BILL ANALYSIS
AB 606
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 11, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Jackie Goldberg, Chair
AB 606 (Levine) - As Amended: January 4, 2006
SUBJECT : Civil rights: sexual orientation
SUMMARY : Establishes the Safe Place to Learn Act to ensure
that all school districts and schools work to reduce
discrimination, harassment and violence based on specified
characteristics, including but not limited to, actual or
perceived gender identity and sexual orientation. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Makes several findings and declarations related to
bias-related discrimination, harassment, and violence
experienced by pupils at educational institutions.
2)Finds and declares that the United States Court of Appeals for
the Ninth Circuit held in High Tech Gays v Defense Indus. Sec.
Clearance Office, 895 F. 2d 563, 570-571 (9th Cir. 1990), that
actual or perceived sexual orientation can be the basis for
membership in an identifiable class for purposes of protection
under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
to the United States Constitution.
3)Establishes that it is the policy of the State of California
to ensure that all school districts and schools continue to
work to reduce discrimination, harassment, and violence.
4)Requires school districts to do all of the following:
a) Establish and publicize an antidiscrimination and
anti-harassment policy that prohibits discrimination and
harassment based on the actual or perceived
characteristics, as contained in the definition of a hate
crime, including but not limited to actual or perceived
gender identity and sexual orientation.
b) Update all applicable publications, during the normal
course of reprinting, related to school safety, bullying,
tolerance, bias-motivated behavior, and hate-related
violence to include information on bias-related
discrimination and harassment based on the characteristics
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mentioned above.
c) Offer effective and comprehensive trainings and
disseminate publications, during the normal course of
conducting these activities, to inform teachers and school
staff members of the appropriate manner in which to
identify and respond to bias-related discrimination and
harassment based on the characteristics mentioned above.
d) Maintain documentation of all complaints of
discrimination and harassment.
5)Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to display
information on trainings, curricula, and other resources that
specifically address bias-related discrimination and
harassment on the California Healthy Kids Resource Center
Internet Web site.
6)Provides that a noncompliance complaint may be filed pursuant
to the Uniform Complaint Procedures in the case that a
district does not comply with the requirements of this bill.
7)Allows the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to use
any means authorized by law, to effect compliance with this
bill, including but not limited to, the withholding of all or
part of relevant state fiscal support of the school district.
8)Requires that any funds withheld by the SPI be used to
implement the California Student Safety and Violence
Prevention Act of 2000.
9)States that this bill does not abrogate or limit any other
basis of liability or any other remedy that is otherwise
available at law.
10)Repeals a provision in current law stating that nothing in
the California Student Safety and Violence Prevention Act of
2000 requires the inclusion of any curriculum, textbook,
presentation, or other material in any program or activity
conducted by an educational institution or postsecondary
institution.
EXISTING LAW
1)Prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, ethnic group
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identification, race, national origin, religion, color, mental
or physical disability, or any actual or perceived
characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate
crimes as set forth in the Penal Code, in any program or
activity conducted by an educational institution that
receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or
enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid (Sec.
220).
2)Defines "hate crime" as a criminal act committed, in whole or
in part, because of one or more of the following actual or
perceived characteristics of the victim: disability, gender,
nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation,
and association with a person or group with one or more of
these actual or perceived characteristics (Penal Code 422.55).
3)Authorizes the State Board of Education (SBE) at the request
of the SPI to adopt policies directed toward creating a school
environment in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12 that is free
from discriminatory attitudes and practices and acts of hate
violence, and to revise as needed the state curriculum
frameworks and guidelines and the moral and civic education
curricula to include human relations education, with the aim
of fostering an appreciation of the diversity of California's
population and discouraging the development of discriminatory
attitudes and practices (Sec. 233).
4)States that nothing in the California Student Safety and
Violence Prevention Act of 2000 requires the inclusion of any
curriculum, textbook, presentation, or other material in any
program or activity conducted by an educational institution or
postsecondary educational institution. It further states that
the Act shall not be deemed violated by the omission of any
curriculum, textbook, presentation or other material in any
program or activity conducted by an educational institution or
postsecondary educational institution (Sec. 241).
