BILL ANALYSIS �
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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