BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1435
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Date of Hearing: June 22, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
SB
1435 (Jackson) - As Amended April 6, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 30-3
SUBJECT: School curriculum: health framework: healthy
relationships
SUMMARY: Requires that the next revision of the Health
Framework for California Public Schools include information for
kindergarten through grade 8 on healthy relationships.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires that, when the state health framework is next revised
after January 1, 2017, the Instructional Quality Commission
(IQC) include comprehensive, and age and developmentally
appropriate information for kindergarten through grade 8 on
the development of healthy relationships.
2)Requires the IQC to:
a) Ensure that information included in the health framework
is research-based and appropriate for students of all
races, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, and
ethnic and cultural backgrounds. States that this may
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include reviewing other states' curricula.
b) Consult with secondary health teachers and experts in
sexual harassment and violence curriculum.
EXISTING LAW:
1)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.
2)Requires the 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.
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
relationships, how to recognize potentially harmful and
abusive relationships, and refusal skills to overcome peer
pressure and to avoid high-risk activities.
4)Defines "affirmative consent" as affirmative, conscious, and
voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity. States that
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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: The California Department of Education (CDE)
estimates costs of about $74,000 for the IQC to contract with at
least two experts in sexual harassment and violence curriculum
as required by this bill. (General Fund)
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. The author's office states: "SB 1435 is the
third in a series of measures to help proactively address
incidence of sexual harassment and assault among children,
adolescent teens, and young adults. In 2014 Senators de León and
Jackson jointly authored SB 967 to establish an affirmative
consent standard at California's colleges and universities. In
response to a growing number of reports and disturbing
statistics on sexual harassment and assault among young adults,
SB 967 was pursued to address the challenges facing the state's
college and universities in providing safe learning
environments. It did this by providing clear guidelines on how
to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual harassment and
assault on college and university campuses.
In 2015, the state adopted SB 695 (De León /Jackson), which
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required that the topic of sexual harassment and sexual assault
be taught in high schools that require health as a requirement
for graduation. Recognizing that increasing awareness at the
collegiate level among young adults, although helpful, was only
the first step, SB 695 acknowledged that sexual harassment and
assault education and awareness had to be taught in high school
as a proactive effort to prevent these incidents from occurring
later in life.
However, in the development of SB 695, it became clear that
starting earlier by providing opportunities in elementary and
middle school is needed to help children learn how to develop
healthy relationships, to help them understand the virtue of
treating one another with respect and dignity."
Curriculum, standards, frameworks, and model curricula.
California's public school curriculum is based on content
standards in various subjects, including English-Language Arts,
Mathematics, Science, History-Social Science, Physical
Education, English Language Development, Career Technical
Education, Health Education, World Languages, and Visual and
Performing Arts. These standards are developed by the IQC
through a public process, and are adopted by the SBE.
These standards form the basis of California's curriculum
frameworks. These documents guide the implementation of these
standards, and are used to establish criteria for the evaluation
of instructional materials for state adoption for grades
kindergarten through grade eight. They also guide district
selection of instructional materials for grades nine through
twelve.
Health framework revision suspended due to recession, now
expected to be adopted in 2019. The state's health framework
was last revised in 2003. It does not reflect the state's
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health content standards, which were adopted in 2008. The CDE's
website notes that the sections on family living are
inconsistent with current law.
Work on revising of the health framework was initiated in 2008.
In 2009 the state's fiscal emergency halted all work on
instructional materials adoptions and framework revisions until
the 2013-14 school year by AB 4 X2 (Evans) Chapter 2, Statutes
of 2009. That suspension was later extended until the 2015-16
school year by SB 70 (Committee on Budget), Chapter 7, Statutes
of 2011. CDE reports that the framework is now scheduled for
adoption by the SBE in 2019.
The Budget Act of 2016 includes $362,000 in one-time funds for
the revision of the health framework, editorial charges
associated with the development of the science framework, and
the operational expenses of the IQC. The budget also includes
$135,000 for the CDE to contract with a researcher/writer with
expertise in sex trafficking and sexual abuse to draft a section
of the health framework for consideration by the IQC. This
appropriation is related to SB 1165 (Mitchell), Chapter 713,
Statutes of 2014, which requires the IQC to consider including
sexual abuse and sex trafficking prevention education in the
health framework when it is next revised.
"Require" vs. "require to consider." This bill requires that
the IQC include specified content regarding healthy
relationships in the state's health framework. For a number of
years it has been the practice of this Committee to support
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bills which propose changes to the state's curriculum frameworks
by requiring the IQC to consider including specified content.
