Amended in Assembly January 8, 2014

Amended in Assembly January 6, 2014

Amended in Assembly March 19, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 659


Introduced by Assembly Member Nazarian

February 21, 2013


An act to amend Section 51226.3 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 659, as amended, Nazarian. Pupil instruction: Armenian Genocide.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to incorporate materials relating to civil rights, human rights violations, genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust into publications that provide examples of curriculum resources, consistent with the subject frameworks on history and social science and other requirements. Under existing law, the Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching of human rights, genocide, and the Holocaust.begin insert Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education.end insert

This bill would also require the incorporation of materials related to the Armenian Genocide into those publications, and would requirebegin insert the commission to considerend insert the Armenian Genocidebegin delete to be considered in the next cycle in whichend deletebegin insert for inclusion inend insert thebegin delete history/socialend deletebegin insert history-socialend insert science curriculum frameworkbegin delete and its accompanying instructional materials are adoptedend deletebegin insert when the history-social science framework is revised as required by lawend insert. The bill would also specify that the Legislature encourages the incorporation ofbegin delete an oral history component specifically related to genocide, including, but not limited to,end deletebegin insert survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness oral testimony into the teaching of human rights, the Holocaust, and genocide, includingend insert thebegin insert Armenian, Cambodian,end insert Darfur,begin insert andend insert Rwandanbegin delete, Cambodian, and Armenian genocides, and the Jewish Holocaust, andend deletebegin insert genocides. The billend insert wouldbegin delete requireend deletebegin insert define oralend insert testimonybegin delete incorporated into an oral history component to consist only ofend deletebegin insert to meanend insert firsthand accounts of significant historical events presented in a specified format.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 51226.3 of the Education Code is
2amended to read:

3

51226.3.  

(a) The department shall incorporate into publications
4that provide examples of curriculum resources for teacher use
5those materials developed by publishers of nonfiction, trade books,
6and primary sources, or other public or private organizations, that
7are age-appropriate and consistent with the subject frameworks
8on history and social science that deal with civil rights, human
9rights violations, genocide, slavery, the Holocaust, and the
10Armenian Genocide.

11(b) begin insert(1)end insertbegin insertend insertThe Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor,
12rescuer, liberator, and witnessbegin insert oralend insert testimony into the teaching of
13human rights,begin delete genocide,end delete the Holocaust, andbegin delete the Armenian Genocideend delete
14begin insert genocide, including, but not limited to, the Armenian, Cambodian,
15Darfur, and Rwandan genocidesend insert
.

begin delete

16(c) (1) The Legislature encourages the incorporation of an oral
17history component specifically related to genocide, including, but
18not limited to, the Darfur, Rwandan, Cambodian, and Armenian
19genocides, and the Jewish Holocaust.

end delete

20(2) As used in this subdivision,begin delete testimony incorporated into an
21oral history component shall consist only ofend delete
begin insert “oral testimony”
22means theend insert
firsthand accounts of significant historical events
23presented in a format that includes, but is not limited to, in-person
P3    1testimony, video, or a multimedia option, such as a DVD or online
2video.

begin delete

3(d)

end delete

4begin insert(end insertbegin insertc)end insert The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
5development activities to provide teachers with content background
6and resources to assist in teaching about civil rights, human rights
7violations, genocide, slavery, the Holocaust, and the Armenian
8Genocide.

begin delete

9(e)

end delete

10begin insert(end insertbegin insertd)end insert The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
11development activities to provide teachers with content background
12and resources to assist in teaching about the Great Irish Famine of
131845-50.

begin delete

14(f) The Great Irish Famine of 1845-50 and the Armenian
15Genocide shall be considered in the next cycle in which the
16history/social science curriculum framework and its accompanying
17instructional materials are adopted.

end delete
begin insert

18(e) When the history-social science curriculum framework is
19revised as required by law, the Instructional Quality Commission
20shall consider including the Great Irish Famine of 1845-50 and
21the Armenian Genocide in the history-social science curriculum
22framework.

end insert
begin delete

23(g)

end delete

24begin insert(end insertbegin insertf)end insert The Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide
25adopted by the state board, pursuant to Section 51226, shall be
26made available to schools in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, as soon as
27funding is available for this purpose. In addition, the department
28shall make the curriculum available on its Internet Web site.



O

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