5)Requires that prior to receipt of any state financial
assistance or state student financial aid, an educational
institution shall provide assurance to the agency
administering the funds in the manner required by the funding
agency, that each program or activity conducted by the
educational institution will be conducted in compliance with
all applicable provisions of state law prohibiting
discrimination (Sec. 250).
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6)Allows school site councils to write and develop a
comprehensive school safety plan relevant to the needs and
resources of that particular school, and requires the plan to
include a discrimination and harassment policy consistent with
the prohibition against discrimination as contained in current
law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : In 2000, the Legislature passed and Governor Davis
signed into law AB 537 (Kuehl), the California Student Safety
and Violence Prevention Act of 2000. This legislation added the
following two new forms of discrimination to the existing
prohibitions against discrimination and harassment in California
public schools: actual or perceived sexual orientation and
actual or perceived gender.
AB 537 Advisory Task Force . In the Spring of 2000, former
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin
established an advisory task force to identify research and
recommend ways to implement the California Student Safety and
Violence Prevention Act of 2000.
In 2001 the task force released a report which contained twelve
recommendations. The recommendations included, among others:
adopting and enforcing clear written policies; informing and
training all school personnel on the law's requirements;
providing guidance for students about their rights and
responsibilities; integrating methods to monitor compliance; and
developing anti-bias education programs for students.
The provisions of this bill relating to school personnel
training are consistent with the recommendations of the AB 537
Advisory Task Force's report.
Lawsuits against school districts . Several cases have been
brought against school districts for failing to protect students
from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The
following are some recent cases that have been settled in favor
of the students.
In Flores v. Morgan Hill Unified School District., 324 F.3d 1130
(9th Cir. 2003), a federal appeals court held that school
administrators' deliberate indifference to peer-to-peer sexual
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orientation discrimination violated the students' equal
protection rights. The court unanimously ruled that if a school
knows anti-gay harassment is taking place, it is obligated to
take meaningful steps to end it and to protect students. The
lawsuit was brought on behalf of several middle and high school
students attending schools in the Morgan Hill Unified School
District, who claimed they were subjected to persistent verbal
and physical abuse by other students based on their perceived
sexual orientation. As part of the settlement, the district had
to implement mandatory administrator, staff and student training
on preventing harassment and discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation or gender identity.
In Massey v. Banning Unified School District, 256 F. Supp. 2d
1090 (C.D. Cal 2003), an eighth grade student, Ashly Massey,
alleged she was prohibited from attending physical education
class on the basis of her sexual orientation. The case was
settled as the court recognized that the student had an
actionable Equal Protection claim where she was barred from
physical education class and instead forced to sit in the
principal's office during that period. Under the settlement,
the district was to put in place an amended anti-discriminatory
policy, provide training for staff and students on issues of
anti-discrimination and diversity, and pay Massey $45,000.
In Loomis v. Visalia Unified School District (E.D. Cal.)
(Settled 2002), a gay student was harassed by teachers and
students. The district had to pay the student $130,000 in
damages, and it agreed to a package of reforms that included
changes to the schools policies and anti-harassment trainings
for staff and students.
The Poway High School case . In June of 2005, a San Diego
Superior Court jury awarded two Poway High School students,
Joseph Ramelli and Megan Donovan a combined total of $300,000 in
damages after the jury found that the students were harassed by
their classmates because of their sexual orientation. Both
students claimed that they were repeatedly threatened, and
Ramelli was spit on, kicked, punched and his car was vandalized.
Senate Select Committee on School Safety . On October 3, 2002,
the Senate Select Committee on School Safety held a hearing
entitled, "Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity Discrimination
and School Safety." The Committee heard from students,
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advocates, and administrators who testified at the hearing. The
most commonly voiced recommendations centered around the urgent
need to fully implement the School Safety and Violence
Prevention Act of 2000 and the dire need for training school
staff on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) issues.
Specifically, the witnesses recommended to members of the
Committee to implement the recommendations of the AB 537
Advisory Task Force and to provide funding for districts to
adopt and implement staff training.
State Department of Education Legal Advisory . On April 30,
2004, the SDE's General Counsel issued a legal advisory to all
county and district superintendents explaining the laws related
to discrimination, specifically regarding the statutes and
regulations related to gender equity and discrimination.
According to this document, every local educational agency is
required to have a policy against discrimination that applies to
all the protected categories of students and a complaint
procedure that enforces that policy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Equality California (Sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087