Amended in Senate April 30, 2014

Amended in Senate April 10, 2014

Senate Bill No. 1380

Introduced by Senator Wyland

February 21, 2014

An act to amend Section 51226.3 of, and to add begin delete Section end delete begin insert Sections 51221.45 and end insert 51226.4 to, the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1380, as amended, Wyland. Pupil instruction: begin insert social science: military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq: end insert genocide.

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(1) Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in certain areas of study, including, among others, social sciences.

end insert begin insert

This bill would provide that the Legislature encourages instruction in social sciences in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to include instruction on the American military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and for that instruction to include a component drawn from personal testimony, as specified.

end insert begin delete

Existing

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begin insert (2) end insert begin insert   end insert begin insert Existing end insert 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 for teacher use, 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 require the commission to consider the Armenian Genocide for inclusion in the history-social science curriculum framework when the history-social science curriculum framework is revised as required by law. The bill would specify that the Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness oral testimony into the teaching of human rights, the Holocaust, and genocide, including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides. The bill would define oral testimony to mean firsthand accounts of significant historical events presented in a specified format. The bill would provide that the Legislature encourages certain actions relating to the instruction of genocide, including, among others, that content providers and teachers promote pupil analysis of genocides, including the ethnic, religious, and political causes.

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

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

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begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

end insert

begin insert Section 51221.45 is added to the end insert begin insert Education Code end insert begin insert , end insert immediately following Section 51221.4 begin insert , to read: end insert

begin insert

begin insert 51221.45. end insert   

(a) The Legislature encourages the instruction in
social science in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to include instruction
on the American military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq,
including Operation Desert Storm.

(b) The Legislature encourages the instruction described in
subdivision (a) to include a component drawn from personal
testimony, especially in the form of oral or video histories of
military veterans who were involved in those conflicts.

(c) Any oral histories used as part of the instruction described
in subdivision (a) should exemplify the personal sacrifice, courage,
and sense of duty of those who were called upon to serve.

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begin delete SECTION 1. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

Section 51226.3 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

51226.3.  

(a) The department shall 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 civil rights, human
rights violations, genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust.

(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 in teaching about civil rights, human rights
violations, genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust.

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

(e) When the history-social science curriculum framework is
revised as required by law, the Instructional Quality Commission
shall consider including the Great Irish Famine of 1845-50 and
the Armenian Genocide in the history-social science curriculum
framework.

(f) 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.

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

Section 51226.4 is added to the Education Code, to
read:

51226.4.  

Pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 51226.3, the
Legislature encourages all of the following:

(a) Instruction in the origins of genocide as a phenomenon
throughout history that continues to the present day.

(b) Content providers and teachers to promote pupil analysis of
genocides, including the ethnic, religious, and political causes.

(c) Content providers and teachers to incorporate instructional
materials for pupils that examine the possible means of preventing
and halting genocide policies or interventions by the United
Nations, other groups of nations, or the United States.

(d) Examinations of interventions to prevent genocides should
include arguments and evidence for and against intervention, the
role of public support for the intervention, and the possible
consequences of such interventions.