BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
SB 1380 (Wyland) - Instruction on Genocide
Amended: April 30, 2014 Policy Vote: Education 7-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 5, 2014 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1380 requires the Instructional Quality
Commission (IQC) to consider including the Armenian genocide in
the history-social science framework, and encourages instruction
to include specific components.
Fiscal Impact:
History-social science framework: No new costs for the IQC,
because the current (2009) draft of the history-social
science framework already covers the Armenian genocide.
"Encouraging" instruction: Minor costs pressure on schools
to teach specific additional topics, and to incorporate oral
histories into their instruction, to the extent they are not
already doing so.
Background: Academic content standards define the knowledge,
concepts and skills that pupils should learn at each grade
level. Curricular frameworks serve as a blueprint for how to
implement the standards and provide guidance to publishers,
along with evaluation criteria, for the development of
instructional materials. The processes for the revision of
curricular frameworks and adoption of instructional materials
are suspended until the 2015-16 school year. (Education Code �
60200.7)
The history-social science framework was last adopted in 2005.
The processes for reviewing frameworks and adopting
instructional materials have been suspended since July 2009, due
to budget constraints. At the time of the suspension, a review
of the history-social science framework was nearly complete.
Since the suspension, the CDE has ceased work on the review and
update. The State Board of Education (SBE) is specifically
prohibited from reviewing frameworks and adopting instructional
SB 1380 (Wyland)
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materials until the 2015-16 school year. (EC � 60200.7 and �
60200.8)
The role of the IQC is to recommend curriculum frameworks to the
SBE, develop criteria for evaluating instructional materials,
study, evaluate and recommend to the SBE instructional materials
for adoption, and make recommendations to the SBE regarding the
use of frameworks and model curriculum and alignment with the
academic content standards. (EC � 60204)
Proposed Law: This bill requires the IQC, when the
history-social science framework is revised, to consider
including the Armenian Genocide in the history-social science
framework.
This bill states that the Legislature encourages instruction in
the origins of genocide as a phenomenon throughout history that
continues to the present day, and other specified topics related
to analyzing the occurrence of genocide. This bill further
encourages the incorporation of oral testimony into the teaching
of human rights, and adds genocide, including but not limited to
the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides, to the
teaching of human rights. It also encourages instruction in
social sciences in grades 7-12 to include instruction on the
American military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, including
Operation Desert Storm, as specified.
Related Legislation: AB 659 (Nazarian) encourages the CDE to
include the Armenian Genocide in its published curriculum
resources, encourages the incorporation of oral testimony when
teaching specific instances of genocide into existing
curriculum, encourages including the Armenian Genocide into
state and local professional development activities and in the
next revision of the history-social science curriculum
framework. AB 659 is pending referral in the Senate.
SB 234 (Wyland) 2009 would have required the Curriculum
Commission (now the IQC) to consider an oral history component
specifically related to genocides, including but not limited to,
the Darfur, Rwandan, Cambodian, Jewish Holocaust, or Armenian
genocides in the history-social science Framework. That bill was
held under submission in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SR 31 (Wyland) 2009 resolved that schools in California would be
SB 1380 (Wyland)
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encouraged to include an oral history of genocides, including,
but not necessarily limited to, the Darfur, Rwandan, Cambodian,
Jewish Holocaust, and Armenian genocides, in the history-social
science curriculum component. That resolution died in the Senate
Rules Committee.
AB 1021 (Yee) 2003 would have required that the Armenian
Genocide be considered in the next cycle in which the
history-social science curriculum framework and its accompanying
instructional materials were adopted. That bill was held under
submission in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Staff Comments: The history-social science framework was last
adopted in 2005. The processes for reviewing frameworks and
adopting instructional materials have been suspended since July
2009, due to budget constraints. At the time of the suspension,
a review of the history-social science framework was nearly
complete. Since the suspension, the CDE has ceased work on the
review and update. According to the CDE, information on the
Armenian genocide has already been considered and is already
included in the 2009 draft of the history-social science
framework, which will be completed once the suspension is
lifted.
Encouraging instruction in the origins of genocide as a
phenomenon throughout history that continues to the present day,
and other specified topics related to analyzing the occurrence
and of genocide does not have any force of law. Stating
legislative encouragement of instruction on the American
military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, as specified, also
does not have force of law. This bill creates minor cost
pressure for schools to include that instruction, to the extent
that they are concerned with legislative encouragement.