BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1437|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 1437
Author: Kuehl (D), et al
Amended: 8/7/06
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 3-1, 4/4/06
AYES: Dunn, Escutia, Kuehl
NOES: Ackerman
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-3, 5/3/06
AYES: Scott, Alquist, Lowenthal, Romero, Simitian, Soto,
Speier, Torlakson
NOES: Maldonado, Denham, Morrow
SENATE FLOOR : 22-15, 5/11/06
AYES: Alarcon, Alquist, Bowen, Cedillo, Chesbro, Dunn,
Escutia, Figueroa, Kehoe, Kuehl, Lowenthal, Migden,
Murray, Ortiz, Perata, Romero, Scott, Simitian, Soto,
Speier, Torlakson, Vincent
NOES: Aanestad, Ackerman, Ashburn, Battin, Cox, Denham,
Dutton, Florez, Hollingsworth, Maldonado, Margett,
McClintock, Morrow, Poochigian, Runner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ducheny, Machado, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 47-31, 8/21/06 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : School instruction: prohibition of
discriminatory content
SOURCE : Equality California
CONTINUED
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DIGEST : This bill prohibits instruction, or the adoption
of any instructional material, that reflects adversely on
persons due to sexual orientation.
Assembly Amendments (1) deleted the requirement that
governing boards of schools include only instructional
materials that accurately portray in an age-appropriate
manner the cultural, racial, gender and sexual orientation
diversity of our society, and (2) deleted the requirement
that social science relative to early California contain
the study of men, women, Black Americans, American Indians,
Mexicans, Asians, Pacific Islanders, and people who are
lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
ANALYSIS : Existing law prohibits instruction or the
adoption of instructional materials that reflect adversely
on people because of their race, sex, color, creed,
handicap, national origin or ancestry. Existing law also
sets forth various "courses of study" that list topics that
should be addressed at some time during public school
instruction and are reviewed prior to the adoption of
instructional materials related to the course of study.
The current course of study for instruction in the social
sciences calls for "?study of the role and contributions of
both men and women, black Americans, American Indians,
Mexicans, Asians, Pacific Island people, and other ethnic
groups to the economic, political, and social development
of California and the United States?"
Under the state Constitution, and statutory law, the State
Board of Education (SBE) adopts instructional materials to
be used in grades 1 through 8 and local governing boards
adopt materials for grades 9 through 12.
This bill:
1. Recasts current law that prohibits instruction or school
activity that reflects adversely on people because of
specified characteristics to add "sexual orientation"
and updates the other characteristics, consistent with
other statutes, by replacing "sex, color, creed,
handicap, national origin or ancestry", with ethnicity,
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gender, disability, nationality, and religion.
2. Provides that the terms "race, ethnicity, gender,
disability, nationality, sexual orientation or religion"
shall be as defined in Section 422.56 of the Penal Code.
3. Recasts current law that prohibits the SBE, or local
governing boards, from adopting instructional materials
that reflects adversely on people because of specified
characteristics to add "sexual orientation" and updates
the other characteristics, consistent with other
statutes, by replacing "sex, color, creed, handicap,
national origin or ancestry," with ethnicity, gender,
disability, nationality, or religion.
Prior legislation . The Governor has vetoed substantially
similar bills in 2004 and 2005: AB 2512 (Horton), AB 15
(Horton), AB 390 (Canciamilla), and SB 684 (Alquist).
These bills proposed adopting courses of study in social
sciences to include instruction on the role of specific
groups of individuals (e.g. Filipinos, Southeast Asians,
Italian Americans, and Pacific Islanders). The Governor
noted in his veto messages that there is nothing in current
law to prohibit the inclusion of these topics by school
districts, and further noted that the state should refrain
from being overly prescriptive regarding school curriculum.
Comments
Non discrimination policy . 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
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discrimination in sexual health and HIV/AIDS prevention
curriculum, instruction and materials."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/10/06) (Unable to reverify)
Equality California (source)
Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality
Bienestar Human Services
Billy DeFrank Community Center
California Alliance for Arts Education
California Church Impact
California Federation of Teachers
California Safe Schools Coalition
California Teachers Association
Cesar E. Chavez Institute, San Francisco University
Commission on the Status of Women
Department of Finance
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
Our Family Coalition
Protection and Advocacy, Inc.
People for the American Way
Public Advocates, Inc.
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/10/06) (Unable to reverify)
California Catholic Conference
California Family Alliance
Campaign for Children and Families
Concerned Women for America of California
Solano Republican Women Federated
Traditional Values Coalition
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United Families California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office states,
"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, 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.
Proponents argue that the high rates of suicide among
lesbians, gays, bisexuals transgender youth and hate crimes
indicate that students should not have to wait until high
school to begin to talk about the community and families in
health and age-appropriate ways. The National Center for
Lesbian Rights points out that the lesbians, gays,
bisexuals or transgender community represents a significant
and important part of the history and social fabric of
California it quotes the 2000 Census, that found that there
are more than 92,000 same-sex couples living together in
California and that 67 percent of student who learned about
Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, or transgenders issues at school
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felt safer in their schools.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Opponents argue that, "[b]y
proactively teaching about sexual lifestyles of historical
figures, the schools will be implicitly offering those
behaviors as normal to children." They add that
"[a]dopting such a policy would clearly be pandering to a
tiny minority (one to three percent) of the population who
identify with aberrant sexual behavior." (Letter from
Concerned Women for America, dated March 30, 2006.)
In reference to the prohibition against discrimination in
textbook and instructional material that would include
"gender" and "sexual orientation" on the list of
characteristics, the same opponents argue that "SB 1437
flies in the face of parents as it seeks to place the
schools, rather than parents, in control of the moral
attitudes and beliefs of their children. The average
parent would be outraged at alternative sexuality even
being discussed in the classroom. Such topics are the
domain of the home, not the schools."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR:
AYES: Baca, Bass, Berg, Bermudez, Calderon, Canciamilla,
Chan, Chavez, Chu, Cohn, Coto, De La Torre, Dymally,
Evans, Frommer, Goldberg, Hancock, Jerome Horton, Jones,
Karnette, Klehs, Koretz, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber,
Lieu, Liu, Matthews, Montanez, Mullin, Nation, Nava,
Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Pavley, Richman, Ridley-Thomas,
Ruskin, Saldana, Salinas, Torrico, Umberg, Vargas, Wolk,
Yee, Nunez
NOES: Aghazarian, Benoit, Blakeslee, Bogh, Cogdill,
Daucher, DeVore, Emmerson, Garcia, Haynes, Shirley
Horton, Houston, Huff, Keene, La Malfa, La Suer, Leslie,
Maze, McCarthy, Mountjoy, Nakanishi, Niello, Parra,
Plescia, Sharon Runner, Spitzer, Strickland, Tran,
Villines, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Vacancy
RJG:mel 8/22/06 Senate Floor Analyses
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SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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