BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1437
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1437 (Kuehl)
As Amended May 1, 2006
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :22-15
EDUCATION 7-3
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|Ayes:|Goldberg, Coto, Hancock, | | |
| |Liu, Mullin, Pavley, | | |
| |Umberg | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Wyland, Huff, Richman | | |
| | | | |
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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 (U.S.). 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 (SBE) 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
SB 1437
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U.S.
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
to the definitions in the Penal Code Section 422.56.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires SBE 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 SBE and governing boards of school districts from
adopting instructional materials that 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 U.S.
FISCAL EFFECT : None, according to Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : 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
SB 1437
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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.
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:
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
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turn, can lead to discrimination, harassment, and
violence.
In fact, the author states that 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.
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.
Analysis Prepared by : Dee Brennick / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0015351