BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 552
AUTHOR: Calderon
INTRODUCED: February 22, 2013
FISCAL COMM: No HEARING DATE: April 24, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Instruction in violence awareness.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes social science instruction in grades
7-12 to include instruction on violence awareness.
BACKGROUND
Course of study
Current law:
1) Requires the adopted course of study for grades 7-12,
inclusive, to include instruction in social sciences,
drawing upon the disciplines of anthropology,
economics, geography, history, political science,
psychology, and sociology, designed to fit the
maturity of the pupils.
(Education Code � 51220)
2) Requires social studies instruction to provide a
foundation for understanding the history, resources,
development, and government of California and the
U.S.; 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,
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and contemporary issues. (EC � 51220)
3) Authorizes social science instruction to include
instruction on World War II, the Korean War, the
Vietnam War (including the "Secret War" in Laos), the
role of Filipinos in World War II, and the Bracero
program.
(EC � 51221.3 and � 51221.4)
Standards and Frameworks
Academic content standards define the knowledge, concepts,
and skills that pupils should acquire at each grade level
(the "what"). Curricular frameworks are the blueprint for
implementing the standards, and include criteria by which
instructional materials are evaluated (the "how").
The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting
instructional materials have 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. (EC
� 60200.7)
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 in July 2009,
due to budget constraints. Current law authorizes the SBE
to consider the adoption of a revised framework and
evaluation criteria in history-social science but only
after the California Department Education has completed
work on the development of frameworks for the common core
standards.
(EC � 60200.8)
ANALYSIS
This bill authorizes instruction in the areas of social
sciences in grades 7-12 to also include instruction on
violence awareness, which may include a component drawn
from personal testimony in the form of oral or video
histories of individuals who were involved in violence
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awareness efforts that exemplify the economic and cultural
effects of violence prevention efforts within a city, the
state and country.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author,
"California school aged children are exposed to
violence in the media almost every day. And there are
other, less fortunate, children who have been directly
exposed to violence in their personal life. One of
the most effective and efficient ways to accomplish
the goal of providing California school aged children
with a comprehensive understanding of the issue of
violence is to create a basic curriculum from which
teachers and students can teach and learn from."
2) Unnecessary but not unprecedented . This bill
authorizes an action that can already be undertaken
under existing law; however, this Committee has passed
similar legislation that has ultimately become law.
3) Course of study . Current law prescribes that the
adopted course of study for grades 1-12 include
specific areas of study. This appears to require
every school to offer courses in every subject listed
yet it is staff's understanding that not every school
offers courses in driver's education or health, for
example. Further, the statutory course of study also
includes:
a) Lifelong health, aging and financial
preparedness.
b) Nuclear age.
c) Work experience.
d) Energy.
e) Genetic diseases and disorders.
f) Aviation.
g) School gardens.
h) Community service.
i) Consumer economics.
j) Driver's training.
aa) Bicycle safety.
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bb) Aquatic safety.
cc) Comprehensive health.
dd) Comprehensive sex education.
ee) Prevention of brain and spinal cord
injuries.
Another approach to adding topics to the curriculum is
to add specifics to the curricular frameworks, which
are used as the basis for the development of
instructional materials. However, the process of
adding topics to the frameworks is lengthy and costly.
4) Already in the framework ? The history-social science
framework appears to contain very little information
relative to violence prevention. The health framework
includes information about violence awareness but does
not appear to include grade-specific expectations.
5) Violence prevention information . The California
Department of Education currently maintains on its
website information about funds, training, resources
and technical assistance concerning prevention
violence. However, none of that information appears
to be in the form of curriculum.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/ss/vp/index.asp
6) Related legislation . SB 330 (Padilla) requires the
creation of a distinct category on mental health
instruction during the next revision of the health
framework. SB 330 is scheduled to be heard by this
Committee on May 1, 2013.
SB 524 (Lara) requires the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to appoint and staff a 12 member taskforce
to develop voluntary K-12 curriculum regarding
postsecondary opportunities and financial aid. SB 524
is scheduled to be heard by this Committee on April
24, 2013.
SB 696 (Block) among other things, adds civics learning
objectives to the history-social science framework.
SB 696 is pending in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
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AB 137 (Buchanan) requires the inclusion of strategies to
increase instruction in civics whenever the
history-social science framework is updated. AB 137
is pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 391 (Wieckowski) requires the history-social science
framework, when updated, to include financial
literacy, and requires the one-semester instructional
program on consumer economics to be updated to include
instruction in specified areas of financial literacy.
AB 391 is pending in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
AB 424 (Donnelly) requires instruction in the social
sciences to include the development of democracy and
the history of the development of the United States
Constitution and requires specified historical
documents be included in the history-social science
framework. AB 424 failed passage in the Assembly
Education Committee on April 3, 2013, on a 2-5 vote.
AB 700 (Gomez) requires the adopted course of study in
history-social science to include beginning with the
2014-15 school year, a voter education component
providing instruction in how to register and cast
votes in local, state, and federal elections, and how
to use the voter information pamphlet and other
materials to become an informed voter. This bill also
requires the California Department of Education, by
July 1, 2014, to develop and adopt a model curriculum
framework for a voter education component in social
studies classes to be implemented beginning with the
2014-15 school year. AB 700 is scheduled to be heard
by the Assembly Education Committee on May 1, 2013.
SUPPORT
American Board of Behavioral Health Practice
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, California Chapters
Concept Healthcare
National Alliance of Professional Psychology Providers
National Association of Social Workers, California Chapter
Nicholas & Dorothy Cummings Foundation
Youth ALIVE!
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OPPOSITION
None on file.