BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 524
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 14, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
SB 524 (Lara, Steinberg) - As Amended: August 8, 2013
SENATE VOTE : 38-0
SUBJECT : Pupil Instruction: Pathways Curriculum Task Force
SUMMARY : Establishes the Pathways Curriculum Task Force.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes findings and declarations of the Legislature related to
the awareness of college and career opportunities of pupils in
grades Kindergarten through grade 12.
2)Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to
appoint and staff a Pathways Curriculum Task Force to develop
a voluntary curriculum for Kindergarten and grades 1 through
12, inclusive.
3)Identifies the entities that must be represented on the task
force, including representatives of each of the following:
a) Postsecondary education;
b) Elementary and secondary education;
c) Non-profit organizations whose missions are focused
on increased participation in postsecondary education;
d) Non-profit organization whose mission focuses on
working with parents and families of school age children;
e) Parents; and
f) Experts in career preparation or apprenticeship.
SB 524
Page 2
4)Encourages the SPI to include on the task force persons with
specific knowledge and background in college admissions,
financial aid, postsecondary educational opportunities, and
K-12 curriculum development.
5)Specifies that the curriculum developed by this task force
provide pupils and their families with a basic understating of
postsecondary institutions, options, programs, and
opportunities within California.
6)Requires the task force to establish learning goals for pupils
at the various grade spans.
7)Requires the task force to develop a curriculum that addresses
all of the following topics:
a) The variety of college, university, and technical
education opportunities in California;
b) The importance of postsecondary education and
training;
c) The ways to finance postsecondary education and
training;
d) The a-g course sequence required for admission to
the University of California (UC) and the community
college transfer process; and
e) A means by which this curriculum will be maintained
to preserve its relevance.
8)Specifies that the curriculum developed pursuant to this
section shall accomplish all of the following:
a) Be concise and clear so as to allow easy integration
into other curriculum areas;
SB 524
Page 3
b) Develop a comprehensive understanding of
postsecondary educational opportunities;
c) Include complimentary materials for families and
guardians to assist pupils in achieving their college and
career goals;
d) Provide information designed to address the special
needs of those persons who have come to California from
other states and countries who are entering the
California elementary and secondary education system at
various grade levels;
e) Provide curriculum materials and suggestions for
inspiring and informing pupils and their families about
college and career pathways; and
f) Include information on the availability of and
access to the most current information on postsecondary
educational opportunities, including applicable websites.
9)Requires the task force to solicit and consider input from a
broad range of entities, including, but not limited to, the
Student Aid Commission, the Bureau of Private Postsecondary
Education, specialists in elementary and secondary curriculum,
school counselors, experts in federal and state financial aid
and college admissions, non-profit organizations whose
missions are related to career preparation and college access,
business, labor, parents, and pupils.
10)Requires the task force to convene for the first time no
later than April 1, 2014, complete this curriculum within one
year of this first convening, and transmit the curriculum to
specified entities so that those entities may review the
curriculum.
SB 524
Page 4
11)Consider comments and make changes as deemed appropriate
based on the entities to which the curriculum is submitted for
review, and then transmit the revised curriculum to the
California Department of Education (CDE).
12)Requires the CDE to maintain and make this curriculum
available for district and school use.
13)Requires the CDE to determine and implement, based on the
recommendation of the task force, a means to maintain the
relevance and current-nature of the curriculum.
14)Requires the SPI to disseminate the curriculum to districts,
county offices of education, charter schools, professional
educational organization, civic organizations, and the public.
15)Makes clear that local educational agencies (LEAs) are not
required to implement any part of this curriculum.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires each school district offering any of 9th through 12th
grades annually to provide parents and pupils with written
notification relating to the admission requirements for
California's public universities, including a list of Internet
Web sites that offer information about college admission
requirements and courses satisfying those requirements, as
well as information about meeting with school counselors.
2) The California State University (CSU) and the UC have
established common high school course requirements for
undergraduate admissions. Students who take these courses and
meet other specified criteria are eligible to apply and be
considered for admission. The following list is commonly
referred to the a-g requirements:
a) 2 years of history/social science.
b) 4 years of college preparatory English or language
instruction.
SB 524
Page 5
c) 3 years of college preparatory mathematics.
d) 2 years of laboratory science.
e) 2 years of the same language other than English.
f) 1 year visual and performing art.
g)1 year of college preparatory electives.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill will result in significant costs to the CDE
to staff a 12-member task force with extensive duties. The
actual costs will be determined by the complexity of the
curriculum developed, the efficiency of the task force, and the
staffing level decided by the SPI; the CDE estimates that it
will require approximately $300,000 to implement the task force.
COMMENTS : 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 and
curriculum should be developed through statutory incorporation
versus through the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) and
local school boards when adopting a local course of study.
However, requiring the development of a model curriculum is not
unprecedented and is currently available on various topics, such
as Human Rights and Genocide, the environment (Education and the
Environment Initiative), and the Life and Works of Cesar Chavez.
High school students earn eligibility for both of California's
public university systems by completing the a-g course pattern.
The a-g course pattern is a series of 15 course requirements
that need to be taken in high school to be eligible for
admission to California's public universities. Only high school
courses that have been submitted by the LEA for review and
approval to the UC may be used to satisfy these requirements.
SB 524
Page 6
UC annually establishes and maintains a list for each California
high school of each UC-approved course offered by that high
school. Existing law already requires notification to parents
and pupils regarding these requirements, however, this bill
would go beyond notification and instead require the task force
to incorporate this information into a comprehensive curriculum.
Related legislation . SB 552 (Calderon) authorizes social
science instruction in grades 7-12 to include instruction on
violence awareness and is currently pending in this committee.
SB 330 (Padilla) requires the creation of a distinct category on
mental health instruction during the next revision of the health
framework. This bill passed out of the Assembly Education
committee by a vote of 7-0.
SB 696 (Block) among other things adds civics learning
objectives to the history-social science framework. This bill
was held in Senate Appropriations.
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 when the history-social science framework are
revised and specifies civic learning content to be taught.
AB 166 (Hern�ndez), 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 424 (Donnelly), passed out of this committee on May 1, 2013,
encourages the history social science frameworks to include
specified historical documents and encourages instruction on the
development of democracy and the history of the development of
the United States Constitution.
AB 700 (Gomez), passed out of this committee on May 1, 2013,
requires, when the history-social science framework is next
revised, the IQC to include voter education information in the
high school American Government and civics courses, including
information on the importance of registering to vote in local,
SB 524
Page 7
state, and federal elections, and to include where how to access
the voter information pamphlet and other materials to become an
informed voter.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Alliance for Arts Education (PRIOR VERSION)
California Association of School Counselors (PRIOR VERSION)
California Student Aid Commission (PRIOR VERSION)
Families in Schools (PRIOR VERSION)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087