Amended in Senate August 22, 2014

Amended in Senate August 19, 2014

Amended in Senate June 25, 2014

Amended in Assembly May 23, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 22, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 1, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1915

Introduced by Assembly Members Nazarian and Achadjian

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Ian Calderon, Fox, Hall, Holden, Nestande, Patterson, and Wilk)

(Coauthors: Senators Berryhill, Lara, begin delete and Vidak end delete begin insert Vidak, and Wyland end insert )

February 19, 2014

An act to amend begin delete Section end delete begin insert Sections 51220 and end insert 51226.3 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1915, as amended, Nazarian. Pupil instruction: begin insert social sciences: end insert Armenian Genocide.

begin insert

Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including social sciences. Existing law requires the instruction in social studies to provide instruction in, among other things, human rights issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust.

end insert begin insert

This bill would enact the Armenian Genocide Education Act, and would provide that the instruction in human rights issues may also include particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of the Armenian Genocide.

end insert

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. Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education.

This bill would begin delete enact the Armenian Genocide Education Act and would instead require end delete begin insert encourage end insert the department to begin delete consider incorporating end delete begin insert end insert begin insert incorporate end insert materials relating to begin delete civil rights, human rights violations, genocide, slavery, end delete the begin delete Armenian genocide, and the Holocaust end delete begin insert Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides end insert into publications that provide examples of curriculum resources, consistent with the subject frameworks on history and social science. The bill would begin delete also encourage the department to incorporate materials related to the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides into those publications, and would end delete require the commission to consider including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides in the recommended history-social science curriculum framework when the history-social science curriculum framework is revised as required by law. The bill would also specify that the Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness oral testimony, as defined, into the teaching of human rights, the Holocaust, and genocide, including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.

begin insert

This bill would incorporate additional changes in Section 51226.3 of the Education Code, proposed by SB 1380, to be operative only if SB 1380 and this bill are chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2015, and this bill is chaptered last.

end insert

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

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

SECTION 1.  

This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the
Armenian Genocide Education Act.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 51220 of the end insert begin insert Education Code end insert begin insert is amended to
read: end insert

51220.  

The adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12,
inclusive, shall offer courses in the following areas of study:

(a) English, including knowledge of and appreciation for
literature, language, and composition, and the skills of reading,
listening, and speaking.

(b)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert Social sciences, drawing upon the disciplines of
anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science,
psychology, and sociology, designed to fit the maturity of the
pupils. Instruction shall provide a foundation for understanding
the history, resources, development, and government of California
and the United States of America; instruction in our American
legal system, the operation of the juvenile and adult criminal justice
systems, and the rights and duties of citizens under the criminal
and civil law and the State and Federal Constitutions; the
development of the American economic system, including the role
of the entrepreneur and labor; the relations of persons to their
human and natural environment; eastern and western cultures and
civilizations; human rights issues, with particular attention to the
study of the inhumanity of genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust,
and contemporary issues.

begin insert

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, genocide may include the
Armenian Genocide. The “Armenian Genocide” means the torture,
starvation, and murder of 1,500,000 Armenians, which included
death marches into the Syrian desert, by the rulers of the Ottoman
Turkish Empire and the exile of more than 500,000 innocent people
during the period from 1915 to 1923, inclusive.

end insert

(c) Foreign language or languages, beginning not later than
grade 7, designed to develop a facility for understanding, speaking,
reading, and writing the particular language.

(d) Physical education, with emphasis given to physical activities
that are conducive to health and to vigor of body and mind, as
required by Section 51222.

(e) Science, including the physical and biological aspects, with
emphasis on basic concepts, theories, and processes of scientific
investigation and on the place of humans in ecological systems,
and with appropriate applications of the interrelation and
interdependence of the sciences.

(f) Mathematics, including instruction designed to develop
mathematical understandings, operational skills, and insight into
problem-solving procedures.

(g) Visual and performing arts, including dance, music, theater,
and visual arts, with emphasis upon development of aesthetic
appreciation and the skills of creative expression.

(h) Applied arts, including instruction in the areas of consumer
and homemaking education, industrial arts, general business
education, or general agriculture.

(i) Career technical education designed and conducted for the
purpose of preparing youth for gainful employment in the
occupations and in the numbers that are appropriate to the
personnel needs of the state and the community served and relevant
to the career desires and needs of the pupils.

(j) Automobile driver education, designed to develop a
knowledge of the provisions of the Vehicle Code and other laws
of this state relating to the operation of motor vehicles, a proper
acceptance of personal responsibility in traffic, a true appreciation
of the causes, begin delete seriousness end delete begin insert seriousness, end insert and consequences of traffic
accidents, and to develop the knowledge and attitudes necessary
for the safe operation of motor vehicles. A course in automobile
driver education shall include education in the safe operation of
motorcycles.

(k) Other studies as may be prescribed by the governing board.

begin delete SEC. 2. end delete
begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

Section 51226.3 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

51226.3.  

