BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1380
PageA
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 1380 (Wyland)
As Amended April 30, 2014
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :33-0
EDUCATION 7-0 APPROPRIATIONS 16-0
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|Ayes:|Buchanan, Olsen, Ch�vez, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bigelow, |
| |Gonzalez, Nazarian, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Weber, Williams | |Calderon, Campos, Eggman, |
| | | |Gomez, Holden, Jones, |
| | | |Linder, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Ridley-Thomas, Wagner, |
| | | |Weber |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Encourages instruction in social science for grades 7
to 12, inclusive, to include the American military conflicts in
Afghanistan and Iraq, including Operation Desert Storm.
Further, this bill requires the Instructional Quality Commission
(IQC) to consider including the Armenian Genocide when the
history-social science curriculum framework is revised.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Encourages instruction in the social sciences for grades 7
through 12, to include the American military conflicts in
Afghanistan and Iraq, including Operation Desert Storm and
encourages this instruction to include a component drawn from
personal testimony, in the form of oral or video histories of
military veterans who were involved in those conflicts.
2)Encourages the California Department of Education (CDE) to
include in publications that provide examples of curriculum
resources for teachers, instruction in the origins of genocide
as a phenomenon and encourages content providers and teachers
to promote analyses of genocides, including the ethnic,
religious, and political causes.
3)Encourages incorporating survivor, rescuer, liberator, and
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witness oral testimony when teaching about genocide, including
the Armenia, Cambodia, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.
4)Defines the term "oral testimony" to mean only those firsthand
accounts of significant historical events and provides
examples of the formats of such testimony.
5)Requires the IQC to consider including the Armenian Genocide
when the history-social science curriculum framework is
revised.
6)Makes technical and non-substantive changes to this section.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Permits instruction in the social sciences to include World
War II (WWII), the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
2)Requires each Local Educational Agency (LEA) to adopt a course
of study in the social sciences for grades 7-12, inclusive,
that includes the study of the inhumanity of genocide,
slavery, and the Holocaust.
3)Requires the CDE to incorporate examples of curriculum
resources in its publications that relate to genocide, and
specifically to the Holocaust.
4)Encourages all state and local professional development
activities to provide teachers with content background and
resources to assist in teaching about genocide.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there are minor/absorbable costs to the CDE for the
IQC to consider including the Armenian Genocide when the
history-social science curriculum framework is revised.
According to the CDE the current draft of the history-social
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science framework already covers the Armenian genocide. To the
extent major rewriting of the framework is needed, however, CDE
indicates they could need additional resources and an extended
timeline for adoption. Additionally, there is General
Fund/Proposition 98 of 1988 cost pressure, in the hundreds of
thousands, to the extent school districts decide to purchase new
basic or supplemental instructional materials and develop or
incorporate additional content and resources into professional
development activities relative to instruction in the origins of
genocide and American military conflicts, as specified.
COMMENTS :
Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq
The conflict in Afghanistan began in 2001 following the attacks
of September 11, 2001. American and coalition troops remain in
Afghanistan today, though earlier this year President Barack
Obama formally ordered the Pentagon to make plans for a full
pullout of American troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
The conflict in Iraq began with an invasion led by the United
States on March 20, 2003, in response to the allegation by the
United States and the United Kingdom that Iraq possessed weapons
of mass destruction that posed a threat to their security and
that of their coalition/regional allies. The United States
withdrew the last of its military personnel in December, 2011.
As of June 12, 2014, 8,251 American and coalition troops have
died and 52,032 have been wounded in the conflicts in
Afghanistan and Iraq.<1> The estimated cost of these wars is
between $4 and $6 trillion, according a new study from Harvard
University's Kennedy School. "A large share of those bills has
yet to be paid: the study finds that the U.S. has spent around
$2 trillion thus far? and that growing commitments to spending
on military personnel and veterans will drive much of the
spending in the decades to come."<2>
The Armenian Genocide
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<1> http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/war.casualties/ .
<2>
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/03/28/the-total-iraq-and
-afghanistan-pricetag-over-4-trillion .
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The California Senate, in SB 424 (Poochigian), Chapter 9,
Statutes of 2005, recognized the Armenian Genocide as a series
of events occurring between 1915 and 1918 in which the rulers of
the Ottoman Turkish Empire systematically exterminated its
Armenian citizens. During this time, the rulers conducted
massacres and forced labor of able bodied Armenian men.
Additionally, the Ottoman Turkish rulers forced Armenian women,
children, elderly, and infirm to march from their homeland to
the Syrian Desert. Approximately 75% of those Armenian people
on these marches died. Between 1 million and 1.5 million
Armenian people were killed during this three year period.
Course of Study
Existing law requires each local board of education to adopt
a course of study for grades 1 through 6, and/or grades 7
through 12, based on the grades served by the LEA. A course
of study is a scope and sequence of classes that are
designed to meet the specific topics identified in statute.
Existing law requires a local governing board to adopt
courses of study for grades 7 through 12 that includes
instruction in the following areas of study: English, social
science, foreign language, physical education, science,
mathematics, visual and performing arts, applied arts,
career technical education, and automobile driver education.
Within these instructional areas, the Legislature has
specified specific skills or concepts that must be included.
While not every class offered must be limited to the
statutory objectives, the LEA must structure its course
offerings so that all of these objectives areas are included
over the course of study offered to all students. Existing
law also permits a local board of education to adopt
additional areas of instruction.
Currently, there are a large number of topics and concepts
that are encouraged by the Legislature for inclusion in the
social sciences course of study. These include, in part:
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1) An understanding of the wise use of natural resources;
2) The American role in WWII and personal testimony of
American soldiers who served in that war;
3) The role of Filipino Americans in WWII; and
4) The "Secret War" in Laos and the role of Southeast
Asians in this war as a part of instruction provided on
the Vietnam War.
Analysis Prepared by : Jill Rice / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0004785