BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1451
AUTHOR: Yee
AMENDED: March 25, 2010
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 21, 2010
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Curriculum frameworks and instructional materials.
KEY POLICY ISSUES
Should the State Board of Education be required to ensure
that the next revision of the History-Social Science
framework is consistent with existing requirements to ensure
instructional materials include, portray accurately,
encourage and impress certain content upon pupils?
Should the State Board of Education be required to notify the
Legislature and Governor's office if it determines any
instructional materials submitted for consideration for
adoption contain content that meets the revised standards for
social studies curriculum in Texas?
Will the curriculum in Texas influence the textbook options
in California? Will publishers submit instructional
materials developed for Texas for consideration in
California?
Is it premature to add to the processes of adopting updated
curriculum frameworks and instructional materials is
suspended until the 2013-14 school year?
SUMMARY
This bill requires the State Board of Education to notify the
Legislature and Governor's office if it determines any
instructional materials submitted for consideration for
adoption contain content that meets the revised standards for
social studies curriculum in Texas. This bill also requires
the State Board of Education to ensure that the next revision
of the History-Social Science framework is consistent with
existing requirements to ensure instructional materials
include, portray accurately, encourage and impress certain
SB 1451
Page 2
content upon pupils.
BACKGROUND
Current law requires instructional materials to:
1) Accurately portray:
a) The cultural and racial diversity of our
society. (EC 60040)
b) Protection of ecological systems and the harm
caused by tobacco, alcohol and drugs (EC 60041)
2) Include:
a) The contributions of men, women, and ethnic
groups to the development of the state and nation.
(EC 51204.5)
b) The Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution of the United States. (EC 60043)
c) Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil
rights movement.
(EC 60200.6)
3) Impress upon the minds of pupils certain American
principles. (EC 60200.5)
4) Encourage thrift, fire prevention and the humane
treatment of animals and people. (EC 60042)
Current law prohibits school districts from adopting
instructional materials that:
1) In the determination of the school district, contains:
a) Any matter reflecting adversely upon people
due to race, color, creed, national origin,
ancestry, sex, handicap, or occupation.
b) Any sectarian, or denominational doctrine or
propaganda contrary to law. (EC 60044)
2) Provides any exposure to commercial brand name, product,
or corporate or company logo that is inconsistent with
the guidelines or frameworks adopted by the State Board
of Education. (EC 60048)
An early stage in the instructional materials adoption
SB 1451
Page 3
process is the submission by publishers of samples of
instructional materials to the State Board of Education (SBE)
for review. As part of this process, the California
Department of Education (CDE) is required to conduct social
content reviews for all instructional materials, which is
intended to determine compliance with all of the Education
Code sections described above except section 51204.5. (EC
60050)
The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting
instructional materials has been suspended since July 2009,
pursuant to AB 2 of the Fourth Extraordinary Session (Chapter
2, July 2009), which among other things, prohibited the SBE
from reviewing frameworks and adopting instructional
materials until the 2013-14 school year.
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to
notify the Legislature and Governor's office if it determines
any instructional materials submitted for consideration for
adoption contain content that meets the revised standards for
social studies curriculum in Texas. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the SBE to inform the chairs of the Assembly
and Senate Education Committees, and the Governor's
Secretary for Education, if the SBE determines, as part
of the social content review, any content submitted for
review are the result of changes to the Texas
Administrative Code.
2) Requires the SBE, upon the next adoption of the
History-Social Science framework, to ensure the
framework is consistent with the following requirements
in existing law:
a) Instruction of social sciences must include
the early history of California and a 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 of America, with
particular emphasis on portraying the role of these
groups in contemporary society.
b) Instructional materials used in schools must
accurately portray the cultural and racial
SB 1451
Page 4
diversity of our society, including the
contributions of both men and women in all types of
roles, including professional, vocational, and
executive roles, as well as the role and
contributions of Native Americans, African
Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans,
European Americans, and members of other ethnic and
cultural groups to the total development of
California and the United States, and finally, the
role and contributions of the entrepreneur and
labor in the total development of California and
the United States.
