BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1915
AUTHOR: Nazarian
AMENDED: May 23, 2014
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 18, 2014
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Armenian Genocide.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission to
consider including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur and
Rwandan genocides in the history-social science framework.
BACKGROUND
Academic content standards define the knowledge, concepts,
and skills that students should acquire at each grade level.
Curricular frameworks are the blueprint for implementing the
standards, and include criteria by which instructional
materials are evaluated.
History-social science framework
The history-social science framework was last adopted in
2005. A review of this framework was underway and nearly
complete when the state suspended the process due to budget
constraints. The process for reviewing frameworks has been
suspended since July 28, 2009. The State Board of Education
(SBE) is specifically prohibited from reviewing frameworks
and adopting instructional materials until the 2015-16 school
year. However, the SBE is authorized to revise the
history-social science framework but only upon completion of
work related to the development of frameworks for the common
core standards in English language arts and mathematics.
(Education Code � 60200.7 and
� 60200.8)
Course of study
Current law requires the adopted course of study for grades
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7-12 to include, among other subjects, social sciences. This
instruction is to provide a foundation for understanding,
among other topics and events, human rights issues with
particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of
genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust. (EC � 51220)
Materials for teachers
Current law requires the California Department of Education
to incorporate, into publications that provide examples of
curriculum resources for teachers, materials that are
age-appropriate and consistent with the history-social
science framework that deal with civil rights, human rights
violations, genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust. (EC �
51226.3)
Model curriculum
Current law requires the Model Curriculum for Human Rights
and Genocide, adopted by the State Board of Education, to be
made available to schools serving grades 7-12 when funding is
available, and requires the Model Curriculum to be available
on the website of the California Department of Education.
(EC � 51226.3)
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/hs/im/documents/modelcurrichrgenoc.pd
f#search=model%20curriculum&view=FitH&pagemode=none
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission to
consider including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur and
Rwandan genocides in the history-social science framework.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires the Instructional Quality Commission to
consider including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur and
Rwandan genocides in the history-social science
curriculum framework during its next revision.
2) Adds the Armenian Genocide to the social sciences course
of study for grades 7-12.
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3) Adds the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur and Rwandan
genocides to witness accounts of genocides that are
encouraged to be incorporated into the teaching of human
rights.
4) Encourages the California Department of Education to
incorporate into publications for teachers, materials
developed by publishers or other organizations of
non-fiction, trade books, and primary sources 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.
5) Defines the "Armenian Genocide" as 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.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) History-social science framework and model curriculum .
This bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission
(IQC) to consider including the Armenian, Cambodian,
Darfur and Rwandan genocides in the history-social
science framework. The Armenian Genocide in referenced
in the draft revision of the history-social science
framework and standards, and in Model Curriculum for
Human Rights and Genocide. The history-social science
standards reference tyranny in Cambodia. The Cambodian,
Darfur and Rwandan genocides are not specifically
referenced in neither the standards nor framework.
2) Course of study . Current law requires the adopted
course of study for grades 1-12 to include specific
areas of study. This appears to require every school to
offer courses in every subject listed yet it is unlikely
that every school offers courses in driver's education,
genetic diseases and disorders, aviation, school
gardens, community service, bicycle safety, or aquatic
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safety, as is prescribed by law.
Current law requires the adopted course of study for grades
7-12 to include, among other subjects, social sciences.
This instruction is to provide a foundation for
understanding, among other topics and events, human
rights issues with particular attention to the study of
the inhumanity of genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust.
This bill adds the Armenian Genocide to the course of
study for grades 7-12.
3) Recommended amendments . AB 659 (Nazarian) requires the
IQC to include (instead of requiring the IQC to consider
including) the Armenian Genocide in the next revision of
the history-social science framework.
AB 659 also add the Armenian Genocide to topics that the
California Department of Education is required to
include in materials for teachers, adds the Armenian
Genocide to topics that the Legislature encourages be
included in professional development for teachers, and
adds the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur and Rwandan
genocides to the topics that the Legislature encourages
be included into oral testimony. Staff recommends
amendments to incorporate a modified version of AB 659
into this bill. The amendments would add the following
to this bill:
a) Add the Armenian Genocide to topics that the
California
Department of Education is required to
consider including in
materials for teachers.
b) Add the Armenian Genocide to topics that the
Legislature
encourages be included in professional development for
teachers.
c) Add the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur and
Rwandan genocides to the
topics that the Legislature encourages be included into
oral testimony.
4) Timing . The State Board of Education (SBE) is
authorized to revise the history-social science
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framework upon completion of work related to the
development of frameworks for the common core standards
in English language arts and mathematics. The updated
framework for mathematics was adopted by the SBE on
November 6, 2013. The updated framework for English
language arts is in the final stages, and is expected to
be adopted by the SBE in July 2014. The Instructional
Quality Commission is expected to complete the process
of updating the history-social science framework in
February 2015, with adoption by the SBE expected in May
2015.
5) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, this bill would impose:
a) Estimated costs of $150,000 for the California
Department of Education to review instructional
resources related to the Armenian, Cambodian,
Darfur, and Rwandan genocides and for the
Instructional Quality Commission to consider
including these genocides in the history-social
science frameworks.
b) State-mandated costs to school districts,
potentially in the millions, to incorporate the
Armenian Genocide within the course of study in
social science for grades 7-12.
c) Potential General Fund and Proposition 98 cost
pressure, in the thousands, to the extent state and
school districts develop and incorporate additional
content and resources related to the Armenian
Genocide into professional development activities.
6) Related legislation specific to history-social science .
SB 1380 (Wyland) requires the Instructional Quality
Commission to consider including the Armenian genocide
in the history-social science framework, and encourages
instruction to include specific components. SB 1380 is
scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Education
Committee on June 25.
AB 659 (Nazarian) among other things, requires the
Instructional Quality Commission to include the Armenian
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Genocide in the next revision of the history-social
science curriculum framework. AB 659 is pending in this
Committee.
SB 1057 (Corbett) requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to convene a group of history-social science
experts to revise the history-social science standards
by March 30, 2018, and requires the State Board of
Education to adopt, reject or modify the revised
standards by July 30, 2018. SB 1057 is scheduled to be
heard in the Assembly Education Committee on June 25.
SB 1419 (Wyland) encourages instruction in social
sciences to include instruction on the American military
conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and include a
component drawn from personal testimony. SB 1419 was
never heard; its contents were amended into SB 1380.
AB 1912 (Holden) requires the Instructional Quality
Commission to consider including instruction on the
election of President Barack Obama and the significance
of the United States electing its first African American
President, in the history-social science framework, as
appropriate, in the next adoption cycle. AB 1912 is
pending in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 521 (Wyland) requires the California Department of
Education and State Board of Education to request the
Instructional Quality Commission to revise the
history-social science frameworks to include the
comparative differences between the rights of citizens
in America and those in other countries, and the
connection of civics and American government to western
civilizations. SB 521 was never heard.
SB 897 (Steinberg), among other things, requires the
Instructional Quality Commission to consider for whether
and how to incorporate the College, Career, and Civic
Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards
into the history-social science framework. SB 897 is
scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Education
Committee on June 25.
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AB 2110 (Ting) requires the Instructional Quality
Commission to consider incorporating computer science
curriculum content into the mathematics, science,
history-social science, and language arts curriculum
frameworks, as it deems appropriate. AB 2110 is
scheduled to be heard in this Committee on June 25.
SB 945 (Morrell) adds, beginning with the 2018-19 school
year, a summative assessment in history-social science
to the state assessment system. SB 945 failed passage
in this Committee.
7) Prior legislation specific to history-social science .
AB 97 (Torlakson, 2010) would have required the State
Board of Education (SBE), upon recommendation of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, to adopt a
schedule for the review and recommend revisions to the
science and history-social science curriculum area
content standards. AB 97 was vetoed by the Governor,
whose veto message read:
"Given California's participation in the
Common Core initiative and the anticipated
reauthorization of the federal Elementary and
Secondary Education Act, this bill is
premature. This bill could create an
unnecessary, duplicative process in the
development of content standards and in the
integration of those standards into the
state's assessment system."
AB 391 (Wieckowski, 2013) would have, among other
things, required the history-social science curriculum
framework, when it is revised, to encourage instruction
related to the understanding of personal finances, as
specified. AB 391 was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
SB 1325 (Wyland, 2012) would have, among other things,
authorized the Superintendent of Public Instruction and
SBE to consider developing new curriculum frameworks
and, if necessary, standards that engage students in
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learning about American history and government from oral
histories to biographical sketches and age-appropriate
descriptions of heroic efforts on the part of Americans
to build our society and its institutions. SB 1325 was
never heard.
SB 283 (Wyland, 2011) was identical to SB 1325, and was
also never heard.
SB 1278 (Wyland, 2010) would have required the SBE to
adopt a revised curriculum framework and evaluation
criteria for instructional materials in history-social
science in 2011. SB 1278 was held in Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
SB 223 (Wyland, 2009) would have required the Curriculum
Commission to consider and vote on whether to include a
unit on financial literacy in the proposed changes to
the 2014 history-social science framework. SB 223 was
held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 234 (Wyland, 2009) would have required the Curriculum
Commission, as part of its regular process of developing
and revising curriculum frameworks, to consider and vote
on whether to include an oral history component
specifically related to genocides in the proposed
changes to the 2014 history-social science curriculum
framework. SB 234 was held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
SB 1254 (Wyland, 2008) was identical to SB 1325, and was
held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
Los Angeles Unified School District
OPPOSITION
None on file.
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