Amended in Assembly July 7, 2015

Amended in Senate June 2, 2015

Amended in Senate April 28, 2015

Senate Bill No. 725

Introduced by Senator Hancock

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(Coauthor: Senator Hertzberg)

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February 27, 2015

An act to repeal, add, and repeal Section 60605.1 of the Education Code, relating to pupil begin delete instruction and services. end delete begin insert instruction. end insert

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 725, as amended, Hancock. Pupil begin delete instruction and services: end delete begin insert instruction: end insert visual and performing arts content standards.

Existing law required the State Board of Education, by June 1, 2001, to adopt content standards in the curriculum area of visual and performing arts pursuant to recommendations developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

This bill would repeal those provisions and would require the begin delete state board, by June 30, 2017, to adopt, reject, or modify visual and performing arts standards submitted by the Superintendent in accordance with specified requirements. The bill would require the Superintendent to convene a panel of visual and performing arts experts, a majority of whom would be credentialed visual and performing arts teachers, for the purpose of deliberating on and recommending visual and performing arts content standards for adoption by the state board. The bill would require the Superintendent to comply with specified procedural requirements, including holding public meetings, and would require the Superintendent to submit its recommended visual and performing arts standards to the state board on or before January 30, 2017. The bill would specify that the state board may adopt visual and performing arts content standards pursuant to the above-specified provisions only if the state board adopts a schedule recommended by the Superintendent for the regular update of academic content standards in all subjects for which academic content standards have been adopted. The bill would repeal the bill’s provisions on January 1, 2018. end delete begin insert Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, to convene an academic content standards advisory committee, comprised of 21 members, for the purpose of updating the content standards in visual and performing arts in the areas of dance, visual arts, theater, and music. The bill would provide for the appointment of committee members by the Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, the Speaker of the Assembly, and the Superintendent, as specified. The bill would require the committee to review the visual and performing arts content standards, prepare updates to the content standards, and to recommend proposed updates to the state board. The bill would require the state board, on or before July 1, 2018, to either adopt or reject the updates proposed by the committee. The bill would make its provisions contingent upon the Legislature appropriating funds for its purposes in the annual Budget Act. The bill would repeal the bill’s provisions on January 1, 2019. 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:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Arts education helps prepare our pupils for the expectations
of the 21st century workforce, which includes the ability to
innovate, communicate, and collaborate. Employers across industry
sectors stress the need for innovation and creativity skills that are
developed by the arts.

(b) In California, 1.4 million jobs, approximately 10 percent of
all jobs, are directly or indirectly related to or induced by the arts.

(c) Seven and eight-tenths percent of California’s gross domestic
product is related to the creative industry.

(d) It is in the state’s best economic interest to provide pupils
the most current and relevant instruction in visual and performing
arts.

(e) The state’s current visual and performing arts content
standards do not include connections to the Common Core State
Standards or 21st century skills that are necessary to the careers
of the future.

(f) California’s content standards for the visual and performing
arts were last adopted 14 years ago in 2001.

(g) In the interim period, education has changed: pedagogy has
improved and technology has been developed that impacts
instruction in the visual and performing arts.

(h) There is nothing in current law that requires visual and
performing arts content standards to be reviewed and updated.

(i) A standards-based, sequential visual and performing arts
education should be accessible to all pupils in every school.

(j) Extensive research has demonstrated that arts education
engages pupils in learning, contributes to higher test scores, and
reduces truancy and dropout rates.

SEC. 2.  

Section 60605.1 of the Education Code is repealed.

SEC. 3.  

Section 60605.1 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

60605.1.  

(a) The state board shall adopt visual and performing
arts content standards only if the state board adopts a schedule
recommended by the Superintendent for the regular update of
academic content standards in all subjects for which academic
content standards have been adopted by the state begin delete board. end delete begin insert board
pursuant to other legislation. end insert The visual and performing arts
content standards shall be adopted pursuant to the following
requirements:

(1) The Superintendent, in consultation with the state board,
shall convene begin delete a panel of visual and performing arts experts. The
Superintendent shall ensure that members of the expert panel
represent the breadth of the visual and performing arts and includes,
but is not limited to, elementary and secondary visual and
performing arts teachers, school principals, school district or county
office of education administrators, and university professors. A
majority of the expert panel shall be made up of credentialed visual
and performing arts teachers. The Superintendent and the expert
panel shall recommend visual and performing arts content standards
for adoption to the state board and end delete begin insert an academic content standards
advisory committee for the purpose of updating the content
standards in visual and performing arts in the areas of dance,
visual arts, theater, and music. The committee end insert shall use the
National Core Arts Standards developed by the National Coalition
for Core Arts Standards as the basis for their deliberations.

