BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2845
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|Author: |Williams |
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|Version: |April 26, 2016 |
| |Hearing Date: June 15, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No | | Yes |
| | |Fiscal: | |
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|Consultant:|Lenin DelCastillo |
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Subject: School safety: Safe Place to Learn Act
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Department of Education (CDE),
as part of its existing compliance monitoring activities, to
assess whether local educational agencies (LEAs) have provided
information to certificated staff serving students in any of
grades 7-12 and community resources for students who may face
bias or bullying. The bill also requires the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI) to post anti-bullying resources related
to religious affiliation or perceived religious affiliation.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Prohibits discrimination in public schools on the basis
of disability, gender, gender expression, nationality, race
or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other
characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate
crimes.
(Education Code § 200, et seq.)
2) Requires the CDE to monitor, through its Categorical
Program Monitoring process, and assess whether school
districts have:
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a) Adopted policies prohibiting discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on the
actual or perceived characteristics including
disability, gender, gender identity, gender
expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion,
sexual orientation, or association with a person or
group with one or more of those actual or perceived
characteristics.
b) Adopted a process for receiving and
investigating complaints relating to discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, and bullying, including all
of the following:
i) A requirement that school personnel
who witness such acts take immediate steps to
intervene when safe to do so.
ii) A timeline for the investigation and
resolution of complaints, and an appeal process
iii) Publicized to students, parents,
employees, the governing board of the district,
and the general public, anti-discrimination,
anti-harassment, anti-intimidation, and
anti-bullying policies, including information
about the manner in which to file a complaint.
c) Provided information to certificated staff
serving grades 7-12 on schoolsite and community
resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and
questioning (LGBTQ) students. (Education Code §
234.1)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
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1) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE), as
part of its existing compliance monitoring activities,
assess whether local educational agencies (LEAs) have
provided information to certificated staff serving grades
7-12 on school site and community resources to students
subject to bullying on the basis of religious affiliation
or perceived religious affiliation.
2) Requires that the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) post on its Web site, 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 religious affiliation or perceived religious
affiliation.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, "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
(CAIR), 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
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that 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."
2) Utilizes existing processes. Existing law requires the
California Department of Education (CDE) to monitor local
educational agencies (LEAs) for adoption of processes for
receiving and investigating complaints of discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, and bullying, and also requires
the CDE to annually post on its Web site and provide to
each school district, a list of statewide resources that
provide support to youth who have been subjected to these
acts. Further, existing law requires LEAs to publicize
anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, anti-intimidation,
and anti-bullying policies. This bill requires the CDE, as
part of its compliance monitoring activities, to assess
whether LEAs have provided information to teachers serving
grades 7-12 on schoolsite resources for students who have
been subject to these acts, including Arab, Middle Easter,
Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian students.
3) CDE bullying resource Web site. This bill also requires
the CDE to include information on bullying and
discrimination based on religious affiliation on its Web
site. Pursuant to existing law, the CDE already maintains
a page of resources on bullying on its Web site, which
provides links to numerous resources for program, policy,
and curriculum on this topic. There are resources listed
that are specific to bullying of students with
disabilities, and bullying of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, and questioning (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.
4) Fiscal impact. According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill would result in General Fund (GF)
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administrative costs to the CDE of approximately $20,000 in
the first year to add additional resources to the
department Web site on school-based discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, or bullying on the basis of
religious affiliation, or perceived religious affiliation.
There would also be ongoing costs of approximately $10,000
GF to incorporate local educational agency compliance
review into the existing Compliance Program Monitoring
process.
5) 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 LEAs have
provided information to certificated staff 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
Web site.
SUPPORT
Afghan Coalition
Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
Asian Americans Advancing Justice - California
Asian Law Alliance
American Civil Liberties Union of California
California Immigrant Policy Center
Council on American-Islamic Relations, California Chapter
Islamic Center of San Diego
Islamic Networks Group
Islamic Society of North (San Diego) County
Muslim American Society Public Affairs and Civic Engagement
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Muslim Community Center of Greater San Diego
National Association of Social Workers - California Chapter
San Jose Japanese American Citizens League
Santa Barbara Women's Political Committee
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.
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