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,  







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               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  








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          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.








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               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.









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          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!








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           OPPOSITION

           None on file.