BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin Murray, Chairman
1056 (Chu)
Hearing Date: 8/7/06 Amended: 5/2/06
Consultant: Bob Franzoia Policy Vote: Ed 8-2
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 1056 would establish the Tolerance Education
Pilot Program, to be administered by the State Department of
Education (SDE), to promote instruction on tolerance and
inter-group relations as part of the instruction in the
history/social science content standards. The bill would
require the SDE to select ten schools to receive one time grants
of $25,000 each for one of two specified purposes. The bill
would require each school to develop a plan to implement a
tolerance and inter-group relations curriculum. The provisions
of the bill would sunset on 1/1/2011.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Fund
Tolerance curriculum $250 one time General*
pilot program
Cost pressure Unknown, major cost
pressure to expand General*
pilot program statewide
* Counts toward meeting the Proposition 98 minimum funding
guarantee
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Under current law, the State Board of Education is required to
adopt academic content and performance standards in the core
areas of history/social science, mathematics, reading, science,
and writing. The board is required to adopt curriculum
standards, to review the existing curriculum frameworks for
conformity with those standards, and to align frameworks as
necessary.
The one time grants shall be used for either:
1) Purchasing supplemental instructional materials that promote
tolerance and inter-group relations.
2) Providing professional development for teachers on tolerance
and inter-group relations.
The bill would require each school selected to participate in
the program that receives funding to submit a report to the SDE
on the effectiveness of the program and of the use of program
funds three years after the school receives initial funding.
This bill is related to AB 723 (Chu) of 2005, which was vetoed
by the Governor with the following message:
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AB 1056 (Chu)
No one believes more strongly than I in the importance of
teaching our children tolerance for all persons, irrespective of
race, gender, nationality, ethnicity, religious creed,
disability, or sexual orientation. However, this bill is
largely duplicative of current efforts to provide more avenues
to teach about tolerance and human rights.
For example, current law already establishes a Center for the
Excellence on the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, Human
Rights, and Tolerance to provide teachers the training and
resources to effectively teach about these subjects. In
addition, the State Board of Education has adopted a Model
Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide that is available to
all schools. Finally, with respect to tolerance of a more
immediate nature, the California Department of Education has
posted on its website model policies on the prevention of
bullying and hate-motivated behavior.