This policy reflects the recognition that the IQC and the
curriculum experts with whom it consults in developing the
frameworks have expertise in academic content, curriculum and
instruction, the scope and sequence of curriculum at each grade
level, the design of instructional materials, constraints on
instructional time, and the conditions of teaching. Consistent
with this long-standing practice, staff recommends that this
bill be amended to require that the IQC consider including the
specified content in the health framework.
Related legislation. AB 146 (Christina Garcia), Chapter 392,
Statutes of 2015, requires the SBE to consider including
instruction on the unconstitutional deportation to Mexico during
the Great Depression in the history-social science framework.
AB 2546 (Calderon) of this Session would require the IQC, when
the history-social science curriculum framework is revised after
January 1, 2017, to consider including information on financial
literacy. This bill is pending in the Senate Education
Committee.
SB 695 (De León and Jackson), Chapter 424, Statutes of 2015,
requires the 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.
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Prior legislation. AB 659 (Nazarian) of the 2013-14 Session
would have encouraged the CDE to include the Armenian Genocide
in its published curriculum resources, encouraged the
incorporation oral testimony when teaching specific instances of
genocide into existing curriculum, and encouraged including the
Armenian Genocide into state and local professional development
activities and in the next revision of the history/social
science curriculum framework. This bill was held in the Senate
Education Committee.
AB 1912 (Holden), Chapter 286, Statutes of 2014, requires
require the IQC, during the next revision of the history-social
science curriculum framework, to consider including, and
recommending for adoption by the SBE, instruction on the
election of President Barack Obama and the significance of the
United States electing its first African American President.
SB 1165 (Mitchell), Chapter 713, Statutes of 2014, requires the
IQC to consider including sexual abuse and sex trafficking
prevention education in the health framework, and permits a
school district to provide sexual abuse and sex trafficking
prevention education, as specified.
SB 1380 (Wyland), Chapter 441, Statutes of 2014, requires the
IQC to consider including the Armenian Genocide in the
history-social science framework, and encourages instruction to
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include specific components.
SB 330 (Padilla), Chapter, Statutes of 2013, requires, when the
health framework is next revised, the IQC to consider developing
and recommending to the SBE a distinct category on mental health
instruction to educate pupils about all aspects of mental
health.
AB 391 (Wieckowski) of the 2013-14 Session encouraged financial
literacy instruction to be included in the next revision of the
history-social science frameworks. This bill was held in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 552 (Calderon), Chapter 497, Statutes of 2013, provides that
instruction in the area of social sciences may include
instruction on violence awareness, which may include a component
drawn from personal testimony in the form of oral or video
histories of individuals who were involved with violence
awareness efforts.
AB 424 (Donnelly), Chapter 483, Statutes of 2013, encourages the
IQC to include the development of democracy, the history of the
development of the United States Constitution, and specified
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historical documents in the history-social science framework.
SB 993 (De León), Chapter 211, Statutes of 2012, authorizes
instruction in social science for grades 7-12 to include
information about the Bracero program.
SB 779 (Lieu) of the 2011-12 Session would have also required
the CDE to consider developing a personal finance curriculum in
the next cycle in which the history/social science curriculum
framework is adopted. This bill was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
AB 970 (Block and Bass) of the 2009-10 Session encourages the
SBE and the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials
Commission (now the IQC) to ensure that the history-social
science framework, evaluation criteria, and instructional
materials adopted in the course of the next submission cycle
include information about American Indians. This bill was
amended to address another topic and held in the Business,
Professions and Economic Development Committee.
SB 223 (Wyland) of the 2009-10 Session would have encouraged the
Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission to
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consider and vote on including financial literacy in the
curriculum. This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
SB 234 (Wyland) of the 2009-10 Session would have required the
Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission to
consider and vote on whether to include an oral history
component specifically related to genocides in the proposed
changes to the 2014 history-social science curriculum framework.
This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 2034 (Nunez) of the 2007-08 Session would have encouraged the
SBE and the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials
Commission to ensure that the next adoption of the
history-social science framework, evaluation criteria, and
instructional materials include specified content regarding
American Indians. This bill was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger.
SB 1254 (Wyland) of the 2007-08 Session would have encouraged
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and the SBE to
consider methods of enhancing pupil knowledge of American
history and government. This bill was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
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AB 1950 (Lieu) of the 2005-06 Session would have required the
CDE to consider developing a personal finance curriculum in the
next cycle in which the history and social science curriculum
framework and instructional materials are adopted. This bill
was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Academy of Pediatrics, California
American Civil Liberties Union of California
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
California Coalition Against Sexual Assault
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
California State PTA
California Teachers Association
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Equality California
Los Angeles Unified School District
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916)
319-2087