BILL NUMBER: AB 1945	CHAPTERED  09/30/00

	CHAPTER   960
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 25, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 24, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 18, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 21, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Lowenthal

                        FEBRUARY 15, 2000

   An act to amend Section 44670.3 of the Education Code, relating to
school development plans.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1945, Lowenthal.  School development plans.
   Existing law authorizes school districts to establish school
development plans for staff development.  Existing law requires that
staff development activities included in school development plans
assist personnel at the local schoolsite to, among other things,
improve the school and classroom environments, including working
relationships with parents and other community members.
   This bill would also require staff development activities included
in school development plans to assist personnel at the local
schoolsite to develop tolerance programs, as described.


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


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The diversity in the classrooms of California is increasing.
People from more than 140 countries make their homes in California
and more than 90 languages are spoken in our public schools.
   (b) California schools seek mutual respect amidst our differences
in race, religion, national origin, socioeconomic status, gender, and
other characteristics.
   (c) The quest for equal treatment in California is more than a
goal; it is becoming a necessity in a society in which yesterday's
minorities will form tomorrow's majority.
   (d) Most individuals prosecuted for committing a hate crime
against a minority are between the ages of 16 to 20, inclusive.
   (e) Public schools face a growing need for methods to combat
latent and overt offensiveness and potential violence.
  SEC. 2.  Section 44670.3 of the Education Code is amended to read:

   44670.3.  School development plans authorized by this article
shall include staff development activities directly related to the
annual school improvement objectives developed in accordance with
Section 44670.4, and shall assist personnel at the local school site
to do the following:
   (a) Improve instructional practices in each subject, strengthen
subject matter knowledge, and improve support services based on a
continuing examination of instruction and learning in the subject
areas offered by the school.  That examination shall include
research, if any, based on classroom experience that is conducted by
teachers in accordance with those research standards and procedures
that are generally accepted in higher education.
   (b) Ensure that subject matter requirements, instructional
strategies, and instructional materials meet uniformly high academic
standards and are responsive to the diversity among pupil learning
needs and styles in a multicultural society, including underachieving
pupils and pupils with exceptional abilities or needs.
   (c) Review, select, and learn to utilize curricula and
instructional materials in a wide variety of subject areas, giving
consideration to the state-recommended curriculum framework and model
curriculum standards in each subject matter area.
   (d) Address ways in which educational technology can support the
instructional program.
   (e) Improve the school and classroom environments, including
working relationships among pupils, parents and guardians, teachers,
and other community members of various ethnic and cultural
backgrounds.
   (f) Develop tolerance programs that capitalize on the positive
potential of ethnic diversity and offer educators solutions for
confronting problems generated by a multiethnic constituency, with
the following goals:
   (1) Building a greater awareness among educators of the issues of
tolerance and diversity.
   (2) Exposing working professionals to the dynamics of prejudice
and discrimination that impede effective learning.
   (3) Providing a broad range of multicultural viewpoints that may
influence relationships among pupils, and between pupils and
teachers.
   (4) Providing solutions for conflicts that result from multiethnic
disputes.
   (g) Improve pupil attendance.