BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 695 Page 1 SENATE THIRD READING SB 695 (De León and Jackson) As Amended August 31, 2015 Majority vote SENATE VOTE: 39-0 ------------------------------------------------------------------ |Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Education |6-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | | | | |Kim, McCarty, | | | | |Santiago, Thurmond | | | | | | | |----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------| |Appropriations |17-0 |Gomez, Bigelow, | | | | |Bloom, Bonta, | | | | |Calderon, Chang, | | | | |Nazarian, Eggman, | | | | |Gallagher, Eduardo | | | | |Garcia, Holden, | | | | |Jones, Quirk, Rendon, | | | | |Wagner, Weber, Wood | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------ SB 695 Page 2 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 provide instruction on these topics. Specifically, this bill: 1)Requires that, when the health curriculum framework is next revised, the IQC consider including comprehensive information on sexual harassment and violence for grades 9 to 12 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 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 comprehensive information on sexual harassment and violence in the health framework, the IQC: 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 SB 695 Page 3 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: 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 FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee: 1)General Fund administrative costs to the California Department of Education (CDE) of approximately $65,000 for the IQC to contract with at least two experts to advise the IQC on issues of sexual harassment and violence for incorporation into the health framework. This represents total costs over a three to four year period. The health framework is currently scheduled for revision in 2018. 2)Proposition 98 (1988)/General Fund cost pressure, potentially in excess of $700,000, for school districts that currently require health education as a graduation requirement to provide instructional materials and associated professional SB 695 Page 4 development for this new instruction. Additional unknown costs for school districts to ensure that teachers consult the health framework when delivering health instruction. EXISTING LAW: 1)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 relationships, how to recognize potentially harmful and abusive relationships, and refusal skills to overcome peer pressure and to avoid high-risk activities. 2)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. 3)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. COMMENTS: Need for this bill. The author's office states: "Given the statistics regarding the victimization of women between the ages SB 695 Page 5 of 18-24, high school students are the most vulnerable 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 destructive relationships during the teen years are associated with lifelong unhealthy relationship practices and other risk factors, and that "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 school district Web sites, five of the 10 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 SB 695 Page 6 developed by the IQC through a public process, and adopted by the State Board of Education. 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 of the health framework will be in 2018. Analysis Prepared by: Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0001874