BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 88
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 18, 2007

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                  Mark Leno, Chair

                     AB 88 (Lieu) - As Amended:  March 22, 2007 

          Policy Committee:                              EducationVote:7-3

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the State Department of Education (SDE), on  
          or before January 1, 2009, to develop and maintain a  
          comprehensive list of Internet safety resources for use by local  
          education agencies (LEAs).  Specifically, this bill:  


          1)Requires the list Internet safety resources to include, but  
            not be limited to, information related to navigation of chat  
            rooms, social networking Internet sites, personal financial  
            information, maintaining anonymity while on the Internet,  
            recognizing solicitation of sexual predators, and the  
            implications of computer viruses. 


          2)Requires the SDE to distribute and make available the list of  
            safety resources to LEAs and authorizes an LEA to incorporate  
            the resources into existing curricula. 


           FISCAL EFFECT  


          On-going General Fund costs, likely less than $125,000, to SDE  
          to designate personnel to develop Internet Safety resources and  
          distribute them to LEAs, as specified. 


           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  .  Recent media reports have highlighted instances of  
            sexual predators who attempt to lure children and young teens  








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            via social networking sites, chat rooms, and other  
            Internet-based media. According to the author, children should  
            learn the fundamentals of computer behavior to ensure their  
            safety while surfing the Internet. This bill requires the SDE  
            to develop a list of Internet safety resources for  
            distribution to California schools.    

           2)Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) Cyber Safety program  .   
            DCA has partnered with the California Coalition for Children's  
            Internet Safety to offer a series of educational programs on  
            the safe, smart, and legal use of the Internet.  Coalition  
            members include technology companies, law enforcement,  
            anti-crime organizations and organizations that represent  
            school administrators, school board members, and local  
            parents.  DCA has a website devoted to this effort that  
            includes tips for parents on Internet Safety and indicates  
            that they will be holding Internet safety workshops for  
            parents throughout the state.  

            In October 2006, DCA held its first Cyber Safety Summit, a  
            free one-day event that included experts from law enforcement,  
            education, technology companies, government, community  
            organizations and private business coming together to address  
            the dangers children face in cyber space and provided training  
            and resources that to keep children safe.  

           3)Previous legislation  .  SB 1740 (Murray), which was very  
            similar to this measure, was vetoed in 2006 with the following  
            message: 


            "I believe that Internet safety is important, which is why I  
            signed AB 307 (Chavez, 2006) into law, which requires the  
            Superintendent of Public Instruction, by July 1, 2007, to  
            develop guidelines for information regarding the safe use of  
            the Internet that should be included in a school districts  
            education technology plan. Unfortunately, this bill  
            circumvents the role of the State Board of Education (SBE) by  
            giving the authority for the development and dissemination of  
            curriculum to the California Department of Education without  
            the approval of the SBE. 


            The Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has already convened  
            the California Coalition for Childrens Internet Safety (CCCIS)  








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            and will host the first statewide Cyber Safety Summit in  
            October. The Summit will address the dangers our children face  
            in cyberspace and provide the necessary training and resources  
            to keep them safe. The Summit is intended to target, among  
            others, parents/PTA organizations, educators, community  
            leaders, and child safety advocates. Prior to developing any  
            state wide guidelines, we should first take the information  
            presented at the Summit and review recommendations from the  
            CCCIS to ensure that any approach to Internet safety is  
            comprehensive and addresses the individual needs of local  
            education agencies. I believe this is a proactive, direct  
            approach to address Internet safety." 

            

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081