BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1437
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Date of Hearing: June 14, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Jackie Goldberg, Chair
SB 1437 (Kuehl) - As Amended: May 1, 2006
SENATE VOTE : 22-15
SUBJECT : Prohibition of discriminatory instruction and
instructional materials.
SUMMARY : Requires the inclusion of age-appropriate instruction
in social sciences on the roles and contributions of various
groups, to include people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or
transgender, to the economic, political, and social development
of California and the United States. Specifically, this bill :
1)Prohibits any teacher from giving instruction that reflects
adversely on persons because of their gender or sexual
orientation.
2)Prohibits any school district from sponsoring any activity
that reflects adversely on persons because of their gender or
sexual orientation.
3)Prohibits the State Board of Education and any governing board
of any school district from adopting instructional materials
that reflect adversely on persons because of their gender or
sexual orientation.
4)Requires governing boards to adopt only instructional
materials which accurately portray in an age-appropriate
manner the diversity of our society in regards to cultural,
racial, gender, and sexual orientation differences, and the
contributions of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or
transgender to the total development of California and the
United States.
5)Recasts the terms sex, color, creed, handicap, national
origin, and ancestry as gender, ethnicity, religion,
disability, and nationality.
6)Redefines race, ethnicity, gender, disability, nationality,
sexual orientation, nationality, sexual orientation to conform
SB 1437
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to the definitions in the Penal Code, Section 422.56.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the State Board of Education to adopt instructional
materials for students in public schools in kindergarten and
grades 1-8.
2)Requires governing boards of school districts to adopt
instructional materials for students in grades 9-12 in their
districts.
3)Prohibits the State Board of Education and governing boards of
school districts from adopting instructional materials reflect
adversely on people because of their race, sex, color, creed,
handicap, national origin, or ancestry.
4)Prohibits teachers from providing instruction, and school
districts from sponsoring activities that reflect adversely on
people because of their race, sex, color, creed, handicap,
national origin, or ancestry.
5)Requires governing boards to adopt only materials that portray
the cultural and racial diversity of our society, including
the contributions of both men and women in a variety of roles
and occupations, and various ethnic and cultural groups to the
total development of California and the United States.
FISCAL EFFECT : None, according to Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : This bill has been double-referred to the Assembly
Judiciary Committee.
Over the years efforts have been made by a variety of groups to
include their roles in the development of the State and country
so that students will be aware of the strength contributed to
our society through diversity. Some groups have been
successful; others have not. The Governor now routinely vetoes
these bills, with veto messages to the effect that schools can
already teach this material. This bill seeks to guide the
criteria for instructional materials, and to prohibit bashing of
gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual people in both
instruction and instructional materials, and to include, in an
age appropriate manner, the contributions and achievements of
these people.
SB 1437
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According to the Senate Judiciary Committee analysis, "Since
1965, the prohibition against
discriminatory bias in education (including curriculum and
educational materials) has been expanded to reflect the
expansion of civil rights protections to all aspects of society.
Thus, in 1965 statutory prohibitions against curricula and
books reflecting bias against persons because
of national origin and ancestry were enacted followed in 1973 by
prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of sex.
Disability was added in 1987 and in 2003, SB 71 (Kuehl), Chapter
650, Statutes of 2003, prohibits promotion of bias against any
person on the basis of any
characteristic, generally protected against discrimination in
sexual health and HIV/AIDS prevention curriculum, instruction
and materials.
According to the author's office: "Lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people are almost
entirely omitted from textbooks and other instructional
materials in California schools (citing the National School
Climate Survey, GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network), 2003, which found that 76.2 percent of youth reported
that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues were never
addressed or discussed in their class). In the rare instances
where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are
explicitly mentioned in the classroom or in classroom materials,
it is often in negative terms or in relationship to pathology.
The absence from our curriculum of positive images of lesbian,
gay, bisexual or transgender people and their many contributions
to California and the United States is a disservice to all
children. Silence and biased messages about lesbian, gay,
bisexual or transgender people only promotes negative
stereotypes and this, in turn, can lead to discrimination,
harassment, and violence."
In fact, the author's office states, research shows most hate
crime perpetrators, who are in their late teens and early
twenties, believe that they do not violate any social norms by
attacking those they perceive to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or
transgender. This fact exposes students who are perceived to be
or are associated with gays, lesbians, bisexuals or transgenders
in school to violence and harassment, and places them at greater
risk for suicide, skipping school, drug and alcohol abuse and
other risk-taking behavior, according to that research.
SB 1437
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Young people, especially in high school, need positive role
models to guide them in finding their places in the world. For
youngsters who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual these role models
are usually missing. The only forms of recognition they
regularly encounter are harassment and exclusion.
In their letter of opposition, Concerned Women for America argue
that "by proactively teaching about sexual lifestyles of
historical figures, the schools will be implicitly offering
those behaviors as normal to children." They add that "adopting
such a policy would clearly be pandering to a tiny minority (one
to three percent) of the population who identify with aberrant
sexual behavior." Opponents also argue that moral education is
the responsibility of parents and the home, and that mentioning
any sexual orientation other than heterosexuality, schools would
somehow be promoting them.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Equality California (sponsor)
Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
Bienestar Human Services
Billy DeFrank Community Center
California Alliance for Arts Education
California Association of School Social Workers
California Church Impact
California Commission on the Status of Women
California Federation of Teachers
California Safe Schools Coalition
California Teachers Association
Cesar E. Chavez Institute, San Francisco University
Commission on the Status of Women
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, San
Francisco-East Bay
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Human Rights Campaign
L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center
Lambda Letters Project
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Lesbian Rights
Office of California Attorney General Bill Lockyer
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Our Family Coalition
Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Palm
Springs/Desert Communities Chapter
People for the American Way
Protection and Advocacy, Inc.
Public Advocates, Inc.
Safe Schools
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Opposition
California Catholic Conference
California Family Alliance
Campaign for Children and Families
Concerned Women for America of California
First United Methodist Church of Yuba City
Solano Republican Women Federated
Traditional Values Coalition
United Families California
Numerous letters from individuals
Analysis Prepared by : Dee Brennick / ED. / (916) 319-2087