BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Carol Liu, Chair 2013-2014 Regular Session BILL NO: SB 552 AUTHOR: Calderon INTRODUCED: February 22, 2013 FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: April 24, 2013 URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber SUBJECT : Instruction in violence awareness. SUMMARY This bill authorizes social science instruction in grades 7-12 to include instruction on violence awareness. BACKGROUND Course of study Current law: 1) Requires the adopted course of study for grades 7-12, inclusive, to include instruction in social sciences, drawing upon the disciplines of anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology, designed to fit the maturity of the pupils. (Education Code § 51220) 2) Requires social studies instruction to provide a foundation for understanding the history, resources, development, and government of California and the U.S.; 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, SB 552 Page 2 and contemporary issues. (EC § 51220) 3) Authorizes social science instruction to include instruction on World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War (including the "Secret War" in Laos), the role of Filipinos in World War II, and the Bracero program. (EC § 51221.3 and § 51221.4) Standards and Frameworks Academic content standards define the knowledge, concepts, and skills that pupils should acquire at each grade level (the "what"). Curricular frameworks are the blueprint for implementing the standards, and include criteria by which instructional materials are evaluated (the "how"). The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting instructional materials have been suspended since July 28, 2009. The State Board of Education (SBE) is specifically prohibited from reviewing frameworks and adopting instructional materials until the 2015-16 school year. (EC § 60200.7) The history-social science framework was last adopted in 2005. A review of this framework was underway and nearly complete when the state suspended the process in July 2009, due to budget constraints. Current law authorizes the SBE to consider the adoption of a revised framework and evaluation criteria in history-social science but only after the California Department Education has completed work on the development of frameworks for the common core standards. (EC § 60200.8) ANALYSIS This bill authorizes instruction in the areas of social sciences in grades 7-12 to 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 SB 552 Page 3 awareness efforts that exemplify the economic and cultural effects of violence prevention efforts within a city, the state and country. STAFF COMMENTS 1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "California school aged children are exposed to violence in the media almost every day. And there are other, less fortunate, children who have been directly exposed to violence in their personal life. One of the most effective and efficient ways to accomplish the goal of providing California school aged children with a comprehensive understanding of the issue of violence is to create a basic curriculum from which teachers and students can teach and learn from." 2) Unnecessary but not unprecedented . This bill authorizes an action that can already be undertaken under existing law; however, this Committee has passed similar legislation that has ultimately become law. 3) Course of study . Current law prescribes that the adopted course of study for grades 1-12 include specific areas of study. This appears to require every school to offer courses in every subject listed yet it is staff's understanding that not every school offers courses in driver's education or health, for example. Further, the statutory course of study also includes: a) Lifelong health, aging and financial preparedness. b) Nuclear age. c) Work experience. d) Energy. e) Genetic diseases and disorders. f) Aviation. g) School gardens. h) Community service. i) Consumer economics. j) Driver's training. aa) Bicycle safety. SB 552 Page 4 bb) Aquatic safety. cc) Comprehensive health. dd) Comprehensive sex education. ee) Prevention of brain and spinal cord injuries. Another approach to adding topics to the curriculum is to add specifics to the curricular frameworks, which are used as the basis for the development of instructional materials. However, the process of adding topics to the frameworks is lengthy and costly. 4) Already in the framework ? The history-social science framework appears to contain very little information relative to violence prevention. The health framework includes information about violence awareness but does not appear to include grade-specific expectations. 5) Violence prevention information . The California Department of Education currently maintains on its website information about funds, training, resources and technical assistance concerning prevention violence. However, none of that information appears to be in the form of curriculum. http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/vp/index.asp 6) Related legislation . SB 330 (Padilla) requires the creation of a distinct category on mental health instruction during the next revision of the health framework. SB 330 is scheduled to be heard by this Committee on May 1, 2013. SB 524 (Lara) requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to appoint and staff a 12 member taskforce to develop voluntary K-12 curriculum regarding postsecondary opportunities and financial aid. SB 524 is scheduled to be heard by this Committee on April 24, 2013. SB 696 (Block) among other things, adds civics learning objectives to the history-social science framework. SB 696 is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee. SB 552 Page 5 AB 137 (Buchanan) requires the inclusion of strategies to increase instruction in civics whenever the history-social science framework is updated. AB 137 is pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. AB 391 (Wieckowski) requires the history-social science framework, when updated, to include financial literacy, and requires the one-semester instructional program on consumer economics to be updated to include instruction in specified areas of financial literacy. AB 391 is pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. AB 424 (Donnelly) requires instruction in the social sciences to include the development of democracy and the history of the development of the United States Constitution and requires specified historical documents be included in the history-social science framework. AB 424 failed passage in the Assembly Education Committee on April 3, 2013, on a 2-5 vote. AB 700 (Gomez) requires the adopted course of study in history-social science to include beginning with the 2014-15 school year, a voter education component providing instruction in 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. This bill also requires the California Department of Education, by July 1, 2014, to develop and adopt a model curriculum framework for a voter education component in social studies classes to be implemented beginning with the 2014-15 school year. AB 700 is scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Education Committee on May 1, 2013. SUPPORT American Board of Behavioral Health Practice Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, California Chapters Concept Healthcare National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter Nicholas & Dorothy Cummings Foundation Youth ALIVE! SB 552 Page 6 OPPOSITION None on file.