BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1380
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Date of Hearing: June 25, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
SB 1380 (Wyland) - As Amended: April 30, 2014
SENATE VOTE : 33-0
SUBJECT : Pupil instruction: social science: military conflicts
in Afghanistan and Iraq: genocide
SUMMARY : Encourages instruction in social science for grades 7
to 12, inclusive, to include the American military conflicts in
Afghanistan and Iraq, including Operation Desert Storm. This
bill also requires the California Department of Education (CDE)
to include the Armenian Genocide in specified curriculum
resources and publications. Specifically, this bill :
1)Encourages instruction in social science for grades 7 to 12,
inclusive, to include the American military conflicts in
Afghanistan and Iraq, including Operation Desert Storm and
encourages this instruction to include a component drawn from
personal testimony, especially in the form of oral or video
histories of military veterans who were involved in those
conflicts.
2)Specifies that any oral histories used pursuant to this
measure, should exemplify the personal sacrifice, courage, and
sense of duty of those who were called upon to serve.
3)Encourages the CDE, to include all of the following in
specified publications:
(a) Instruction in the origins of genocide as a phenomenon
throughout history that continues to the present day.
(b) Encouragement for content providers and teachers to
promote pupil analysis of genocides, including the ethnic,
religious, and political causes;
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(c) Encouragement for content providers and teachers to
incorporate instructional materials for pupils that examine
the possible means of preventing and halting genocide
policies or interventions by the United Nations, other
groups of nations, or the United States; and
(d) Examinations of interventions to prevent genocides that
include arguments and evidence for and against intervention,
the role of public support for the intervention, and the
possible consequences of such interventions.
4)Encourages incorporating survivor, rescuer, liberator, and
witness oral testimony when teaching about genocide, including
but not limited to the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and
Rwandan genocides.
5)Defines the term "oral testimony" to mean only those firsthand
accounts of significant historical events and provides
examples of the formats of such testimony.
6)Requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to
consider including the Armenian Genocide when the
history-social science curriculum framework is revised.
7)Makes technical and non-substantive changes to this section.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Permits instruction in the Social Sciences to include WWII,
the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
2)Requires each Local Educational Agency (LEA) to adopt a course
of study in the social sciences for grades 7 - 12, inclusive,
that includes the study of the inhumanity of genocide,
slavery, and the Holocaust.
3)Requires the CDE to incorporate examples of curriculum
resources in its publications that relate to genocide, and
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specifically to the Holocaust.
4)Encourages all state and local professional development
activities to provide teachers with content background and
resources to assist in teaching about genocide.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill will have the following fiscal effects:
1)History-social science framework: No new costs for the IQC,
because the current (2009) draft of the history-social science
framework already covers the Armenian genocide.
2)"Encouraging" instruction: Minor costs pressure on schools to
teach specific additional topics, and to incorporate oral
histories into their instruction, to the extent they are not
already doing so.
COMMENTS :
Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq
The conflict in Afghanistan began in 2001 following the attacks
of September 11, 2001. American and coalition troops remain in
Afghanistan today, though earlier this year President Obama
formally ordered the Pentagon to make plans for a full pullout
of American troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The
conflict in Iraq began with an invasion led by the United States
on March 20, 2003 in response to the allegation by the United
States and the United Kingdom that Iraq possessed weapons of
mass destruction that posed a threat to their security and that
of their coalition/regional allies. The United States withdrew
the last of its military personnel in December, 2011.
As of June 12, 2014, 8,251 American and coalition troops have
died and 52,032 have been wounded in the conflicts in
Afghanistan and Iraq.<1> The estimated cost of these wars is
between $4 and $6 trillion, according a new study from Harvard
University's Kennedy School. "A large share of those bills has
yet to be paid: the study finds that the U.S. has spent around
---------------------------
<1> http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/war.casualties/ . Accessed on
June 12, 2014.
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$2 trillion thus far ?and that growing commitments to spending
on military personnel and veterans will drive much of the
spending in the decades to come.<2>
The Armenian Genocide
The California Senate, in SB 424 (Poochigian), Chapter 9,
Statutes of 2005, recognized the Armenian Genocide as a series
of events occurring between 1915 and 1918 in which the rulers of
the Ottoman Turkish Empire systematically exterminated its
Armenian citizens. During this time, the rulers conducted
massacres and forced labor of able bodied Armenian men.
