California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 30

Introduced by Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez

March 5, 2013

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 30—Relative to pupil rights.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 30, as introduced, V. Manuel Pérez. Pupil rights: Student and Youth Bill of Rights.

This measure would declare that the Legislature recognizes the importance of engaging with young people to influence decisions that affect their quality of life and well-being, and that the Student and Youth Bill of Rights serves as a framework to guide and inform the youth of the state in organizing and advocating policy issues on their own behalf.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, In the state of California, children, youth, and
young adults under 25 years of age comprise roughly one-third of
the state’s population; and

WHEREAS, The youth of California are among the state’s
greatest assets and are an important indicator of the state’s future
prosperity. The youth of the state are tomorrow’s workers,
entrepreneurs, educators, public servants, and community leaders
and need the education and training to participate and succeed in
the California economy; and

WHEREAS, It is projected that by 2018, nearly two-thirds of
the jobs in California and the nation will require some college or
additional training after high school and it is imperative that our
youth are prepared to compete for jobs in this economy. However,
many youth in California lack the basic conditions that promote
their well-being and educational success; and

WHEREAS, The face of California is changing and racial and
ethnic minorities now comprise the majority of the student
population as Latino, Asian, African American, Pacific Islander,
and mixed-race students make up 73 percent of all California
students; and

WHEREAS, While many populations face barriers and
challenges, an abundant body of research has demonstrated that
young people of color disproportionately experience lower and
worsening outcomes with regard to educational attainment,
socio-economic status, health status, and interactions with the
juvenile justice and child welfare systems; and

WHEREAS, Young people of color are more likely to grow up
in neighborhoods where they confront challenges to their safety
and well-being and also are more likely to attend schools that lack
the facilities, funding, and support staff, including, but not limited
to, counselors, coaches, and after school programs, that contribute
to a successful learning environment; and

WHEREAS, Young people of color are more likely to start their
adult lives without a high school diploma as a result of the barriers
they encounter. African Americans over 25 years of age are nearly
twice as likely to be without a high school diploma as their white
counterparts, and Latinos are almost seven times as likely to lack
a high school diploma compared to their white counterparts.
Furthermore, young people of color who graduate from high school
are less likely to be prepared for college, with data showing that
only 14 percent of Latino high school graduates and 15 percent of
African American high school graduates have completed the
courses needed to access higher education; and

WHEREAS, In seeking to respond to these sobering conditions,
it is not enough to appeal to individual responsibility,
self-discipline, and personal commitment to one’s self-actualization
as the remedy. Instead, a societal commitment is needed to confront
and rectify these barriers with an understanding of, and deriving
hope from, the fact that they are human made and can be changed;
and

WHEREAS, All young people have a stake and role to play in
this effort and must be active participants in articulating a vision
for surmounting these challenges. Therefore, beginning in 2011,
hundreds of youth and youth advocates throughout California
began a process of needs identification to develop a “Student and
Youth Bill of Rights” to serve as a framework for doing so; and

WHEREAS, In keeping with the basic principles of our
democracy, the Student and Youth Bill of Rights is premised on
the fundamental belief that the right to a quality of life shall not
be denied or abridged based on one’s race, gender, ethnicity, sexual
orientation, disability, religion, socio-economic status, place of
residence, country of origin, or previous and resolved contact with
the justice system; and

WHEREAS, The Student and Youth Bill of Rights also rests
on the belief that in addition to educational opportunity, youth
need supportive conditions in which to thrive and grow, including
safe and secure housing, safe neighborhoods and communities,
basic human services, healthy and nutritious food, physical activity
and recreation, art and culture, affordable and accessible public
transportation, and dental and health care, among other supports;
and

WHEREAS, The Student and Youth Bill of Rights sets forth
that all students are deserving of safe and secure public school
facilities of equal quality, regardless of whether it is a magnet
school, a continuation school, or a charter school or the public
school is in a rural, urban, or suburban location; and

WHEREAS, Youth in California should be served by school
districts that are adequately funded through a school finance system
that is fair, transparent, equitable, and accountable. The system
should recognize the additional educational barriers experienced
by particular subgroups, including, but not limited to, English
learners and children living in poverty, and include a transparent
method for ensuring the allocation of supplemental funding tied
to their amelioration; and

WHEREAS, Youth should have the opportunity to study
curriculum that is relevant to their life experiences, includes content
acknowledging the ongoing struggle of oppressed peoples, and
examines the material, social, and cultural needs of their
communities. This knowledge helps personalize education for all
youth and provides them with examples of how to become agents
of change in their communities; and

WHEREAS, Students and youth with children of their own
should have the right of access to affordable day care for their
children as long as they maintain a passing grade point average or
employment; and

WHEREAS, Students and youth have a right to receive their
school records, transcripts, test scores, medical records,
immunization records, and key identification documents in order
to access schools and public and community resources without
prejudice and in a timely manner. Youth exiting foster care, group
homes, mental health facilities and other facilities, including, but
not limited to, detention or incarceration facilities, should be
assured timely access to these documents as well as referrals to
education and essential services at the time of their release; and

WHEREAS, Communities should have the ability to establish
and be engaged in the development of programs for restorative
and transformative justice and positive behavior interventions in
their schools that make use of intervention workers and peace
builders in schools and communities to address conflicts while
preventing school suspension, expulsion, and arrests, providing
safe passage to and from school, providing for rumor control and
retaliation prevention, and building truces and cease fires between
neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, Due to the importance of family stability to child
and youth development, teen and young adult parents incarcerated
due to nonviolent and nonsexual crimes should be encouraged and
supported to remain in contact with their children. Similarly, youth
whose parents are detained or incarcerated should be assisted to
the extent possible in maintaining family bonds; and

WHEREAS, New schools and other youth-serving facilities
should be built to encourage and celebrate youth identities and
possibilities, with attention focused not only on function but also
on what is communicated through the design and aesthetic aspects
of the buildings and the environments they support; and

WHEREAS, Pupils and youth deserve the opportunity to
develop, make mistakes, and grow with appropriate limits
established and without unreasonable school, court, or law
enforcement labeling and surveillance. In instances when the law
is broken, due process should not be denied, and youth under 18
years of age should not be added to police databases without a fair
and just trial, and pupils and youth should be secure from arbitrary
police stops, searches and seizures, excessive ticketing and fines,
and criminalization of truancy or lateness to school; and

WHEREAS, On completion of elementary and secondary
education, California high school graduates should be prepared to
either enter into a career or have acquired the knowledge and
completed the coursework necessary to start a successful college
tenure; and

WHEREAS, All eligible students, including immigrant students,
should have access to affordable and available higher education,
ensuring that course offerings are available not only for the
full-time, nonworking students, but that ample evening, weekend,
and online courses are available for those who work while pursuing
an education; and

WHEREAS, The state is just one partner among many that must
be invested in the fulfillment of our societal promise to California’s
youth, and other critical partners are parents, peers, neighbors,
philanthropy, the private sector, and nongovernmental
organizations; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes the importance
of engaging with young people to influence decisions that affect
their quality of life and well-being, and that the Student and Youth
Bill of Rights serves as a framework to guide and inform the youth
of the state in organizing and advocating policy issues on their
own behalf; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.