(a) (1) The department shall begin delete consider incorporating end delete
begin insert incorporate end insert into publications that provide examples of curriculum
resources for teacher use those materials developed by publishers
of nonfiction, trade books, and primary sources, or other public or
private organizations, that are age-appropriate and consistent with
the subject frameworks on history and social science that deal with
civil rights, human rights violations, genocide, slavery, begin delete the
Armenian genocide, end delete and the Holocaust.

(2) The Legislature encourages the department to incorporate
into publications that provide examples of curriculum resources
for teacher use those materials developed by publishers of
nonfiction, trade books, and primary sources, or other public or
private organizations, that are age-appropriate and consistent with
the subject frameworks on history and social science that deal with
the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.

(b) (1) The Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor,
rescuer, liberator, and witness oral testimony into the teaching of
human rights, the Holocaust, and genocide, including, but not
limited to, the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan
genocides.

(2) As used in this subdivision, “oral testimony” means the
firsthand accounts of significant historical events presented in a
format that includes, but is not limited to, in-person testimony,
video, or a multimedia option, such as a DVD or an online video.

(c) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
development activities to provide teachers with content background
and resources to assist them in teaching about civil rights, human
rights violations, genocide, slavery, the Armenian Genocide, and
the Holocaust.

(d) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
development activities to provide teachers with content background
and resources to assist them in teaching about the Great Irish
Famine of 1845-50.

(e) The Great Irish Famine of 1845-50 shall be considered in
the next cycle in which the history-social science curriculum
framework and its accompanying instructional materials are
adopted.

(f) When the history-social science curriculum framework is
revised as required by law, the Instructional Quality Commission
shall consider including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and
Rwandan genocides in the recommended history-social science
curriculum framework.

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

(h) For purposes of this article, “Armenian Genocide” means
the torture, starvation, and murder of 1,500,000 Armenians, which
included death marches into the Syrian desert, by the rulers of the
Ottoman Turkish Empire and the exile of more than 500,000
innocent people during the period from 1915 to 1923, inclusive.

begin insert

begin insert SEC. end insert begin insert 3.5. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 51226.3 of the end insert begin insert Education Code end insert begin insert is amended
to read: end insert

51226.3.  

(a)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert The begin delete State Department of Education shall
incorporate, end delete begin insert department shall incorporate end insert into publications that
provide examples of curriculum resources for teacher begin delete use, end delete begin insert use end insert
those materials developed by publishers of nonfiction, trade books,
and primary sources, or other public or private organizations, that
are age-appropriate and consistent with the subject frameworks
on history and social science that deal with civil rights, human
rights violations, genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust.

begin insert

(2) The Legislature encourages the department to incorporate
into publications that provide examples of curriculum resources
for teacher use those materials developed by publishers of
nonfiction, trade books, and primary sources, or other public or
private organizations, that are age-appropriate and consistent
with the subject frameworks on history and social science that
deal with the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan
genocides.

end insert

(b)  begin insert (1) end insert begin insert   end insert The Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor,
rescuer, liberator, and witness begin insert oral end insert testimony into the teaching of
human rights, begin delete genocide, and the Holocaust. end delete begin insert the Holocaust, and
genocide, including, but not limited to, the Armenian, Cambodian,
Darfur, and Rwandan genocides. end insert

begin insert

(2) As used in this subdivision, “oral testimony” means the
firsthand accounts of significant historical events presented in a
format that includes, but is not limited to, in-person testimony,
video, or a multimedia option, such as a DVD or an online video.

end insert

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

(d) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
development activities to provide teachers with content background
and resources to assist begin insert them end insert in teaching about the Great Irish
Famine of 1845-50.

(e) The Great Irish Famine of 1845-50 shall be considered in
the next cycle in which the begin delete history/social end delete begin insert history-social end insert science
curriculum framework and its accompanying instructional materials
are adopted.

begin insert

(f) When the history-social science curriculum framework is
revised as required by law, the Instructional Quality Commission
shall consider including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and
Rwandan genocides in the recommended history-social science
curriculum framework.

end insert begin delete

(f)

end delete

begin insert (g) end insert  The Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide
adopted by the begin delete State Board of Education, end delete begin insert state board, end insert pursuant to
Section 51226, shall be made available to schools in grades 7 to
12, inclusive, as soon as funding is available for this purpose. In
addition, the begin delete State Department of Education end delete begin insert department end insert shall make
the curriculum available on its begin insert Internet end insert Web site.

begin insert

(h) For purposes of this article, “Armenian Genocide” means
the torture, starvation, and murder of 1,500,000 Armenians, which
included death marches into the Syrian desert, by the rulers of the
Ottoman Turkish Empire and the exile of more than 500,000
innocent people during the period from 1915 to 1923, inclusive.

end insert

begin insert

begin insert SEC. 4. end insert   

end insert begin insert

Section 3.5 of this bill incorporates amendments to
Section 51226.3 of the Education Code proposed by both this bill
and Senate Bill 1380. It shall only become operative if (1) both
bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1,
2015, (2) each bill amends Section 51226.3 of the Education Code,
and (3) this bill is enacted after Senate Bill 1380, in which case
Section 3 of this bill shall not become operative.

end insert