Amended in Assembly May 23, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 22, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 1, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 1915


Introduced by Assembly Members Nazarian and Achadjian

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Ian Calderon, Fox,begin insert Gatto,end insertHall, Holden, Nestande, Patterson, and Wilk)

(Coauthors: Senators Berryhill, Lara, Vidak, and Yee)

February 19, 2014


An act to amend Sections 51220 and 51226.3 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1915, as amended, Nazarian. Pupil instruction: social sciences: Armenian Genocide.

Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including social sciences. Existing law requires the instruction in social studies to provide instruction in, among other things, human rights issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust.

This bill would enact the Armenian Genocide Education Act and would require the instruction in human rights issues to also include particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of the Armenian Genocide, as defined. To the extent this bill would increase the level of service required to be provided by school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to incorporate materials relating to civil rights, human rights violations, genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust into publications that provide examples of curriculum resources, consistent with the subject frameworks on history and social science and other requirements. Under existing law, the Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching of human rights, genocide, and the Holocaust. Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education.

This bill would also encourage the department to incorporate materials related to the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides into those publications, and would require the commission to consider the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides for inclusion in the history-social science curriculum framework when the history-social science curriculum framework is revised as required by law. The bill would also specify that the Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching of human rights, the Holocaust, and genocide, including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
2Armenian Genocide Education Act.

3

SEC. 2.  

Section 51220 of the Education Code is amended to
4read:

5

51220.  

The adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12,
6inclusive, shall offer courses in the following areas of study:

P3    1(a) English, including knowledge of and appreciation for
2literature, language, and composition, and the skills of reading,
3listening, and speaking.

4(b) Social sciences, drawing upon the disciplines of
5anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science,
6psychology, and sociology, designed to fit the maturity of the
7pupils. Instruction shall provide a foundation for understanding
8the history, resources, development, and government of California
9and the United States of America; instruction in our American
10legal system, the operation of the juvenile and adult criminal justice
11systems, and the rights and duties of citizens under the criminal
12and civil law and the State and Federal Constitutions; the
13development of the American economic system, including the role
14of the entrepreneur and labor; the relations of persons to their
15human and natural environment; eastern and western cultures and
16civilizations; human rights issues, with particular attention to the
17study of the inhumanity of genocide, slavery, the Armenian
18Genocide, and the Holocaust, and contemporary issues.

19(c) Foreign language or languages, beginning not later than
20grade 7, designed to develop a facility for understanding, speaking,
21reading, and writing the particular language.

22(d) Physical education, with emphasis given to physical activities
23that are conducive to health and to vigor of body and mind, as
24required by Section 51222.

25(e) Science, including the physical and biological aspects, with
26emphasis on basic concepts, theories, and processes of scientific
27investigation and on the place of humans in ecological systems,
28and with appropriate applications of the interrelation and
29interdependence of the sciences.

30(f) Mathematics, including instruction designed to develop
31mathematical understandings, operational skills, and insight into
32problem-solving procedures.

33(g) Visual and performing arts, including dance, music, theater,
34and visual arts, with emphasis upon development of aesthetic
35appreciation and the skills of creative expression.

36(h) Applied arts, including instruction in the areas of consumer
37and homemaking education, industrial arts, general business
38education, or general agriculture.

39(i) Career technical education designed and conducted for the
40purpose of preparing youth for gainful employment in the
P4    1occupations and in the numbers that are appropriate to the
2personnel needs of the state and the community served and relevant
3to the career desires and needs of the pupils.

4(j) Automobile driver education, designed to develop a
5knowledge of the provisions of the Vehicle Code and other laws
6of this state relating to the operation of motor vehicles, a proper
7acceptance of personal responsibility in traffic, a true appreciation
8of the causes, seriousness, and consequences of traffic accidents,
9and to develop the knowledge and attitudes necessary for the safe
10operation of motor vehicles. A course in automobile driver
11education shall include education in the safe operation of
12motorcycles.

13(k) Other studies as may be prescribed by the governing board.

14

SEC. 3.  

Section 51226.3 of the Education Code is amended to
15read:

16

51226.3.  

(a) (1) The department shall incorporate into
17publications that provide examples of curriculum resources for
18teacher use those materials developed by publishers of nonfiction,
19trade books, and primary sources, or other public or private
20organizations, that are age-appropriate and consistent with the
21subject frameworks on history and social science that deal with
22civil rights, human rights violations, genocide, slavery, and the
23Holocaust.

24(2) The Legislature encourages the department to incorporate
25into publications that provide examples of curriculum resources
26for teacher use those materials developed by publishers of
27nonfiction, trade books, and primary sources, or other public or
28private organizations, that are age-appropriate and consistent with
29the subject frameworks on history and social science that deal with
30the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.

31(b) The Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor,
32rescuer, liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching of human
33rights, the Holocaust, and genocide, including, but not limited to,
34the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.

35(c) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
36development activities to provide teachers with content background
37and resources to assistbegin insert themend insert in teaching about civil rights, human
38rights violations, genocide, slavery, the Armenian Genocide, and
39the Holocaust.

P5    1(d) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
2development activities to provide teachers with content background
3and resources to assistbegin insert themend insert in teaching about the Great Irish
4Famine of 1845-50.

5(e) The Great Irish Famine of 1845-50 shall be considered in
6the next cycle in which the history-social science curriculum
7framework and its accompanying instructional materials are
8adopted.

9(f) When the history-social science curriculum framework is
10revised as required by law, the Instructional Quality Commission
11shall consider including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and
12Rwandan genocides in the history-social science curriculum
13framework.

14(g) The Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide
15adopted by the state board, pursuant to Section 51226, shall be
16made available to schools in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, as soon as
17funding is available for this purpose. In addition, the department
18shall make the curriculum available on its Internet Web site.

19(h) For purposes of this article, “Armenian Genocide” means
20the torture, starvation, and murder of 1,500,000 Armenians, which
21included death marches into the Syrian desert, by the rulers of the
22Ottoman Turkish Empire and the exile of more than 500,000
23innocent people during the period from 1915 to 1923, inclusive.

24

SEC. 4.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
25this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
26local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
27pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
284 of Title 2 of the Government Code.



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