Additionally, the Ottoman Turkish rulers forced Armenian women,
children, elderly, and infirm to march from their homeland to
the Syrian Desert. Approximately 75% of those Armenian people
on these marches died. Between 1 million and 1.5 million
Armenian people were killed during this three year period.
Course of Study
Existing law requires each local board of education to adopt
a course of study for grades 1 - 6, inclusive, and/or grades
7 - 12, inclusive, based on the grades served by the LEA. A
course of study is a scope and sequence of classes that are
designed to meet the specific topics identified in statute.
Existing law requires a local governing board to adopt
courses of study for grades 7 - 12 that includes instruction
in the following areas of study: English, social science,
foreign language, physical education, science, mathematics,
visual and performing arts, applied arts, career technical
education, and automobile driver education. Within these
instructional areas, the Legislature has specified specific
skills or concepts that must be included. While not every
class offered must be limited to the statutory objectives,
the LEA must structure its course offerings so that all of
these objectives areas are included over the course of study
offered to all students. Existing law also permits a local
board of education to adopt additional areas of instruction.
-------------------------
<2>
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/28/the-total-iraq-and
-afghanistan-pricetag-over-4-trillion . Accessed on June 12,
2014.
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Currently, there are a large number of topics and concepts
that are encouraged by the Legislature for inclusion in the
social sciences course of study. These include, in part:
1) An understanding of the wise use of natural
resources;
2) The American role in WWII and personal testimony of
American soldiers who served in that war;
3) The role of Filipino Americans in WWII; and
4) The "Secret War" in Laos and the role of Southeast
Asians in this war as a part of instruction provided on
the Vietnam War.
Including the Armenian Genocide in CDE Publications
California curriculum is based on state-adopted content
standards that are developed by the IQC (also referenced in
statute as the "commission") and approved by the State Board of
Education (SBE). The curriculum frameworks, similarly developed
by the IQC and adopted by the SBE, are guidelines for
implementing these standards. The IQC is an 18-member
commission consisting of one member of the Assembly, one member
of the Senate, and 16 public members. At least seven of the
public members must have taught, written, or lectured on the
subject areas required for graduation. The committee may wish
to consider the extent to which academic content should be
mandated through statutory incorporation versus developed
through the IQC process. The IQC members have subject matter
expertise and may be better equipped to balance competing
demands for limited instructional time. The committee may also
wish to consider the extent to which the provisions of this bill
are met though existing law and practice. The existing
history-social science academic content standards include a
discussion of the Ottoman government's actions against its
Armenian citizens in the context of the causes and course of
World War I. Additionally, the draft history-social science
curriculum framework of 2009 includes a discussion of the
Armenian genocide. Finally, the CDE publishes a searchable
database of books titled Recommended Literature: Prekindergarten
Through Grade Twelve. According to the CDE's website, this list
is designed for "children and teens which helps students,
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teachers, and families find books that entertain, inform, and
explore new ideas and experiences." This list was last revised
in 2012 and includes at least four titles addressing the
Armenian Genocide with one of these being a first-hand account.
Finally, the committee may wish to consider that the CDE already
publishes a model curriculum on human rights and genocide. This
curriculum was first published by the CDE in 1988 and serves as
a support document to the history-social science curriculum
framework. It covers, by grade levels, various curriculum
strands in the areas of human rights and genocide. The model
curriculum highlights human rights atrocities in Armenia, the
Ukraine, and Europe under the Nazis, as well as totalitarian
violations in Cambodia, Argentina, and South Africa. This model
curriculum was revised in 2000 and includes a lengthy discussion
of the Armenian Genocide.
Related Legislation
AB 659 (Nazarian) requires the CDE to include the Armenian
Genocide in its published curriculum resources, encourages the
incorporation oral testimony when teaching specific instances of
genocide (including the genocides in Armenia, Cambodia, Darfur,
and Rwanda) into existing curriculum, encourages including the
Armenian Genocide into state and local professional development
activities and in the next revision of the history/social
science curriculum framework, and makes
technical/non-substantive revisions to these sections. AB 659
is pending in the Senate Education Committee.
