BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2864
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Date of Hearing: May 4, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2864 (Chau) - As Amended April 27, 2016
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|Policy |Education |Vote:|7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill requires, the State Board of Education (SBE), when it
revises and adopts the curriculum framework for history-social
science on or after January 1, 2017, to consider for inclusion,
in that curriculum framework, evaluation criteria, and
accompanying instructional materials of instruction, the Chinese
Exclusion Act of 1882 and the contributions of Chinese Americans
to the establishment of the transcontinental railroad. This bill
also encourages all state and local professional development
activities to provide teachers with content background and
resources to assist them in teaching about the Chinese Exclusion
Act of 1882 and the contributions of Chinese Americans to the
establishment of the transcontinental railroad.
AB 2864
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FISCAL EFFECT:
No fiscal effect to the California Department of Education (CDE)
as Chinese Exclusion Act is currently incorporated into the
pending History-Social Science Framework, set for adoption by
the SBE in May 2016. As written, the bill would not require
additional consideration until the next framework, likely to
occur 2024. It is difficult to project costs that may occur
eight years from now.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. Chinese-Americans have played a significant role in
the history of California and the United States. They have
contributed to America and California as builders of the
Transcontinental Railroad and other important infrastructure,
as farmers, as inventors, as entrepreneurs, as scholars, as
artists, as soldiers, and as civic leaders. The author is
introducing this bill to ensure that students in California
receive instruction in their History and Social Science
Curriculum regarding the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the
contributions made by Chinese-Americans in establishing the
Transcontinental Railroad.
2)Comments. The History-Social Science Framework (Framework) is
approaching the end of a major update and is expected to be
adopted by the SBE at its May 2016 meeting. According to the
CDE, the 1882 Exclusion Act and the contributions of Chinese
to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad are
specifically mentioned in the content standards for grades
four and eight, and are also included in the current
framework. The evaluation criteria for instructional materials
AB 2864
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requires that materials be aligned to both the standards and
framework, so both topics will be fully addressed in the next
textbook adoption.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916) 319-2081