BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 1380 PageA SENATE THIRD READING SB 1380 (Wyland) As Amended April 30, 2014 Majority vote SENATE VOTE :33-0 EDUCATION 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Chávez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, | | |Gonzalez, Nazarian, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian | | |Weber, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, | | | | |Gomez, Holden, Jones, | | | | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, | | | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, | | | | |Weber | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Further, this bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to consider including the Armenian Genocide when the history-social science curriculum framework is revised. Specifically, this bill : 1)Encourages instruction in the social sciences for grades 7 through 12, 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, in the form of oral or video histories of military veterans who were involved in those conflicts. 2)Encourages the California Department of Education (CDE) to include in publications that provide examples of curriculum resources for teachers, instruction in the origins of genocide as a phenomenon and encourages content providers and teachers to promote analyses of genocides, including the ethnic, religious, and political causes. 3)Encourages incorporating survivor, rescuer, liberator, and SB 1380 PageB witness oral testimony when teaching about genocide, including the Armenia, Cambodia, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides. 4)Defines the term "oral testimony" to mean only those firsthand accounts of significant historical events and provides examples of the formats of such testimony. 5)Requires the IQC to consider including the Armenian Genocide when the history-social science curriculum framework is revised. 6)Makes technical and non-substantive changes to this section. EXISTING LAW : 1)Permits instruction in the social sciences to include World War II (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 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 Assembly Appropriations Committee, there are minor/absorbable costs to the CDE for the IQC to consider including the Armenian Genocide when the history-social science curriculum framework is revised. According to the CDE the current draft of the history-social SB 1380 PageC science framework already covers the Armenian genocide. To the extent major rewriting of the framework is needed, however, CDE indicates they could need additional resources and an extended timeline for adoption. Additionally, there is General Fund/Proposition 98 of 1988 cost pressure, in the hundreds of thousands, to the extent school districts decide to purchase new basic or supplemental instructional materials and develop or incorporate additional content and resources into professional development activities relative to instruction in the origins of genocide and American military conflicts, as specified. 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 Barack 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 $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 --------------------------- <1> http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/war.casualties/ . <2> http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/28/the-total-iraq-and -afghanistan-pricetag-over-4-trillion . SB 1380 PageD 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 through 6, and/or grades 7 through 12, 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 through 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. 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: SB 1380 PageE 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. Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0004785