BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 329
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Weber |
|-----------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Version: |April 13, 2015 |
| |Hearing Date: July 1, 2015 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Pupil instruction: sexual health education
SUMMARY
This bill requires schools to provide comprehensive sexual
health education, and modifies the currently required components
of sexual health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1)Authorizes school districts to provide comprehensive sexual
health education, as specified, consisting of age-appropriate
instruction, in any grade, using instructors trained in the
appropriate courses. School districts that elect to offer
comprehensive sexual health education must meet all of the
following criteria:
a) Instruction and materials must be age appropriate.
b) All factual information presented must be medically
accurate and objective.
c) Instruction and materials must encourage a student to
communicate with his or her parents about human sexuality,
teach respect for marriage and committed relationships.
d) Beginning in grade 7, instruction and materials must
teach that abstinence is the only certain way to prevent
AB 329 (Weber) Page 2
of ?
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, provide
information other methods of preventing pregnancy and
sexually transmitted diseases, how sexually transmitted
diseases are and are not transmitted, information on local
resources for testing and medical care, and information on
the effectiveness and safety of all federal Food and Drug
Administration approved contraceptive methods. (Education
Code § 51933)
2)Requires school districts to ensure that all students in grades
7-12 receive HIV/AIDS prevention education, as specified, from
instructors trained in the appropriate courses. Each student
must receive this instruction at least once in junior high or
middle school and at least once in high school. (EC § 51934)
3)Provides that parents have the right to excuse their child from
all or part of comprehensive sexual health education, HIV/AIDS
prevention education, and assessment related to that
education. Current law requires school districts to notify
the parent of each student about instruction in sexual health
and HIV/AIDS prevention and research on student health
behaviors and risks planned for the coming year. (EC § 51938)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires schools to provide comprehensive sexual
health education, and modifies the currently required components
of sexual health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires schools districts to ensure all students in grades 7-12
receive comprehensive sexual health education, and merges
existing statutes related to comprehensive sexual health
education and HIV prevention education. Requires students to
receive this instruction at least once in junior high or
middle school and at least once in high school.
2)Retains the authority for schools to provide age-appropriate
comprehensive sexual health education in grades K-6.
3)Modifies and expands the components that are required to be
included in sexual health education and HIV prevention
instruction:
AB 329 (Weber) Page 3
of ?
a) Modifies information about the effectiveness and safety
of federal Food and Drug Administration approved methods of
prevention to include prevention of HIV and other sexually
transmitted infections (in addition to preventing
pregnancy).
b) Adds information about the effectiveness and safety of
reducing the risk of HIV transmission as a result of
injection drug use by decreasing needle use and needle
sharing.
c) Adds information about the treatment of HIV and other
sexually transmitted infections.
d) Adds information about students' legal rights to access
local resources for sexual and reproductive health care
such as testing and medical care for sexually transmitted
infections other than HIV, and pregnancy prevention and
care.
e) Requires instruction on pregnancy to include an
objective discussion of all legally available pregnancy
outcomes, including:
i) Parenting, adoption, and abortion.
ii) The importance of prenatal care.
4)Modifies and expands criteria that comprehensive sexual health
and HIV prevention education must meet to include the
following:
a) All instruction and materials must be aligned
with and support the stated purposes of comprehensive
sexual health and HIV prevention education, and may not be
in conflict with any of those purposes.
b) Adds "English learners" to characteristics (race,
gender, sexual orientation, ethnic and cultural
backgrounds, students with disabilities) for which
instruction and materials must be appropriate.
AB 329 (Weber) Page 4
of ?
c) Instruction and materials must affirmatively
recognize that people have different sexual orientations
and, when discussing or providing examples of relationships
and couples, be inclusive of same-sex relationships.
d) Instruction and materials must teach students
about gender, gender expression, gender identity, and
explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes.
e) Adds "other trusted adults" with whom students
are encouraged, by instruction and materials, to
communicate. Adds that instruction and materials are to
provide the knowledge and skills necessary to communicate
with a parent or other trusted adult about human sexuality.
f) Modifies what instruction and materials are to
teach from "respect for marriage and committed
relationships" to "the value of and prepare students to
have and maintain committed relationships such as
marriage."
g) Instruction and materials must provide students
with knowledge and skills they need to form healthy
relationships that are based on mutual respect and
affection, and are free from violence, coercion, and
intimidation.
h) Expands the provisions of knowledge and skills
for making and implementing healthy decisions about
sexuality to include negotiation and refusal skills to
assist students in overcoming peer pressure and using
effective decision-making skills to avoid high-risk
activities.
