BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 339 (Bonilla)
Hearing Date: 08/15/2011 Amended: 07/06/2011
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-HernandezPolicy Vote: Education 6-2
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 339 reestablishes provisions of the Education
Code, related to social content reviews, that recently sunset.
Specifically, this bill requires:
1)The State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt regulations to
govern social content reviews conducted at the request of a
publisher or manufacturer of instructional materials outside
the primary instructional material adoption processes; and
2)The Department of Education (CDE) to: a) conduct, or contract
for, the social content review of instructional materials
outside the primary adoption process, provided that the
publisher pays a fee assessed by the CDE; b) assess a fee on
a publisher or manufacturer that does not exceed the
reasonable costs to the department to conduct a social
content review pursuant to this statute; and
c) provide notice to publishers and manufacturers of
the establishment of the fee.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
Fund
Social Content Reviews Potentially significant costs, fully
reimbursed by fees Fees*
*Publisher fees submitted with instructional materials
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STAFF COMMENTS:
AB 339 (Bonilla)
Page 1
Current law requires that instructional materials "accurately
portray" the cultural and racial diversity of our society and
include specified information about, among other things, the
contributions of men, women, and ethnic groups to the
development of California and of the nation, the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution, and Dr. Martin Luther King
and the civil rights movement. Current law prohibits districts
from adopting materials that contain matter reflecting adversely
upon people due to their race, color, creed, national origin,
ancestry, sex, handicap, or occupation. Adopted materials must
also be free of sectarian or denominational doctrine contrary to
law.
Until January 2011, when the requirement sunset, the CDE was
authorized to conduct social content reviews for state-adopted
instructional materials. The CDE also conducted reviews for
non-adopted instructional materials, such as supplemental
materials. The publisher or manufacturer requesting the review
would be charged a fee for the out-of-cycle social content
review, consistent with the fee authority granted in regulations
for this purpose.
This bill requires the CDE to conduct, or contract for, social
content reviews of instructional materials outside the primary
adoption process, provided that the publisher pays a fee
assessed by the CDE. Social content reviews previously done by
CDE were entirely fee-funded, and the CDE indicates that it has
the staff and processes in place to reinstate those exact
reviews if given the legislative authority to do so. According
to the CDE, it contracted with individual county offices of
education to conduct approximately 100 reviews in the 2009-10
fiscal year. This bill, as in previous law, authorizes the CDE
to assess a fee to cover all costs for these reviews, and the
CDE can use those fees to pay for contracted work. This bill
does not increase the scope or activities previously completed
by CDE prior to January, and is unlikely to increase any
department costs for social content reviews.