BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1290
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1290 (Kehoe)
As Amended June 23, 2010
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :25-3
EDUCATION 6-1 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Fuentes, Bradford, |
| |Arambula, Carter, Eng, | |Huffman, Coto, Davis, De |
| |Torlakson | |Leon, Gatto, Hall, |
| | | |Skinner, Solorio, |
| | | |Torlakson, Torrico |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Nestande |Nays:|Conway, Harkey, Miller, |
| | | |Nielsen, Norby |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Requires the State Board of Education (SBE) and the
Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission
(Curriculum Commission) to include self-defense and safety
instruction in the next revision of the physical education (PE)
framework for students in grades 7, 8, 9, 11 and 12.
Specifically, this bill defines:
1)"Self-defense instruction" to include, but not necessarily be
limited to, martial arts, boxing, and other defensive
techniques.
2)"Safety instruction to include", but not necessarily be limited
to, awareness and avoidance of potentially dangerous situations.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)General Fund (GF) administrative costs to the California
Department of Education (CDE), likely between $100,000 and
$140,000, to establish a panel for the purpose of adopting a PE
curriculum framework. This assumes all or a portion of the
Curriculum Commission's funding is restored to complete the
development of the PE curriculum framework, as specified.
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2)Due to the enactment of AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Statutes of
2009, the Governor vetoed $705,000 (GF) for the Curriculum
Commission, which conducts the majority of the work associated
with instructional materials (IM) adoptions, including
developing curriculum frameworks. Specifically, the Governor
stated, "it is unnecessary for the curriculum commission to
continue to advise the SBE on content frameworks and IM
adoptions for the next five years or until an agreed-upon
process is reestablished. This reduction removes funding for
unnecessary commission per diem and travel as well as funding
for CDE staff.
COMMENTS : This bill requires the PE frameworks to be revised to
include self-defense and safety instruction in grades 7, 8, 9, 11
and 12. According to the author, the intent of this bill is to
provide school districts with enhanced authority to better prepare
students to avoid and handle threatening situations when they
arise. On February 25, 2010, a 17-year-old San Diego County
resident named Chelsea King was attacked and killed after
apparently jogging alone near Lake Hodges. The attacker has
confessed to the murders of both Chelsea and Amber Dubois, a 14
year-old victim who was killed in February 2009. Following his
arrest, another jogger came forward to allege that she had been
assaulted by the same man two months earlier. That jogger had
received martial arts training and was able to fend off the
attack. Although she had received training in advanced
self-defense techniques, her experience demonstrates the public
value of educating students on basic self-defense techniques. In
an effort to help give all students basic instruction on how to
defend themselves against physical assault, SB 1290 aims to
incorporate self-defense training into the PE framework for high
school students. The bill may not turn California public school
students into self-defense experts, but it will ensure that school
districts have the option of making pupils familiar with methods
of avoiding physical assault and increasing awareness of how to
handle unsafe situations.
Physical Education Content Standards, Framework & Regulations:
The PE model content standards provide guidance for developing PE
programs by identifying what each student in California should
know and be able to do at each grade level. Decisions about how
best to teach the standards are left to teachers, schools, and
local educational agencies.
The PE framework assists administrators and teachers with
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instituting standards-based PE instruction and programs that are
effective for every student; and, provides instructional
suggestions for teachers on each standard at each grade level.
Specifically with regard to self-defense instruction, the PE
framework suggests that high school course two (which is grade 10)
should address three content areas: combatives, gymnastics and
tumbling, and team activities. The framework states,
"self-defense is one option for addressing the content area of
combatives. Because it is directly related to student safety, it
is an important area for physical educators to teach and students
to learn. The emphasis of this unit is on how to defend, not how
to fight. The unit begins with students learning about
potentially unsafe situations and how to avoid them. Safety
skills are the initial focus of instruction. Only after learning
safety skills do students begin to learn how to protect themselves
should they be attacked." Because self-defense and safety are
already included in the PE framework for grade 10, this bill only
requires the inclusion of self-defense and safety for grades, 7,
8, 9, 11 and 12.
State regulation also specifies that school districts shall judge
the quality of a high school PE program based upon whether or not
the course of study provides for instruction in each of the
following areas: effects of physical activity upon dynamic health,
mechanics of body movement, aquatics, gymnastics and tumbling,
individual and dual sports, rhythms and dance, team sports, and
combatives for boys.
Framework Adoption Process: The process of adopting IM begins
with the review and update of the curriculum framework. The
framework development process typically takes 24 months from
initiation to approval by the SBE. Once the framework for a
particular subject is adopted by the SBE, the IM adoption process
begins, which includes submissions from publishers, review by the
IM Advisory Reviewer and Content Review Expert, Curriculum
Commission hearings and SBE adoption. The adoption process
typically takes 30 months. Schools were required to provide
pupils with IM within 24 months of adoption by SBE, but this
requirement is suspended from the 2008-09 until fiscal year (FY)
2012-13.
The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting IM has been
suspended since July 2009, pursuant to AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2,
Statutes of 2009, which among other things, prohibits the SBE from
reviewing frameworks and adopting IM until the 2013-14 school
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year. AB 2 also extended FY 2012-13 the suspension of the
requirement to purchase IM within any specific period of time
following adoption of those materials by the SBE.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0005941