BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 739
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Date of Hearing: May 11, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 739 (Bonnie Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 26, 2011
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:7-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires the State Board of Education and the
Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission
(CDSMC) to include suicide prevention and mental illness
awareness instruction in the health education curriculum
framework for grades 7 and 8. Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes a school district, commencing with the 2012-13
school year, to provide pupils in any of grades 7-12 with
suicide prevention and mental illness awareness instruction,
as specified.
2)Defines "suicide prevention instruction" as, including, but
not limited to: (a) awareness and knowledge of depression; (b)
ability to identify school and community resources for suicide
prevention; (c) knowledge and skills about how to seek help
for oneself or a friend, as specified; and (d) importance of
witnesses and bystanders reporting actual or perceived signs
of suicide risk factors to schoolsite staff.
3)Defines "Mental illness awareness instruction" as including,
but not limited to: (a) awareness and knowledge of mental
illness and disorders (depression, schizophrenia, bipolar
disorder, autism spectrum disorders); (b) ability to identify
school and community resources for individuals living with a
mental illness or disorder; and (c) knowledge and skills about
how to seek help for oneself or a friend, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)GF administrative costs, likely between $200,000 and $700,000,
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to the State Department of Education's (SDE) for the CDSMC to
complete the requirements of this measure. This assumes a
portion or all of the Commission's funding is restored to
complete the development of the health curriculum framework,
as specified. The governor vetoed all GF funding for the
CDSMC in 2009 and funding has not been restored.
2)Beginning in the 2012-13 fiscal year, potential GF/98 costs to
school districts, likely between $80,000 and $160,000, to
provide instruction in suicide prevention and mental illness
awareness, as specified.
3)Potential GF/98 costs to school districts, likely between
$200,000 and $300,000 to provide professional development to
teachers and purchase instructional materials to provide
instruction pursuant to this measure.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the National Institute of Mental
Health, in 2007, suicide was the third leading cause of death
for young people ages 15-24. Suicide accounted for 4,140
deaths (12%) of the total 34,598 suicide deaths in 2007.
According to the author, "Because suicide is only one
manifestation of a number of interrelated problems of
development and adjustment, developmentally-appropriate mental
health curriculum can provide a vital foundation for awareness
and prevention programs focusing on building resilience,
reducing the number of youth who become at-risk or experience
crisis, and identifying those who are in need of
intervention."
This bill requires the SBE and CDSMC to include suicide
prevention and mental illness awareness instruction in the
health education curriculum framework for grades 7 and 8. It
also authorizes school districts, beginning in the 2012-13
school year, to provide pupils in any of grades 7-12 with
suicide prevention and mental illness awareness instruction,
as specified.
2)Existing law requires the SBE to adopt statewide academically
rigorous content standards in the core curriculum areas. These
content standards are implemented through the curriculum
frameworks, as adopted by SBE. The adopted instructional
materials (IM) must be consistent with the criteria and
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standards of quality prescribed in the adopted curriculum
frameworks. The development of curriculum frameworks is a
multi-year process.
In 2002, the SBE adopted the health curriculum framework for
grades K-12. The current framework does contain information
related to mental health issues, including suicide, in the
middle and high school.
Statute also requires the SBE to adopt content standards in
the curriculum area of health education. In March 2008, the
SBE adopted the Health Education Content Standards for grades
K-12. These content standards contain information related to
mental health issues.
AB 2 X4 (Evans), Chapter 2, Statutes of 2009, specified that
local education agencies are not required to purchase (IM)
through the 2012-13 fiscal year. Consistent with the
non-purchasing requirement, Chapter 2 also suspended the
requirement for SBE to adopt IM or conduct other procedures
associated with adoption (i.e., adopting curriculum
frameworks) until the 2013-14 school year. SB 70 (Committee
on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011,
extended this suspension until the 2014-15 FY.
3)Governor's July 2009 budget veto . The CDSMC is an 18-member
advisory board to SBE. Commissioners tend to be recognized
authorities in a specific subject matter, professors,
curriculum experts, K-12 teachers, or community members. The
commission advises SBE on the K-12 curriculum frameworks and
K-8 IM. In doing so, it serves as a kind of intermediary
between the field experts and SBE. The commission holds a
public hearing on a framework after the Subject Matter
Committee hearing and before the SBE hearing on the framework.
In July 2009, the governor vetoed $705,000 GF from SDE's
budget "to capture the maximum amount of savings from the
instructional materials flexibility provided in the Education
trailer bill �AB 2 X4] to school districts, which suspends the
adoption of instructional materials by the State Board of
Education (Board) and the subsequent purchasing requirements
for school districts until 2013-14. As a result, it is
unnecessary for the Curriculum Development and Supplemental
Materials Commission to continue to advise the Board on
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content frameworks and instructional materials 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
Department staff."
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081