BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1915|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1915
Author: Nazarian (D), et al.
Amended: 8/19/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/18/14
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Huff, Monning
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/28/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Armenian Genocide
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill enacts the Armenian Genocide Education Act
and requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
consider incorporating materials relating to civil rights, human
rights violations, genocide, slavery, the Armenian genocide, and
the Holocaust, as specified, in the history and social science
frameworks.
ANALYSIS : 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.
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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.
Course of study . Existing 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.
Materials for teachers. Existing law requires the CDE 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.
Model curriculum. Existing law requires the Model Curriculum
for Human Rights and Genocide, adopted by the SBE, to be made
available to schools serving grades 7-12 when funding is
available, and requires the Model Curriculum to be available on
the CDE Internet Web site.
This bill:
1.Requires CDE to consider incorporating materials relating to
civil rights, human rights violations, genocide, slavery, the
Armenian genocide, and the Holocaust into publications that
provide examples of curriculum resources, consistent with the
subject frameworks on history and social science.
2.Requires the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) to
consider including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur and Rwandan
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genocides in the recommended history-social science curriculum
framework during its next revision.
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 CDE 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.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.
6.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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, several
provisions of this bill encourage activities or the
consideration of activities by the CDE. This creates
substantial cost pressure for the CDE to complete those
activities, the cost of which will be:
Curriculum: Approximately $150,000 (General Fund) in costs to
the CDE to review curriculum and incorporate materials
relating to the Armenian Genocide into publications that
provide examples of curriculum resources.
History-Social Science Framework: Likely minor costs to the
IQC and CDE to incorporate the genocide in Darfur into the
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next revision of the history-social science framework.
Professional development: Approximately $125,000 (General
Fund) in costs to the CDE to develop an online learning module
to provide teachers with content background and resources
including survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness testimony
in the specified areas.
SUPPORT : (Per Senate Education Committee analysis of 6/18/14;
unable to reverify at time of writing)
Los Angeles Unified School District
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/28/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A.
P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas,
Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron,
Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Frazier, Quirk, Vacancy
PQ:e:d 8/19/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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