BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1056
                                                                  Page  1


          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 1056 (Chu)
          As Amended  January 23, 2006
          Majority vote

           EDUCATION           9-2         APPROPRIATIONS      13-5        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Goldberg, Arambula, Coto, |Ayes:|Chu, Bass, Berg,          |
          |     |Hancock, Liu, Mullin,     |     |Calderon,                 |
          |     |Pavley, Richman, Umberg   |     |De La Torre, Karnette,    |
          |     |                          |     |Klehs, Leno, Nation,      |
          |     |                          |     |Oropeza, Jones, Salda?a,  |
          |     |                          |     |Yee                       |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Wyland, Huff              |Nays:|Sharon Runner, Emmerson,  |
          |     |                          |     |Haynes, Nakanishi,        |
          |     |                          |     |Walters                   |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 

           SUMMARY  :  Establishes the Tolerance Education Pilot Program  
          (Program).  Specifically,  this bill  :

          1)Specifies that the Program shall be administered by the State  
            Department of Education (SDE).

          2)Specifies that the purpose of the Program is to promote  
            instruction on tolerance and intergroup relations as part of  
            the instruction on history/social science content standards.

          3)Expresses the intent of the Legislature in enacting this  
            article is to provide funding for the Program to supplement  
            instruction in history/social science content standards.

          4)Allows a school to apply to SDE to participate in the Program  
            and receive a funding grant of $25,000.

          5)Requires SDE to select 10 schools to participate and receive  
            funding.

          6)Specifies that schools participating in the Program may use  
            the funds for purchasing supplemental materials that promote  
            tolerance and intergroup relations or to provide staff  
            development for teachers in instruction on tolerance and  








                                                                  AB 1056
                                                                  Page  2


            intergroup relations.

          7)Encourages participating schools to consult with civil rights  
            organizations that are involved in addressing discrimination  
            based on one or more of the following actual or perceived  
            characteristics:   disability, gender, nationality, race or  
            ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, immigrant status, or  
            association with a person or group with one or more of these  
            perceived characteristics, prior to providing professional  
            development or instructional materials on tolerance and  
            intergroup relations.

          8)Requires each participating school to submit a report to SDE  
            on the effectiveness of the Program and the use of program  
            funds three years after receipt of funding.

          9)Establishes a sunset date of January 1, 2011.

           EXISTING LAW  requires the State Board of Education to review  
          existing curriculum frameworks for conformity with new statewide  
          standards and to modify the curriculum frameworks to bring them  
          into alignment with the standards.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  $250,000 (General Fund - Proposition 98) to  
          implement a tolerance curriculum.  

           COMMENTS:  This bill is similar to AB 723 (Chu) which was vetoed  
          by the Governor who felt that this was already being done.   
          Although tolerance curricula exist on a variety of Web sites,  
          use of them is voluntary.  This bill would provide pilot  
          projects to teach these curricula and gather information on the  
          effectiveness this instruction has on violence and intolerance  
          on school campuses.  By integrating the instruction into core  
          classes, all students will learn about intolerance as a part of  
          regular literature and history.


           Analysis Prepared by  :      Dee Brennick / ED. / (916) 319-2087

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