Amended in Senate April 15, 2015

Senate BillNo. 429


Introduced by Senator Jackson

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(Coauthor: Senator Hancock)

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February 25, 2015


An act to add Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 53340) to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to instructional programs.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 429, as amended, Jackson. Instructional programs: Title IX instructional videos.

Title IX of the federal Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits discrimination based on sex, including sexual harassment, rape, and sexual assault, in an educational institution’s programs or activities.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to post on its Internet Web site, in both English and Spanish and at a reading level that may be comprehended by pupils in high school, the information set forth in the federal regulations implementing Title IX.

This bill, to the extent that one-time funding is made available in the Budget Act of 2016, would require the State Department of Education to apportion funds to a designated county office of education, selected from applicant county offices of education, that would be the fiduciary agentbegin delete forend deletebegin insert for, and responsible for the creation of,end insert an instructional video to train schoolbegin delete administratorsend deletebegin insert administrators, designated Title IX coordinators, and other school personnelend insert on comprehensive Title IX compliance and a Title IX pupils’ rights video designed for pupils and parents. The bill would requirebegin insert thatend insert these 2 videos be available on the department’s Internet Web site and available for download to individual schoolsite and schoolbegin delete district’send deletebegin insert districtend insert Internet Web sites.begin insert The bill would also require the department to analyze the relevant data on the success of the comprehensive Title IX compliance instructional video at the state level, as specified.end insert

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:

3(a) The goal of Title IX of the federal Education Amendments
4of 1972 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1681begin delete et.end deletebegin insert etend insert seq.) is to provide greater levels
5of gender equity in schools. The results have been higher
6enrollment in colleges and universities, increased numbers of
7graduate degrees in science and mathematics, increased
8participation in athletics, and fairer treatment in cases of sexual
9and gender harassment. These benefits not only lead to higher
10self-esteem and enhanced leadership skills, but they also lead to
11higher rates of graduation and greater levels of career success.
12Title IX was approved in 1972, yet noncompliance with its
13requirements is still problematic.

14(b) Title IX addresses 10 key areas: Access to Higher Education,
15begin insert Athletics,end insert Career Education, Education for Pregnant and Parenting
16Students, Employment, Learning Environment, Mathematics and
17Science, Sexual Harassment, Standardized Testing, and
18Technology.

19(c) In a November 2012 investigative report, the National
20Broadcasting Company (NBC) found the majority of school
21principals were unable to identify the Title IX coordinator, and
22only three principals identified themselves as being responsible
23for handling complaints regarding sexual and gender harassment.

24(d) Equal Rights Advocates found only about 25 percent of Title
25IX coordinators ofbegin insert San Franciscoend insert Baybegin delete Areaend deletebegin insert areaend insert school districts
26that responded to its survey received some training on Title IX
27related matters. A significant percentage of schools in those school
28districts do not cover sexual harassment in their existing training
29for pupils (11 percent), teachers (14 percent),begin delete andend deletebegin insert orend insert
30 staff/administrators (23 percent). Gender identity and gender
P3    1expression were covered in less than a quarter of pupil and teacher
2training, and less than 20 percent of staff/administrator training.
3Equal opportunity in athletics was mentioned in only 11 percent
4of pupil training, 17 percent of teacher training, and 10 percent of
5staff/administrator training.

6(e) A 2015 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of
7California report found widespread unawareness among pupils
8and school administrators of the rights of pregnant and parenting
9pupils, including an extremely limited knowledge that pregnant
10pupils and those recovering from childbirthbegin insert and related medicalend insert
11 conditions are entitled to services available to other pupils with
12temporary medical conditions.

13(f) In that ACLU report, only 4 percent of school districts
14surveyed included “parenting” status within the list of categories
15in the nondiscrimination board policy, 25 percent of pupil survey
16respondents indicated that they had been restricted from
17participating in an extracurricular activity, such as physical
18education or a sport, due to their pregnancybegin delete statusend deletebegin insert status,end insert and 13
19percent of pupil survey respondents said that they were required
20by their school district to move to an alternative or continuation
21school as a result of their pregnancy despite the law requiring that
22enrollment in separate programs for parenting pupils be strictly
23voluntary.

24(g) During Title IX training conducted by the Title IX advocacy
25and litigation project Fair Play for Girls in Sports,begin delete amongend deletebegin insert ofend insert dozens
26of middle- and high-school girls attending training throughout
27California, approximately 80 percent of female pupils polledbegin delete haveend delete
28begin insert hadend insert never heard of Title IX norbegin delete doend deletebegin insert didend insert they understand how the
29law affords gender equity in education.

30(h) Fair Play for Girls in Sports regularly receives complaints
31and requests for help from community members, including parents,
32coaches, and female athletes, regarding a lack of understanding of
33Title IX in their local K-12 schools and a need for increased
34training for school administrators. Where cases have been brought
35against K-12 schools to spur compliance with Title IX, the lack
36of uniform, accurate training materials has contributed to schools
37remaining out of compliance with the law, even after a finding of
38Title IX violations by the school.

39(i) Since Title IX was passedbegin delete 42end deletebegin insert 43end insert years ago, it has been the
40subject of over 20 proposed amendments, reviews, Supreme Court
P4    1cases, and other political actions. It is a living, breathing lawbegin delete and
2itend delete
begin insert thatend insert benefits countless women and girls. The lack of knowledge
3and training harms pupils.

4

SEC. 2.  

Chapter 20 (commencing with Section 53340) is added
5to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

6 

7Chapter  20. Title IX Instructional Video
8

 

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53340.  

(a) To the extent that one-time funding is made
10available in the Budget Act of 2016, the department shall apportion
11funds to a designated county office of education to be the fiduciary
12agent for an instructional video to train schoolbegin delete administratorsend delete
13begin insert administrators, designated Title IX coordinators, and other school
14personnelend insert
on comprehensive compliance with Title IX of the
15federal Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1681begin delete et.end delete
16begin insert etend insert seq.). The designated county office of education shall be chosen
17by the Superintendent from county offices of education that apply
18for designation.begin delete Theend delete

19begin insert(b)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertTheend insert designated county office of education shall bebegin delete in charge
20of the video that willend delete
begin insert responsible for the creation of the
21instructional video specified in subdivision (a). The instructional
22video shall be made available as a statewide training resource
23andend insert
begin insert shallend insert lead to statewide professional development support for
24comprehensive Title IX compliance. The designated county office
25of education shall alsobegin delete createend deletebegin insert be responsible for the creation ofend insert a
26Title IX pupils’ rights video designed for pupils and parents. Both
27videos shall be available on thebegin delete departmentend deletebegin insert department’send insert Internet
28Web site and available for download to individual schoolsite and
29schoolbegin delete district’send deletebegin insert districtend insert Internet Web sites.

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30(b)

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31begin insert(c)end insert The designated county office of education, in the
32implementation of this chapter, shall consider and include, as
33appropriate, available resources for comprehensive Title IX
34compliance.

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35(c)

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36begin insert(d)end insert The department shall analyze the relevant data on the success
37of the comprehensive Title IX compliance instructional video at
38the state level, bybegin delete monitoring the usage of the video and
39ascertaining the levels of complaints filed.end delete
begin insert identifying the number
40of times the instructional video was downloaded or viewed, the
P5    1number of complaints filed before the video was made available,
2and the number of complaints filed one year after the video was
3made available.end insert
The department shall establish a set of best
4practices to be made available to school districts and consortia of
5school districts to enhance understanding of comprehensive Title
6IX compliance.



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