BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 146
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Date of Hearing: April 15, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
146 (Cristina Garcia) - As Amended February 25, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY: This bill requires the State Board of Education, in
the next revision of the history-social science framework after
January 1, 2016, to consider including evaluation criteria and
accompanying instructional materials on the deportation to
Mexico of citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United
States, during the Great Depression. The bill further
encourages incorporation of this topic into curriculum resources
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and state and local professional development activities.
FISCAL EFFECT:
One-time General Fund costs to the California Department of
Education (CDE) of approximately $160,000 to revise the
History-Social Science Framework to include the Deportation in
the adoption of instructional materials.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, in a state where 38% the
population is Latino, our children should learn about an event
where over 1 million Mexican Immigrants and Mexican Americans
were unconstitutionally deported to Mexico. This bill was the
winning legislative proposal in a competition sponsored by the
author. It was submitted by a 5th grade class at Bell Gardens
Elementary School.
2)Background. SCR 58 (Cedillo), Chapter 128, Statutes of 2007
recognized the importance of including the events surrounding
the Mexican Repatriation Program in the social studies
curriculum and requested that the Curriculum Development and
Supplemental Materials Commission and the State Board of
Education to include these events in the 2009 curriculum
framework. In response to this resolution, the September 2014
draft revision to the History-Social Science Framework
includes some references to the deportation to Mexico during
the Great Depression.
Adoption of the revised History-Social Science Framework has
been delayed for several years for a variety of reasons,
primarily fiscal. In 2009, work on the framework was halted
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due to state budget constraints. Work resumed in 2014,
however, the draft framework resulted in over 700 comments and
created additional workload challenges. The CDE determined
additional subject matter knowledge was needed to complete the
framework. The Governor's budget proposes $124,000 to assist
CDE with framework completion. The Legislature has not yet
acted on this proposal.
3)Prior legislation. SB 1575 (Dunn) of the 2005-06 Session was
substantively similar to this bill and was vetoed by the
Governor. SB 551 (Cedillo) of the 2007-08 Session was also
similar and was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Both proposed to add the topic of Mexican American deportation
to the required course of study for grades 1-12. SB 1214
(Cedillo), also of the 2007-08 Session proposed similar
requirements. That bill was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger, who stated:
I vetoed a substantively similar bill two years ago on this
issue, and I have consistently vetoed legislation that has
attempted to mandate specific details or events into areas
of instruction. The State Board of Education adopted
content standards are developed by a diverse group of
experts and are intentionally broad in order to allow
coverage of various events, developments, and issues. I
continue to believe that the State should establish
rigorous standards and frameworks, but refrain from being
overly prescriptive in specific school curriculum.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081
AB 146
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