BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 700
                                                                  Page 1

          Date of Hearing:   May 1, 2013

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Joan Buchanan, Chair
                  AB 700 (Gomez) - As Introduced:  February 21, 2013
           
          SUBJECT  :   Pupil Instruction: Social Science: Voter Education

           SUMMARY  :   Requires the social studies courses specified in  
          statute to include a voter education component and requires the  
          California Department of Education (CDE) to develop a model  
          curriculum framework for this process. Specifically,  this bill  :   


          1)Requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12 in the  
            social sciences be amended to include a voter education  
            component in grade 8 and in any of the grades 9-12, inclusive,  
            that provides instruction on how to register and cast votes in  
            local, state, and federal elections and how to use the voter  
            information pamphlet and other materials to become an informed  
            voter. 

          2)Requires that, beginning in the 2014-15 school year, the  
            one-semester course in American government and civics  
            identified as a high school graduation requirement, include a  
            voter education component that provides instruction on how to  
            register and cast votes in local, state, and federal elections  
            and how to use the voter information pamphlet and other  
            materials to become an informed voter.

          3)Requires the CDE to develop and adopt a model curriculum  
            framework for a voter education component in social studies  
            classes to be implemented commencing with the 2014-15 school  
            year.

          4)Makes technical non-substantive amendments to these sections.

          5)Requires reimbursement though the Commission on State Mandates  
            if the commission determines that this act contains costs  
            mandated by the state.

          EXISTING LAW:  

          1)Specifies that the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12  
            shall offer courses in specified areas of study, including  








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            social sciences. 

          2)Requires that a pupil shall complete courses in specified  
            course areas including social science which shall include the  
            subjects of United States history and geography; world  
            history, culture, and geography; a one-semester course in  
            American government and civics; and a one-semester course in  
            economics in order to receive a high school diploma. 

          3)Permits the State Board of Education (SBE) to consider the  
            adoption of revised framework and evaluation criteria for  
            instructional materials in history-social science but prevents  
            the CDE from engaging in this work until after it has  
            completed work related to the development of curriculum  
            frameworks for the common core academic standards. 

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   Unknown

           COMMENTS  :  This bill amends Education Code section 51225.3 which  
          currently exists in two forms.  AB 1330 (Furutani), Chapter 621,  
          Statutes of 2011, expanded the high school graduation  
          requirements, beginning with the 2012-13 school year (class of  
          2013). The provisions of AB 1330 will be repealed as of the  
          beginning of the 2017-18 school year (July 1, 2017), unless  
          these provisions are extended by legislative action. This  
          amendment has resulted in two code sections in print  
          simultaneously, though only one is operative.

           Voter Education  
          Historically, voter turnout among those under age 30 is lower  
          than among other age groups.  In an article published February  
          21, 2013, Project Vote, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit  
          organization that promotes voting in historically  
          underrepresented communities, concluded that establishing  
          partnerships, actively involving students and teachers,  
          including a civic education component, and enacting innovative  
          voter registration programs are strategies that can increase  
          voter turnout and engagement among young people under the age of  
          30.  Similarly, the League of Women Voters found that 91 percent  
          of the young people who registered to vote in 2008 actually  
          turned out to cast a ballot; unfortunately, less than half of  
          all 18-year-olds were registered to vote.  The League of Women  
          Voters reported "it is lack of information, not lack of  
          interest, that keeps [young people] on the sidelines at election  
          time."








                                                                  AB 700
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          Currently, California has a program available to students titled  
          My Vote in which the Secretary of State and the Superintendent  
          of Public Instruction (SPI) encourage students to become active  
          and informed voters once they are old enough to cast a ballot.  
          In this program, high school and middle school students,  
          teachers, and principals participate in a mock election, which  
          takes place in late October, about a week before each regularly  
          scheduled statewide general election.
          Students gain firsthand knowledge of how citizens make their  
          voice heard in our democracy, and experience the power of their  
          votes when thousands of California's high school and middle  
          school students have their say on the candidates and issues on  
          Student Mock Election Day.

