BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 2845 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 20, 2016 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Patrick O'Donnell, Chair AB 2845 (Williams) - As Amended April 12, 2016 SUBJECT: School safety: Safe Place to Learn Act SUMMARY: Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), as part of its compliance monitoring, to assess whether local educational agencies (LEAs) have provided information to certificated staff serving grades 7-12 on schoolsite and community resources for students who may face bias or bullying, including Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian students. Requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to post anti-bullying resources related to affiliation or perceived affiliation with any religious group, including Muslim, on its website. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires that the CDE, as part of its compliance monitoring activities, assess whether LEAs have provided information to certificated staff serving grades 7-12 on schoolsite and community resources students subject to bullying, discrimination, or harassment, including for Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian students. This is an expansion of an existing requirement that the CDE assess whether a corresponding requirement has been met on behalf of AB 2845 Page 2 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) students. 2)Requires that the SPI post on its website, annually update, and provide to each school district, a list of statewide resources, including community-based organizations, that provide support to youth who have been subjected to school-based discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying based on affiliation, or perceived affiliation, with any religious group, including Muslim. This adds specificity to an existing requirement that the CDE post anti-bullying resources on its website. EXISTING LAW: 1)Prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion (or perceived religious affiliation) in any educational program or activity by an educational institution receiving state funds (Education Code § 220, Penal Code § 422.55). 2)Requires the CDE to monitor local educational agencies LEAs for adoption of processes for receiving and investigating complaints of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying, and establishes complaint procedures. 3)Requires the CDE, as part of its compliance monitoring activities, to assess whether LEAs have provided information to certificated staff serving grades 7-12 on schoolsite and community resources for LGBTQ students. AB 2845 Page 3 4)Requires the CDE to annually post on its website, and annually update, and provide to each school district, a list of statewide resources, including community-based organizations, that provide support to youth who have been subjected to school-based discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying, and their families. FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown COMMENTS: Need for the bill. The author states, "The negative tone in our national politics has enflamed a disturbing trend of scapegoating and fear mongering of American Muslims. Recently, a rash of hate crimes aimed at Muslims and Sikhs have occurred across the nation, including physical assaults and the defacement of religious sites in California. AB 2845 aims to address potential spikes in bullying and discrimination in our public education system as a result of increased Islamophobia. According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, California Chapter, 55% of American Muslim students attending California public schools surveyed experience some form of bullying based on their religious identity. This is twice as high as the national statistic for students who report being bullied at school. CAIR-CA also finds that American Muslim youth continue to identify student-teacher relations as needing improvement in addressing such bullying. Similarly, the Sikh Coalition has reported that 50% of Sikh students have encountered school bullying. This number increases significantly for turbaned Sikh students, of which 67% have encountered bullying. In Fresno, 51% of the students surveyed reported that AB 2845 Page 4 they felt school officials did not respond adequately to bullying incidents. AB 2845 will ensure that school employees will be provided schoolsite and community resources so that our students are provided the assistance and support they need when faced with school bullying and discrimination." Surveys of California Muslim and Sikh students find high rates of bullying. A 2015 report published by the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, titled Mislabeled: The Impact of School Bullying and Discrimination on California Muslim Students, reported data from surveys of 500 Muslim students in California. It found: 55% of students surveyed reported being subjected to some form of bullying based on their religious identity. According to the report, this is twice as high as the national percentage of students who report being bullied at school. 29% of the female students who wear a hijab, the Islamic headscarf, reported being offensively touched by another student, and 27% reported being discriminated against by their teacher. 19% of students reported cyberbullying based on religion. 20% of students reported that school staff either made offensive comments about the students' religion or allowed other students to make such remarks, and 20% of students who reported bullying were unhappy with the response from school administrators. AB 2845 Page 5 A 2014 publication by the Sikh Coalition, titled "Go Home Terrorist:" A Report on Bullying Against Sikh American School Children reported data from a survey and focus groups with several hundred Sikh students in Fresno. It also found high rates of bullying: 54% of Sikh youth have experienced bullying or harassment, 21% report being bullied or harassed at least once a week, and 13% report bullying almost daily. 67% of Sikh youth who wear turbans and maintain uncut hair in accordance with religious beliefs have experienced bullying and harassment. 63% of those bullied believed they were bullied on the basis of religion or ethnicity, and almost 27% believed it was because other students thought they looked like terrorists. 51% of Sikh youth believe school officials do not respond adequately to bullying incidents. CDE bullying resource website. This bill requires the CDE to include information on bullying and discrimination based on religious affiliation on its website. Pursuant to current law, the CDE maintains a page of resources on bullying on its website, which provides links to numerous resources for program, policy, and curriculum on this topic. There are resources AB 2845 Page 6 listed that are specific to bullying of students with disabilities, and bullying of LGBTQ students. While some resources mention religious discrimination, there do not appear to be any resources listed which specifically address school-based bullying based on actual or perceived religious affiliation. Does this bill require school personnel to engage with religious institutions? This bill requires the CDE to assess whether schools are providing information to students on community resources for the support students at-risk of bullying, including Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian students. By listing a religion, the bill could be read to require school personnel to engage with religious institutions (see recommended amendment below). Recommended amendments. Staff recommends that the bill be amended as follows: 1.Clarify that the requirement to provide resource information to school staff applies to resources for students who are subject to discrimination and bullying based on actual or perceived religious affiliation (rather than all students subject to bullying) and use this broad definition rather than specifying ethnic groups. 2.Clarify that the bill does not require school personnel to engage with religious institutions in the course of identifying community support resources. Related legislation. AB 827 (O'Donnell, Chapter 562, Statutes of 2015) of this Session Requires the CDE, as part of its compliance monitoring, to assess whether local educational agencies (LEAs) have provided information to certificated staff AB 2845 Page 7 serving grades 7-12 on schoolsite and community resources for LGBTQ students. AB 9 (Ammiano, Chapter 723, Statutes of 2011) requires a school district to include specific information in its policies and procedures regarding discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying, requires the policies to include complaint procedures and alternative discipline policies for pupils who engage in this behavior, and requires the CDE to post anti-bullying resources on its website. REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: Support Asian Americans Advancing Justice - California (Co-Sponsor) Council on American-Islamic Relations, California Chapter (Co-Sponsor) Sikh Coalition (Co-Sponsor) Afghan Coalition Asian Law Alliance American Civil Liberties Union of California California Immigrant Policy Center AB 2845 Page 8 Islamic Center of San Diego Islamic Networks Group Islamic Society of North (San Diego) County Muslim American Society Public Affairs and Civic Engagement Muslim Community Center of Greater San Diego San Jose Japanese American Citizens League South Bay Islamic Association Services, Immigrant Rights, and Education Network Somali Family Service of San Diego, Inc. South Asian Bar Association of Northern California Opposition None received Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 AB 2845 Page 9