Administrators.

                       f)             The President of the California 
                       Latino School Boards Association.

                       g)             A representative of the CDE.

                       h)             A member of the Association of 
                       Mexican American Educators.

                       i)             A member of the California Rural 
                       Network.




                                                                  SB 994
                                                                  Page 3




                       j)             A superintendent of a northern 
                       California school district.

                       aa)            A superintendent of a southern 
                       California school district.

                       bb)            The San Diego Superintendent of 
                       Schools.

              STAFF COMMENTS
              
              1)   Need for the bill  .  According to the author, "Diverse 
                  cultures have helped shape our state over the past 
                  243 years and have contributed enormously to its 
                  history and culture.  Yet the historical record of 
                  Latinos in California currently taught in our state 
                  schools is very limited.  As a result, many important 
                  aspects of Latino history and life are absent 
                  altogether from California's historical record.  The 
                  workgroup created by this bill would create a 
                  curriculum guide that identifies Latino influence and 
                  contributions to California history for inclusion in 
                  K-12 curriculum, state and local governing board 
                  adopted instructional materials, and next revision of 
                  the California Content Standards for History-Social 
                  Science."

              2)   Outside of existing process  .  This bill requires the 
                  California Department of Education (CDE) to establish 
                  the California Latino Curriculum Committee to develop 
                  California Latino curriculum.  The Instructional 
                  Quality Commission (formerly known as the Curriculum 
                  Commission) is responsible for the review and 
                  revision of curriculum frameworks, and provides to 
                  the State Board of Education (SBE) recommendations 
                  for modifications to the frameworks.  The 
                  deficiencies with the current process have not been 
                  clearly articulated.

              3)   Outside of existing curriculum framework  ?  This bill 
                  does not specify how the California Latino curriculum 
                  will be included in instructional materials or 
                  provided to pupils.  Is the California Latino 
                  curriculum to be stand-alone and separate from the 
                  history-social science framework?  The author's 




                                                                  SB 994
                                                                  Page 4



                  statement indicates that the California Latino 
                  curriculum is to be included in the next revision of 
                  the history-social science framework.  However, this 
                  bill does not make any provision for the inclusion of 
                  California Latino curriculum in the history-social 
                  science framework.

              4)   Update of History-Social Science framework was 
                  underway  .  The Curriculum Commission approved the 
                  draft update of this framework for field review on 
                  July 17, 2009.  However, suspension of the framework 
                  and instructional material processes was implemented 
                  beginning July 28, 2009, meaning that no actual field 
                  review or online survey has occurred for this 
                  framework.  Many stakeholders and ethnic groups 
                  support the resumption of this process because the 
                  updated frameworks are a culmination of months of 
                  research and negotiations. The updated framework 
                  includes information relative to the role of Sikhs 
                  and Korean Americans, among others. 

              5)   Revision of standards  .  The author's statement 
                  references the inclusion of the California Latino 
                  curriculum in the next revision of the history-social 
                  science standard.  The standards have never been 
                  revised (other than the recent adoption of common 
                  core standards in English language arts and math), 
                  nor does the SBE have the authority to do so.  In 
                  January of 2005, the Legislative Counsel issued an 
                  opinion that the State Board does not have the 
                  authority to revise the standards under current law.  
                  Counsel noted that current law permits the Board to 
                  "modify any proposed ? standards prior to adoption" 
                  but that the authority to revise the standards 
                  appears to end with their adoption.

              6)   Why just one ethnic group  ?  This bill requires the 
                  establishment of a committee to develop California 
                  Latino curriculum pursuant to current law, which 
                  requires instruction in social sciences to include 
                  the early history of California and a study of the 
                  role and contributions of:

                  a)        Both men and women.
                  b)        Native Americans.
                  c)        African Americans.




                                                                  SB 994
                                                                  Page 5



                  d)        Mexican Americans.
                  e)        Asian Americans.
                  f)        Pacific Islanders.
                  g)        European Americans.
                  h)        Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender 
                       Americans.
                  i)        Persons with disabilities.
                  j)        Members or other ethnic and cultural 
                       groups.

                  Staff recommends an amendment to strike the 
                  provisions of this bill and instead require the SPI 
                  to convene a workgroup to examine curricula related 
                  to the early history of California and the role and 
                  contributions of groups of people described in 
                  current law, including but not limited to California 
                  Latinos.  This workgroup could report any 
                  recommendations to the Instructional Quality 
                  Commission for consideration in the next revision of 
                  the history-social science framework.

              7)   Related legislation  .  SB 1540 (Hancock) requires the 
                  SBE to consider, by June 30, 2014, the adoption of 
                  the currently stalled history-social science 
                  framework.  SB 1540 is pending in the Senate 
                  Appropriations Committee.

             SB 993 (De Leon) authorizes social science instruction to 
                  include instruction on the Bracero program.  SB 993 
                  is pending on the Assembly Floor.

             SB 1080 (Lieu) provides that instruction in economics may 
                  include instruction related to personal finances and 
                  would require the CDE to develop a personal finances 
                  curriculum in the next adoption cycle of the 
                  mathematics and history-social science curriculum 
                  frameworks.  SB 1080 is pending in the Senate 
                  Appropriations Committee.

             SB 1325 (Wyland) requires the SPI and SBE to consider 
                  methods to enhance the knowledge of our history and 
                  form of government, and increase levels of civic 
                  participation.  SB 1325 is pending in this Committee.

             AB 580 (Davis) requires instruction on the role and 
                  contributions of people of all races, colors, 




                                                                  SB 994
                                                                  Page 6



                  genders, sexual orientations, national origins, 
                  religions and marital status to include updated 
                  references.  AB 580 is pending in the Senate Rules 
                  Committee.

             AB 1756 (Knight) authorizes schools to elect not to 
                  provide social science instruction on the role and 
                  contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and 
                  transgender Americans.  AB 1756 failed passage in the 
                  Assembly Education Committee.

             AB 2546 (Donnelly) recasts existing provisions relative to 
                  instruction on the role and contributions of people 
                  with specified characteristics to exclude mention of 
                  sexual orientation, and instead require, among other 
                  things, the study of a person in social science 
                  instruction to be accurate and based solely on 
                  historical significance rather than membership in a 
                  protected class.  AB 2546 is pending in the Assembly 
                  Education Committee.

              8)   Prior legislation  .  SB 48 (Leno, Chapter 81, 2011) 
                  requires instruction in social science to include the 
                  role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and 
                  transgender Americans.

             SB 300 (Hancock, Chapter 624, 2011), at one time included 
                  provisions relative to the completion of the 
                  history-social science framework.  The final version 
                  of SB 300 requires the SBE to adopt revised standards 
                  in science.

             SB 1278 (Wyland, 2010) would have required the SBE to 
                  adopt a revised framework and evaluation criteria for 
                  history-social science in 2011.  SB 1278 was held in 
                  the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

             AB 2069 (Carter, 2010) would have required the SBE to 
                  adopt a revised framework and evaluation criteria for 
                  history-social science by July 1, 2011.  AB 2069 was 
                  held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

              SUPPORT
              
             California Communities United Institute





                                                                  SB 994
                                                                  Page 7



              OPPOSITION

              California Council for the Social Studies