BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 695
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Date of Hearing: July 1, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
SB
695 (De León) - As Amended April 22, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 39-0
SUBJECT: School curriculum: health education: sexual harassment
and violence instruction.
SUMMARY: Requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to
consider adding content to the health curriculum framework for
grades 9-12 on sexual harassment and violence, including the
affirmative consent standard, and requires school districts
which require a health course for graduation to include this
content. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires that, when the health curriculum framework is next
revised, the IQC consider including a distinct category for
grades 9 to 12 on sexual harassment and violence that
includes:
a) information on different forms of sexual harassment and
violence, including instances that occur among peers and in
a dating relationship, a discussion of prevention
strategies; how pupils report sexual harassment and
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violence, and potential resources victims can access
b) discussion of the affirmative consent standard and
skills pupils use to establish boundaries in peer and
dating relationships
c) discussion of legal aspects of sexual harassment and
violence under state and federal law
1)Requires that if the IQC includes a sexual harassment and
violence category in the health framework, that category:
a) ensure that information included in the framework is
research-based and appropriate for pupils of all races,
genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, and ethnic
and cultural backgrounds. States that this activity may
include reviewing other states' curricula.
b) consult with secondary health teachers and experts in
sexual harassment and violence curricula
1)Requires that, if a school district requires a course in
health education for graduation from high school, the school
board:
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a) include instruction in sexual harassment and violence,
including information on the affirmative consent standard
b) ensure that teachers consult information related to
sexual harassment and violence in the health framework when
delivering health instruction
EXISTING LAW:
1)Specifies requirements for graduation from high school,
including: three courses in English, two courses in
mathematics, two courses in science, three courses in social
studies, one course in visual or performing arts, foreign
language, or career technical education, and two courses in
physical education. Authorizes school districts to adopt
additional requirements for high school graduation.
2)Establishes the IQC as an advisory body to the State Board of
Education (SBE), and authorizes it to study problems of
courses of study in the schools of the state, and, upon
request of the SBE, recommend the adoption of minimum
standards for courses of study in preschool, kindergarten,
elementary, and secondary schools. Requires that courses of
study in the public schools conform to such minimum standards
when adopted.
3)Requires the IQC, during the next revision of the Health
curriculum framework, to consider including content on sexual
abuse and sex trafficking prevention, healthy boundaries for
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relationships, how to recognize potentially harmful and
abusive relationships, and refusal skills to overcome peer
pressure and to avoid high-risk activities.
4)Authorizes school districts to provide sexual abuse and sex
trafficking prevention education, including instruction on the
prevalence and nature of sexual abuse and sex trafficking,
strategies to reduce their risk, techniques to set healthy
boundaries, and how to safely report an incident.
5)Defines "affirmative consent" as affirmative, conscious, and
voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity. States that
is the responsibility of each person involved in the sexual
activity to ensure that he/she has the affirmative consent of
the others to engage in the sexual activity, that lack of
protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence
mean consent, and that affirmative consent must be ongoing
throughout the sexual activity and can be revoked at any time.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, about $65,000 General Fund for including sexual
harassment and violence in the health framework, and to the
extent school districts require completion of a health education
course to graduate, significant additional Proposition 98
General Fund costs and additional unknown costs for ensuring
that teachers consult this information when delivering health
instruction.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. The author's office states, "Given the
statistics regarding the victimization of women between the ages
of 18-24, high school students are the most vulnerable
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population and the importance of educating them early on these
issues is paramount to reducing the number of incidents. Many
California high schools require health education as a condition
of graduation. As part of this education, students in grades
9-12 learn about the importance of healthy relationships, how
interpersonal communication affects relationships,
decision-making skills to extract oneself from an unhealthy
situation, and an understanding of issues related to bullying,
sexual harassment and violence. The next step in expanding
these education efforts is to discuss the issue of rape and
sexual violence with all high school students - male and
female."
Adolescence as a 'window of opportunity' for preventing sexual
violence. According to the National Conference of State
Legislatures (NCSL), 22 states had laws pertaining to teen
dating violence (physical and sexual) as of 2014. Many of these
laws require or encourage instruction in violence prevention as
part of health education, or require the development of
curriculum on this topic. NCSL notes that while destructive
relationships during the teen years are associated with lifelong
unhealthy relationship practices and other risk factors,
"adolescence is a 'window of opportunity' for prevention" of
sexual and physical violence.
How many districts require a health course for graduation? Based
on information provided on district websites, five of the ten
largest school districts require a course in health for
graduation. This includes the Los Angeles Unified School
District, the largest district in the state, which graduated
27,000 students in the 2013-14 school year.
Current schedule for health framework revision. California's
public school curriculum is based on content standards in
various subjects, including health. These standards are
developed by the IQC through a public process, and adopted by
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the State Board of Education (SBE).
The content standards are the basis for California's curriculum
frameworks, documents which guide the implementation of these
standards and establish criteria used to evaluate instructional
materials. Curriculum frameworks are revised and adopted on an
eight-year cycle, and instructional materials adoptions take
place after new frameworks are adopted. Standards adoptions
generally precede the development of the frameworks. According
to the CDE, the next revision for Health will be in 2018.
However, if AB 740 (Weber) of this Session is enacted,
establishing a schedule for content standards updates, and if
the SBE continues the practice of revising frameworks after
content standards revisions, this schedule may need to be
revised.
Related legislation. SB 592 (Leyva) of this Session would have
required school districts to provide educational programs that
promote healthy relationships and prevent adolescent
relationship abuse to students in grades 6-12, required the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide information for
use by schools, and required school safety plans to include
procedures and policies to prevent and respond to adolescent
relationship abuse. SB 592 was held in the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
AB 329 (Weber) of this Session makes instruction in sexual
health education a requirement, revises HIV prevention education
content, expands topics covered in sexual health education,
requires this instruction to be inclusive of different sexual
orientations, and clarifies parental consent policy.
SB 967 (De Leon), Chapter 748, Statutes of 2014, requires the
governing board of each community college district, the Trustees
of the California State University, the Regents of the
University of California, and the governing board of independent
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postsecondary institutions to adopt a policy concerning campus
sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking
that includes specified components, including the affirmative
consent standard.
AB 1857 (Fong) of the 2011-12 Session authorized school
districts to provide education programs to promote healthy
relationships and prevent teen dating abuse to pupils in grades
7-12, and required the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to provide model curriculum. AB 1857 was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1880 (Lara) of the 2011-12 Session required middle and high
school safety plans to include policies and procedures to
prevent and respond to teen dating abuse in grades 6-12. AB
1880 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1373 (Fong) of the 2011-12 Session authorized school
districts or the county office of education to provide education
programs to promote healthy relationships and prevent teen
dating violence to pupils in grades 7-12, and required the SPI
to provide information to schools about model programs. SB 1373
was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 13 (Correa) of the 2011-12 Session and SB 1300 (Correa) of
the 2009-10 Session would have required schools that elect to
provide teen dating violence prevention education to ensure that
the instruction meets certain criteria, and requires the SBE to
incorporate teen dating violence and sexual violence curriculum
into the health curriculum framework. SB 13 failed passage in
Senate Education Committee, and SB 1300 failed passage in the
Assembly Education Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Association of California School Administrators
California Federation of Teachers
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
City of Berkeley
National Association of Social Workers - California chapter
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Planned Parenthood
Opposition
California Right to Life Committee
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Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916)
319-2087