c) Instructional materials must be designed to
impress upon the minds of the pupils the principles
of morality, truth, justice, patriotism, and a true
comprehension of the rights, duties, and dignity of
American citizenship, and to instruct them in
manners and morals and the principles of a free
government.
d) Instructional materials in social studies must
include information designed to instruct pupils on
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights
movement, and contributions made by ethnic minority
groups to the history of the United States.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : According to the author, the Texas
Board of Education recently voted to adopt revisions to
the social studies curriculum that are "a sharp
departure from widely accepted historical teachings that
are driven by an inappropriate ideological desire to
influence academic content standards for children in
public schools. Although not yet formally adopted, it
is widely presumed that the proposed changes to Texas'
social studies curriculum will have a national impact on
textbook content since Texas is the second largest
purchaser of textbooks in the United States, second only
to California."
2) What changes are proposed for the social studies
curriculum in Texas ? The Texas Board of Education has
proposed changes to the social studies curriculum that a
majority of the board sees as moving away from a liberal
bias; others believe the proposed changes insert a
conservative bias. Examples of proposed changes making
the news include:
SB 1451
Page 5
Removing Thomas Jefferson from a list of
figures whose writings inspired revolutions in the
late 18th century and 19th century, replacing him
with St. Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin and William
Blackstone. A March 12, 2010 New York Times
article states that "Jefferson is not well liked
among conservatives on the board because he coined
the term 'separation between church and state.'"
Ensuring that students learn about "the
conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s,
including Phyllis Schlafly, the Contract With
America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral
Majority and the National Rifle Association."
Stating that students should study "the
unintended consequences" of the Great Society
legislation, affirmative action and Title IX
legislation.
Stressing that Germans and Italians as well as
Japanese were interned in the United States during
World War II.
According to an April 15, 2010, Dallas Morning News
article, "the proposed curriculum standards will
require teachers to cover the Judeo-Christian
influences of the nation's Founding Fathers, but
not highlight the philosophical rationale for the
separation of church and state. Curriculum
standards also will describe the U.S. government as
a "constitutional republic," rather than
"democratic," and students will be required to
study the decline in value of the U.S. dollar,
including the abandonment of the gold standard.
Many critics, including several Hispanic lawmakers
and academic experts, have said the new curriculum
minimizes the contributions of minorities."
1) Already part of review ? The California Department of
Education (CDE) is currently required to conduct a
social content review of instructional materials
submitted to the State Board of Education (SBE) for
adoption. Statute does not clearly review this type of
review of curriculum frameworks. However, the SBE and
Curriculum Commission directed the Curriculum Framework
SB 1451
Page 6
and Evaluation Criteria Committee for the
currently-suspended review and update of the
History-Social Science framework to incorporate into the
evaluation criteria the portrayals that are required to
be included in instructional materials. Is it necessary
to codify current practice?
2) Will Texas curriculum be taught in California schools ?
The author is concerned that, because Texas is the
second largest purchaser of textbooks, instructional
materials developed for the Texas market will flood the
national market. California is the largest purchaser of
instructional materials in the nation. Will the
curriculum in Texas influence the textbook options in
California? Will publishers submit instructional
materials developed for Texas for consideration in
California?
3) Look for same content in framework and textbooks . This
bill includes cross-references to several existing
requirements to ensure instructional materials include,
portray accurately, encourage and impress certain
content upon pupils. However, the three lists of
cross-references do not match. Staff recommends an
amendment to cross-reference the same Education Code
sections in the findings and declarations, framework
review and social content review of instructional
materials. This ensures that the Curriculum Commission
and its committees will review both the framework and
instructional materials for the same content.
4) Sunset . This bill amends a section of the Education
Code that sunsets on January 1, 2011. Staff recommends
an amendment to extend the sunset date by five years, to
January 1, 2016.
5) Related legislation .
SB 1278 (Wyland, 2010), an urgency measure,
resumes the currently-suspended instructional
materials adoption process and creates a new
schedule for the adoption of instructional
materials, beginning with History-Social Science in
2011. SB 1278 is scheduled to be heard by this
Committee on April 21, 2010.
AB 2069 (Carter, 2010) is nearly identical
SB 1451
Page 7
to SB 1278 and is scheduled to be heard by the
Assembly Education Committee on April 21, 2010.
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
None received.