BILL ANALYSIS Ó
ACR 144
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
ACR 144
(Mullin) - As Introduced February 24, 2016
SUBJECT: Public schools: character education
SUMMARY: Resolves that the Legislature urges the State Board of
Education (SBE), county offices of education, and local school
governing bodies to increase emphasis on character, citizenship,
ethics, and the humane treatment of living creatures in order to
promote a humane and compassionate society. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Makes findings and declarations relative to the importance of
education in character, citizenship, ethics, and the humane
treatment of living creatures.
2)Resolves that the Legislature urges the SBE, county offices of
education, and local school governing bodies to increase
emphasis on character, citizenship, ethics, and the humane
treatment of living creatures in order to promote a humane and
compassionate society.
3)Resolves that the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies
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of this resolution to the SBE, the Superintendent of Public
Instruction, boards of education and administrators of county
offices and school districts, and to the author for
distribution.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires that each teacher endeavor to impress upon the minds
of the pupils the principles of morality, truth, justice,
patriotism, and a true comprehension of the rights, duties,
and dignity of American citizenship, and the meaning of
equality and human dignity, including the promotion of
harmonious relations, kindness toward domestic pets and the
humane treatment of living creatures, to teach them to avoid
idleness, profanity, and falsehood, and to instruct them in
manners and morals and the principles of a free government.
2)Encourages each teacher to create and foster an environment
that encourages pupils to realize their full potential and
that is free from discriminatory attitudes, practices, events,
or activities, in order to prevent acts of hate violence.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Need for the resolution. According to the author, "ACR 144
encourages greater emphasis on character, citizenship, ethics,
and the humane treatment of animals. Section 233.5 of the
California Code of Education requires that educators instill
moral and ethical principles in pupils across the state. It also
mandates that teachers promote kindness toward domestic pets and
the humane treatment of living creatures to create a more
healthy and humane world.
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The State of California has demonstrated support for character
education since the 1980s, when a select bipartisan committee on
character education was initiated. Every year, the California
State Board of Education adopts a resolution naming the month of
October as "Character Education Month."
Humane education. According to the SPCA of Los Angeles, the
primary goals of humane education are to decrease both animal
cruelty and interpersonal violence. Numerous organizations offer
free curriculum materials which may be used by schools and
individuals to teach about topics ranging from the prevention of
animal cruelty, to animal safety, to careers with animals, among
others. Proponents of humane education note the
well-established association between animal cruelty and
interpersonal violence in adulthood.
To ensure that state-adopted instructional materials are in
compliance with state law regarding humane education, the CDE
and local educational agencies use a document titled "Standards
for Evaluating Instructional Materials for Social Content,"
adopted by the SBE in 2013. This document guides evaluators in
ensuring compliance with various requirements for curriculum in
statute and SBE policy as they review instructional materials
for state and local adoption. Reflecting existing law regarding
humane education in instructional materials, this document
states: "Humane treatment of people and animals should be
encouraged through illustrations and text."
Related legislation. HR 28 (Dababneh) of this Session
encourages the Superintendent of Public Instruction to ensure
the incorporation of humane education in the core curriculum,
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and resolves that compliance with existing law regarding humane
education should include educating students on principles of
kindness and respect for animals.
AB 2028 (Correa) of the 1999-2000 Session, required the SBE to
survey and report findings on character education programs
implemented by school districts and county offices by January 1,
2002. AB 2028 was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
ACR 55 (Mullin) of the 2007-08 Session encouraged the SBE,
county offices of education, and local school governing bodies
to evaluate and increase their emphasis on character,
citizenship, and ethics education. ACR 55 was chaptered by the
Secretary of State.
SB 811 (O'Connell) of the 2001-02 Session, would have required
that the promotion of compassion and respect for both humans and
animals be considered in the next cycle in which the science,
and history/social science curricula frameworks and the
accompanying instructional materials are adopted. This measure
was held in the Assembly and not heard in this Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support
City of Palo Alto
Palo Alto Humane Society
An individual
Opposition
None received
Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087