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(2) The Superintendent shall hold a minimum of two public
meetings pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article
9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code) in order for the
public to provide input on the visual and performing arts content
standards that would be recommended pursuant to paragraph (1).

(3) The Superintendent shall submit the recommended visual
and performing arts content standards to the state board on or
before January 30, 2017.

(4) On or before June 30, 2017, the state board shall adopt,
reject, or modify the visual and performing arts content standards
submitted by the Superintendent.

(5) If the state board modifies the visual and performing arts
content standards presented by the Superintendent, it shall provide
written reasons for its modifications in a public meeting. The state
board shall adopt its modifications to the visual and performing
arts content standards at no sooner than the next regularly
scheduled public meeting of the state board. The public meetings
required by this paragraph shall be held pursuant to the
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with
Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code).

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(2) The committee shall consist of 21 members, appointed as
follows:

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(A) Ten members appointed by the Governor.

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(B) Four members appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules.

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(C) Four members appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly.

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(D) Three members appointed by the Superintendent.

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(3) Members of the committee shall serve at the pleasure of the
appointing authority.

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(4) At least one-half of the committee members appointed by
each appointing authority shall be current public elementary or
secondary school classroom teachers who have a professional
credential under state law and meet the definition of “highly
qualified” under federal law.

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(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that all of the following
occur:

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(1) That the committee include representation from teachers of
different grade level spans, including elementary, middle, and high
school grades.

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(2) That each member of the committee possesses a thorough
knowledge of the academic content standards in the content area
and grade level span in which he or she is appointed.

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(3) That the committee membership reflects the diversity of the
various ethnic groups, types of school districts, and regions in
California.

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(c) The committee shall review the content standards established
for visual and performing arts, and shall recommend and prepare
updates to the content standards as the committee deems necessary.

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(d) In making its recommendations, the committee shall consider
both of the following criteria:

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(1) The extent to which the proposed updates reflect current
and confirmed research in visual and performing arts.

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(2) The impact the committee anticipates that the proposed
updates will have on school districts, including the impact on
existing curricula and assessments.

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(e) The committee shall conduct at least two, and no more than
six, in-person meetings that are open to the public and include
opportunities for public input. The committee may convene
additional meetings by teleconference or the Internet subject to
the requirements of Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120)
of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government
Code.

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(f) Before the committee finalizes the proposed updates for
recommendation to the state board, the department shall post the
proposed updates on the department’s Internet Web site for at
least 60 days. The department shall include a link by which
members of the public may submit comments on the proposed
updates.

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(g) Upon completing its review and recommendation of the
proposed updates to the state board, the committee shall be
dissolved.

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(h) Members of the committee shall serve without compensation,
except for actual and necessary travel expenses and substitute
teacher costs.

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(i) The committee shall submit the proposed updates to the state
board on or before January 31, 2018.

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(j) The state board shall do either of the following on or before
July 1, 2018:

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(1) Adopt the updates proposed by the committee.

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(2) Reject the updates proposed by the committee.

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(k) If the state board rejects the proposed updates, it shall
provide a written explanation to the Superintendent, the Governor,
and the Legislature of the reasons why the proposed updated
standards were rejected.

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(b)

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begin insert (l) end insert  Nothing in this section shall be construed as mandating an
assessment of pupils in visual or performing arts.

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(m) The convening of an academic content standards advisory
committee and the requirement for the state board to act on visual
and performing arts content standards is contingent upon the
Legislature appropriating funds for that purpose in the annual
Budget Act.

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(c)

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begin insert (n) end insert  This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, begin delete 2018, end delete
begin insert 2019, end insert and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that is enacted before January 1, begin delete 2018, end delete begin insert 2019, end insert deletes or extends
that date.