           Curriculum and Instruction
           This bill requires local governing boards to modify their  
          adopted course of study for the existing course in American  
          Government that encompasses the prescribed voter education  
          component.  This bill also requires the CDE to develop a model  
          curriculum framework that could serve as a resource for the  
          local educational agencies as they implement these new course  
          requirements. It is not clear whether this framework may be  
          added to the history/ social science framework or whether this  
          would require the CDE to develop a standalone framework that  
          includes only the voter education content.

          A number of bills have been introduced this year proposing to  
          require the instruction of a specific topic.  The committee may  
          wish to consider the extent to which content should be developed  
          through statutory incorporation versus through the Instructional  
          Quality Commission (IQC) and local school boards when adopting a  
          local course of study.  Specifically, the committee recommends,  
          removing the requirements that the local courses of study and  
          course requirements for graduation be modified to include a  
          voter education component.  The committee also recommends  
          deleting the requirement that the CDE develop and adopt a model  
          curriculum framework for the voter education component.   
          Finally, the committee recommends amending this bill to require  
          the IQC, when the history-social science frameworks are next  
          revised, to encourage a voter education component to be included  
          in the American Government and Civics course that would include  
          instruction on how to register and cast votes in local, state,  
          and federal elections, and how to use the voter information  
          pamphlet and other materials for the purpose of becoming an  








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          informed voter.

           Related legislation  .  AB 123 (Bonta), passed out of this  
          committee on March 20, 2013, requires instruction on the  
          contributions of Filipino Americans to the farm labor movement  
          in California.

          AB 137 (Buchanan), passed out of this committee on April 17,  
          2013, requires the IQC to receive input from specified experts  
          on civic learning the next time the history-social science  
          frameworks are developed and encourages civic learning content  
          to be integrated throughout the history-social science  
          framework.

          AB 166 (Hernández), passed out of this committee on March 20,  
          2013, requires instruction in economics provided in grades 7  
          through 12 to include instruction related to personal finances.

          AB 391 (Wieckowski), passed out of this committee on April 17,  
          2013, specifies the next time the history-social science  
          frameworks are developed that they encourage financial literacy  
          and requires the SPI to update the exiting consumer economics  
          course to include instruction in personal financial literacy.

          AB 424 (Donnelly) failed to pass out of this committee,  
          encourages the addition of the Magna Carta, the Articles of  
          Confederation, and the California Constitution to be added to  
          the historical documents that are required to be incorporated  
          into history-social science curriculum framework and encouraged  
          instruction in the social sciences to include the development of  
          democracy and the history of the development of the United  
          States Constitution.  The author has requested a re-hearing by  
          this committee to consider an amended version of this bill.

          SB 113 (Jackson), currently being held in the Senate  
          Appropriations Committee's suspense file, amends existing law  
          which currently authorizes a person who is at least 17 years of  
          age and otherwise meets all voter eligibility requirements to  
          submit his or her affidavit of registration, to lower the  
          minimum age for purposes of submitting an affidavit of  
          registration to 15 years of age. 

          SB 552 (Calderon), pending in the Senate Education Committee,  
          provides that instruction in the area of social sciences may  
          include instruction on violence awareness.  








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           Previous legislation  : SB 993 (De León), Chapter 211, Statutes of  
          2012, authorizes instruction in social science for grades 7-12  
          to include information about the Bracero program. This measure  
          was passed by the Assembly Education Committee by a vote of 7-2.

          AB 199 (Ma & Cook), Chapter 607, Statutes of 2011, encourages  
          social studies instruction to include instruction on the role  
          and contributions of Filipino Americans in the United States  
          army in World War II. This measure was passed by the Assembly  
          Education Committee by a vote of 7-0.

          SB 48 (Leno), Chapter 81, Statutes of 2011, requires instruction  
          in social science to include the role and contributions of  
          lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. This measure  
          was passed by the Assembly Education Committee by a vote of 7-4.


           
          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees  
          (AFSCME)
          California Federation of Teachers
          California State Council of the Service Employees International  
          Union (SEIU)
          School for Integrated Academies and Technologies (SIATech)
           
          Opposition 
           
          California Council for the Social Studies
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087