AB 1915 (Nazarian), among other things, requires the
Instructional Quality Commission to include the Armenian,
Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides in the next revision of
the history-social science framework. AB 1915 was heard in the
Senate Education Committee on June 18, 2014 and passed out of
that committee with amendments by a vote of 7-0.
AJR 35 (Perez), Resolution Chapter 29, Statutes of 2014,
designates the week of April 20 through 26, 2014, as "California
Week of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923," and
would memorialize the Congress and the President of the United
States to observe the California Week of Remembrance for the
Armenian Genocide by participating in the Armenian Genocide
Commemorative Project.
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AJR 41 (Ian Calderon), Resolution Chapter 61, Statues of 2014,
commends the extraordinary service delivered by Near East Relief
to the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and the Assyrian
Genocide.
SB 1380 (Wyland) of 2014, pending in the Senate Education
Committee, requires the IQC to consider including the Armenian
Genocide in the next revision of the history-social science
framework and specifically identifies the Armenian Genocide when
encouraging the incorporation of oral testimony into the
teaching of human rights and genocide. This measure is
scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Education Committee on
June 25, 2014.
SB 1419 (Wyland) of 2014, pending in the Senate Rules Committee,
commencing with the 2015-16 school year, would prohibit a pupil
from receiving credit for passing a course in world history,
culture, and geography, without exposure in that course to an
oral history component, as defined, specifically related to
genocides, specifically including the Armenian Genocide.
SJR 21 (De León and Yee), Resolution Chapter 32, Statutes of
2014, designates and encourages the people of California to
commemorate the month of April 2014, as "California Month of
Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923," and calls
upon the Congress and the President of the United States to act
likewise and to formally and consistently recognize and reaffirm
the historical truth that the atrocities committed against the
Armenian people constituted genocide. The measure commends
conscientious educators who teach about human rights and
genocide and calls upon the President to work toward equitable,
constructive, stable, and durable Armenian-Turkish relations and
a fair, just, and comprehensive international resolution of this
crime against humanity, and would call upon the Republic of
Turkey to acknowledge the facts of the Armenian Genocide and to
work toward a just resolution.
Prior Related Legislation .
SB 234 (Wyland) of 2009, which died in Assembly Appropriations,
required the Commission to consider an oral history component
specifically related to genocides, including but not limited to,
the Darfur, Rwandan, Cambodian, Jewish Holocaust, or Armenian
genocides in the history/social science curriculum. This
measure passed out of the Assembly Education Committee by a vote
of 10-0.
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SR 31 (Wyland) of 2009, which died in Senate Rules, resolved
that schools in California are encouraged to include an oral
history of genocides, including, but not necessarily limited to,
the Darfur, Rwandan, Cambodian, Jewish Holocaust, and Armenian
genocides, in the history/social science curriculum component.
SB 424 (Poochigian), Chapter 9, Statutes of 2005, establishes
April 24 of each year as the "California Day of Remembrance of
the Armenian Genocide" and the period beginning on the Sunday
before that day through the following Sunday as the days of
remembrance of the Armenian Genocide. This measure was not heard
by the Assembly Education Committee.
ACR 116 (Yee), Resolution Chapter 114, Statutes of 2004, urges
the SBE to take action at the next instructional materials
primary adoption cycle to ensure that history/social science
textbooks used in California schools in grade 10 fairly and
accurately portray human rights violations and other historical
atrocities in a comprehensive manner. This measure passed out of
the Assembly Education Committee by a vote of 11-0.
SJR 1 (Poochigian), Resolution Chapter 18, Statutes of 2003,
designates April 24, 2003, as the "California Day of Remembrance
of the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923" and requests Congress to
likewise act to commemorate the Armenian Genocide. This measure
was not heard by the Assembly Education Committee.
AB 1021 (Yee) of 2003, requires the Armenian Genocide be
considered in the next cycle in which the history/social science
curriculum framework and its accompanying instructional
materials are adopted. This bill died in Assembly
Appropriations. This measure passed out of the Assembly
Education Committee by a vote of 11-0.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Veterans Caucus of the California Democratic Party
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087
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