BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 137 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Mike Gatto, Chair AB 137 (Buchanan) - As Amended: April 10, 2013 Policy Committee: Education Vote:7-0 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No SUMMARY This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to do the following whenever it revises the history-social science curriculum framework: 1)Ensure the minimum course requirements are also included in all history-social science courses and grade levels, as appropriate. 2)Receive input from civics learning experts, including civics education program providers, associations of civic educators, and organizations dedicated to research on civics learning for the purpose of integrating civics learning with the statewide academic content standards at all appropriate grade levels. 3)Consider how civics and history instruction, at all appropriate grade levels, includes, in addition to the acquisition of content knowledge, the application of that content to develop the competence and skills needed for civic engagement. FISCAL EFFECT To the extent the requirements of this bill can be met through the scheduled history-social science curriculum framework review process, there will be minor, absorbable GF costs to the State Department of Education (SDE) to implement this measure. If these requirements cannot be achieved within the existing review process, there will likely be one-time GF administrative costs to SDE between $75,000 and $100,000. AB 137 Page 2 COMMENTS 1)Purpose . Current law requires the State Board of Education (SBE) and SDE to request the IQC review and revise, as necessary, the course requirements in the history-social science framework to ensure that minimum standards for courses in American government and civics include teaching pupils how to interact with state and local government agencies and representatives to solve problems and to petition for changes in laws. The author cites a recent survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, which revealed "only one-third of Americans could name all three branches of government (one-third couldn't name any) and just over a third thought that it was the intention of the Founding Fathers to have each branch hold a lot of power, but the president has the final say." The author states: "The ultimate goal of any civic education program must be to encourage individuals to actively engage in the practice of democracy in the United States and other countries. Civic education in our K-12 schools is a critical first step to ensure that the principles of democracy continue." 2)How will this measure effect the completion of the history-social science curriculum framework ? AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009, specified that local education agencies (LEAs) are not required to purchase instructional materials (IM) through the 2012-13 fiscal year (FY). Consistent with the non-purchasing requirement, Chapter 2 also suspended the requirement for SBE to adopt IM or conduct other procedures associated with adoption (i.e., adopting curriculum frameworks) until the 2013-14 school year. SB 70 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011, extended this suspension until the 2014-15 FY. Prior to the enactment of AB 2 X4, the next history-social science curriculum framework was scheduled for adoption in May 2010 and the IQC had completed all of the necessary work, including approval to conduct a 60-day comment period. With the passage of SB 1540 (Hancock) - see below, the IQC is expected to complete the framework process within the next year and a half. It is unclear if this bill will require the IQC to restart the framework process. For example, under this AB 137 Page 3 bill, the IQC is required to "receive input from civics learning experts, etc." The 60-day comment period will include input from these individuals and therefore, seems to satisfy the requirements of this measure. In order to ensure this measure will not lead to additional costs, language should be added to clarify the author's intent that the current history-social science framework process satisfies the requirements of this bill. 3)Background . In 1998, the SBE adopted academic content standards in four major areas: English language arts, mathematics, history-social science, and science. These standards represent the foundation of California's educational system. The state's assessments, accountability system, textbooks, and professional development programs are aligned to these content standards. Current law also requires the SBE to adopt content standards and curriculum frameworks in other content areas, including physical education and arts. Existing law establishes social sciences as one of the adopted courses of study for grades 7-12, including instruction that provides a foundation for understanding the history?government of California and the United States of America, as specified. 4)SB 1540 (Hancock), Statutes of 2012 , authorizes the SBE to consider adoption of a revised curriculum framework and evaluation criteria for instructional materials in history-social science, and prohibits SDE from conducting work necessary to revise this framework until it has completed work related to the development of curriculum frameworks for the Common Core Content Standards in English language arts and mathematics. 5)Related legislation . AB 391 (Wieckowski), pending in this committee, requires the history-social science curriculum framework, when it is revised, to encourage instruction related to the understanding of personal finances. Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916) 319-2081 AB 137 Page 4