BILL NUMBER: SB 1390	CHAPTERED  09/13/00

	CHAPTER   432
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 13, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 12, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 7, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   APRIL 13, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Murray
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Alquist, Knox, Kuehl, Strom-Martin,
and Washington)

                        JANUARY 25, 2000

   An act to add Section 60605.1 to the Education Code, relating to
pupil instruction.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1390, Murray.  Pupil instruction:  visual and performing arts.
   Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to
12, inclusive, to include instruction, beginning in grade 1 and
continuing through grade 12, in certain prescribed areas of study,
including, but not limited to, visual and performing arts, including
instruction in the subjects of art and music, aimed at the
development of aesthetic appreciation and the skills of creative
expression.
   Existing law, to be repealed on January 1, 2003, establishes the
Local Arts Education Partnership Program to provide grants to local
arts agencies, including school districts, to develop a locally based
approach to the improvement of arts education in the public schools.

   Existing law, the Leroy Greene California Assessment of Academic
Achievement Act, requires the State Board of Education to adopt
statewide academically rigorous content standards, pursuant to
recommendations of the Commission for the Establishment of Academic
Content and Performance Standards, in the core curriculum areas of
reading, writing, mathematics, history, social science, and science,
to serve as the basis for assessing the academic achievement of
individual pupils and of schools, school districts, and the
California education system.  Existing law also requires the board to
adopt statewide performance standards in those areas.
   This bill would make legislative findings and declarations
concerning the value of visual and performing arts.  The bill would
require the board to adopt content standards for visual and
performing arts, pursuant to recommendations developed by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, on or before June 1, 2001.  The
bill would prohibit anything in the bill from requiring a school to
follow those content standards.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) Evidence is growing that arts are critically important to
education and learning.  According to the College Entrance
Examination Board, students of the arts outperform nonarts educated
peers on measures of academic ability.  In 1995, the Scholastic
Assessment Text scores of students who studied the arts for more than
four years were 59 points higher on the verbal test and 44 points
higher on the math test than the scores of students with no education
in the arts.
   (b) It has been shown that strong cognitive links exist between
the arts and science.  Such cognitive reasoning includes the ability
to explore new concepts and associations, to understand abstract
ideas, to build models and recognize patterns.  Further arts
education also contributes to student learning and achievement by
enhancing motivation, self-discipline, and understanding of others,
appreciation of diversity, a positive school climate, and preparation
for the world of work.
   (c) Jobs and careers that involve artistic expression are becoming
increasingly important.  According to the office of the Governor,
the entertainment industry alone contributes more than twenty-five
billion dollars ($25,000,000,000) to the state's economy and
generates more than six hundred million dollars ($600,000,000) in
state tax revenues.
   (d) For these reasons and others, it is important that visual and
performing arts instruction be available for all students in order to
increase cognitive reasoning and improve student performance.
   (e) The visual and performing arts are a required component of
instruction for pupils in grades 1 to 6, inclusive.  To graduate from
high school, pupils must complete a year of a visual or performing
arts instruction.
   (f) As school districts implement or strengthen instructional
programs in visual or performing arts, it is important that content
standards be developed to ensure that schools will provide
instruction that contains rigorous content to expand and improve
pupil learning.
  SEC. 2.  Section 60605.1 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   60605.1.  (a) No later than June 1, 2001, the State Board of
Education shall adopt content standards, pursuant to recommendations
developed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in the
curriculum area of visual and performing arts.
   (b) The content standards are intended to provide a framework for
programs that a school may offer in the instruction of visual or
performing arts.  Nothing in this section shall be construed to
require a school to follow the content standards.
   (c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as mandating an
assessment of pupils in visual or performing arts.