BILL ANALYSIS
AB 606
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 606 (Levine)
As Amended January 23, 2006
Majority vote
EDUCATION 7-2 APPROPRIATIONS 13-5
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|Ayes:|Goldberg, Coto, Hancock, |Ayes:|Chu, Bass, Berg, |
| |Liu, Mullin, Pavley, | |Calderon, |
| |Umberg | |De La Torre, Karnette, |
| | | |Klehs, Leno, Nation, |
| | | |Oropeza, Jones, Saldana, |
| | | |Yee |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Wyland, Huff |Nays:|Sharon Runner, Emmerson, |
| | | |Haynes, Nakanishi, |
| | | |Walters |
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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.
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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
mentioned above; and,
c) 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
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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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Minor absorbable General Fund (GF)
(Proposition 98) mandated costs, likely less than $50,000, to
school districts to develop an antidiscrimination and
antiharassment policy. Additionally, GF (Proposition 98)
mandated costs, likely less than 200,000, to school districts to
update existing school safety publications, and GF costs to SDE,
likely less than $40,000, to display the specified information
on its website.
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.
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.
Several cases have been brought against school districts for
failing to protect students from discrimination on the basis of
sexual orientation. One such case was Massey v. Banning Unified
School District, 256 F. Supp. 2d 1090 (C.D. Cal 2003 ), in which
an eighth grade student, Ashly Massey, alleged she was
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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.
On April 30, 2004, 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Marisol Avi?a / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0013674