BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 234|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 234
Author: Wyland (R) and Romero (D)
Amended: 5/18/09
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/29/09
AYES: Romero, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Maldonado, Padilla,
Simitian, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Huff
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Curriculum: History-Social Science Framework:
oral
histories: Genocide
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Curriculum Development
Supplemental Materials Commission to consider and vote on
whether to include an oral history component specifically
related to genocides, including but not limited to, the
Darfur, Rwandan, Cambodian, Jewish Holocaust, or Armenian
genocides, in the proposed changes to the 2014
history-social science curriculum framework as part of its
regular process of developing and revising curriculum
framework requested by the State Board of Education. The
oral history component, if included by the Curriculum
Commissioner, shall not require the inclusion of oral
history materials in the framework, but instead require the
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inclusion of a listing of where those materials can be
found and how to use them in a history course. "Oral
history component" is defined by the bill to include, but
not be limited to, in-person testimony, video, or a
multimedia option, such as a DVD or online video.
ANALYSIS : Existing law provides that there is in the
state government the Curriculum Development and
Supplemental Materials Commission (Commission) to study
problems of courses of study in the schools of the state,
and upon request of the State Board of Education, recommend
the adoption of minimum standards for courses of study in
preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and secondary schools.
Existing law also requires the Commission to recommend
curriculum frameworks to the state board.
Comments
Related activity . The 2010 History-Social Science
framework update is currently underway. According to the
Department of Education, the updated framework is proposed
to include a new chapter on Instructional Strategies and
Professional Development. The following paragraph appears
on page 23 of the March 20, 2009, draft of the new proposed
chapter:
"The teacher can introduce students to a wide array of
primary sources that include such written texts and
letters, excerpts of speeches, diaries, and ledgers, as
well as visual materials such as photographs, paintings,
maps, political cartoons, charts, and graphs, digital
materials, and oral histories. Effective teachers find
age-appropriate primary sources that reveal historical
thinking."
Prior legislation
SB 1254 (Wyland) of 2008 , required the revision of the
history-social science content and performance standards,
and adoption of instructional materials emphasizing
biographical information and oral history. Although this
version of the bill was scheduled for hearing by the Senate
Education Committee in April 2008, the hearing was
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cancelled at the request of the author. The bill was
subsequently amended to encourage the Superintendent of
Public Instruction to make other changes to the
history-social science framework, standards and curriculum.
The bill was ultimately held under submission by the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/26/09)
International Association of Genocide Scholars
Survivors of Torture International
Trevor Getz, Associate Professor, San Francisco State
University
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/26/09)
Turkish Coalition of America
Turkish Peace and Justice Committee
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office states the
20th century alone saw multiple genocides, and yet students
oftentimes do not have a fundamental grasp of the scope and
horrors of those genocides. As these students face the
threats of genocides today and tomorrow, they must
understand the impact it has on our world. Simply reading
about a genocide or ethnic cleansing in a textbook, while
informative, often does not grab students' attention. Oral
histories allow students to see for themselves in the
individual stories, and understand the subject as more than
statistics on a page. In addition, oral histories often
capture the voices of people not often included in
traditional historical records.
Survivors of Torture International states, "California is
the home to the largest number of refuges and immigrants in
the United States, many of whom are torture and genocide
survivors". The International also indicates these
survivors have endured unimaginable horrors and preserved
in their search for liberty and teaching our children about
genocide does not only highlight the 'unspeakable
brutality' in the world but also shows the resiliency of
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the human spirit. They believe the bill will bring about
an increase in the knowledge of our students on the plight
on the survivors living in our communities and that living
in a more interconnected world makes it important for our
youth to understand the impact of genocide can be felt
close to home and by their neighbors.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The opposition is concerned
with the addition of the Armenian Genocide components
because they believe that scholarly historical documents
which could be used for teaching of this genocide does not
provide an accurate account of the events and they want a
mechanism to accurately portray all sides of continuous
historical events.
NOTE: The bill was amended on 5/18/09 which specifies that
the oral history component, if included by the Curriculum
Development and Supplemental Material Commission would not
require the inclusion of oral history materials in the
curriculum frameworks, but instead requires the inclusion
of a listing where those materials can be found and how to
use them in a history course.
DLW:do 5/27/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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