California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2698

Introduced by Assembly Member Gonzalez

February 21, 2014

An act to amend Section 51220 of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2698, as introduced, Gonzalez. Pupil instruction: courses of study: grades 7 to 12.

Existing law prescribes the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive. That course of study is required to include, English, social sciences, foreign language, physical education, science, mathematics, visual and performing arts, applied arts, career technical education, automobile driver education, and other studies that the governing board may prescribe.

This bill would make nonsubstantive changes in the provision described above.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 51220 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

51220.  

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

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

(b) 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 begin delete State end delete begin insert California end insert and begin delete Federal end delete begin insert United States end insert
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.

(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, seriousness begin insert , 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 begin delete as may be prescribed by end delete begin insert that end insert the governing
board begin insert may prescribe end insert .