5)Expands currently-required in-service training for school
personnel who provide instruction in HIV prevention to include
training on comprehensive sexual health education.
6)Clarifies that outside consultants and guest speakers providing
instruction must have expertise in sexual health education and
HIV prevention, and specifies that consultants and guest
speakers must have knowledge of the most recent medically
accurate research on the related topics.
AB 329 (Weber) Page 5
of ?
7)Clarifies the existing parental opt-out (passive consent), and
specifically prohibits school districts from requiring active
parental consent (opt-in).
8)Expands exclusions from being considered sexual education (does
not discuss human reproductive organs and their functions) to
include presentations or programming, and topics of discussion
to include gender identity, gender expression, discrimination,
harassment, bullying, intimidation, and relationships.
9)Changes "HIV/AIDS prevention" to "HIV prevention," "family
planning" to "contraception," and "sexually transmitted
diseases" to "sexually transmitted infections."
STAFF COMMENTS
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, "HIV prevention
education is mandated in California schools. But the law,
written in 1992, is outdated and doesn't address the broader
context of HIV prevention. For example, instruction that is
fundamental to equipping students to understand and prevent
HIV is currently relegated to non-mandated comprehensive
sexual health education. A 2011 survey by the University of
California, San Francisco, found that many California schools
were out of compliance with existing law. For instance, over
one-quarter of surveyed schools omitted required HIV
prevention topics, and 16% even taught the medically
inaccurate information that condoms are not effective."
2)Mandatory sexual health education. Current law does not mandate
sexual health education; school districts may choose to
provide sexual education but must ensure that the instruction
meets specified criteria, such as be medically accurate and
objective. According to the Assembly Education Committee
analysis, while this instruction is voluntary, research has
shown that nearly all (96%) school districts offer a program
of sexual health education. HIV/AIDS prevention education has
been mandated since 1992. This bill combines sexual health
education and the HIV prevention education provisions into a
single, mandatory program of instruction.
3)Related and prior legislation.
RELATED LEGISLATION
AB 329 (Weber) Page 6
of ?
AB 517 (Gallagher, 2015) requires school districts to provide time
for parents to inspect educational materials used in sexual
health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education, authorizes
parents to make copies at the school of written materials, and
requires existing parental notification to include information
about the expertise of any guest speaker or outside consultant
in sexual health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education.
AB 517 is pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
PRIOR LEGISLATION
SB 1165 (Mitchell, Ch. 713, 2014) requires the Instructional
Quality Commission to consider including in the next revision
of the health framework, instruction on sexual abuse and sex
trafficking prevention.
AB 2016 (Campos, Ch. 809, 2014) requires the State Board of
Education to consider including age-appropriate content on
sexual abuse and sexual assault awareness and prevention in
the next revision of the health content standards.
SUPPORT
ACCESS Women's Health Justice
AIDS Project Los Angeles
American Civil Liberties Union
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
American Nurses Association of California
Bay Area Communities for Health Education
Business & Professional Women of Nevada County
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Association of School Health Educators
California Conference of Local Health Officers
California Family Health Council
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
California School Boards Association
AB 329 (Weber) Page 7
of ?
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
Citizens for Choice
Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County
Fresno Barrios Unidos
Gay-Straight Alliance Network of California
GSA Network of California
Health Connected
Health Initiatives for Youth
Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership
Latino Health Alliance
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
National Council of Jewish Women, Los Angeles
Oakland Unified School District
Physicians for Reproductive Health
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Santa Barbara, Ventura, and
San Luis Obispo
Counties
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest
Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Planned Parenthood Northern California Action Fund
Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino
Planned Parenthood Pasadena and San Gabriel Valley
Positive Women's Network-USA
Public Health Institute's Center for Research on Adolescent
Health and Development
San Francisco Unified School District
Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson
Teen Success
Women's Community Clinic
Numerous individuals
OPPOSITION
California Right to Life Committee
Capitol Resource Institute
-- END --