BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 137
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          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.    









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           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  








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            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 











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