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
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|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 | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SB 695
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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