Senate Bill No. 552

Introduced by Senator Calderon

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Section 51220 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 552, as introduced, Calderon. Pupil instruction: social sciences: violence awareness.

Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of instruction, including social sciences.

This bill would provide that instruction in the area of social sciences may include instruction on violence awareness, which may include a component drawn from personal testimony in the form of oral or video histories of individuals who were involved with violence awareness efforts. The bill would specify that it is the intent of the Legislature that the measure be carried out in a manner that does not result in new duties or programs being imposed on a school district.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 51220 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

51220.  

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

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

(b)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Social sciences, drawing upon the disciplines of
anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science,
psychology, and sociology, designed to fit the maturity of the
pupils. Instruction shall provide a foundation for understanding
the history, resources, development, and government of California
and the United States of America; instruction in our American
legal system, the operation of the juvenile and adult criminal justice
systems, and the rights and duties of citizens under the criminal
and civil law and the State and Federal Constitutions; the
development of the American economic system, including the role
of the entrepreneur and labor; the relations of persons to their
human and natural environment; eastern and western cultures and
civilizations; human rights issues, with particular attention to the
study of the inhumanity of genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust,
and contemporary issues.

begin insert

(2) Instruction in the area of social sciences may also include
instruction on violence awareness, which may include a component
drawn from personal testimony in the form of oral or video
histories of individuals who were involved in violence awareness
efforts that exemplify the economic and cultural effects of violence
prevention efforts within a city, the state, and the country.

end insert

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEC. 2.  

It is the intent of the Legislature that this measure be
carried out in a manner that does not result in new duties or
programs being imposed on school districts. In this regard, the
Legislature finds and declares that this measure does not mandate
costs to local agencies or school districts, and that materials used
to comply with the provisions of this bill shall be a part of materials
purchased in a school district’s regular course of business and
purchasing cycles.