BILL ANALYSIS
SB 305
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 30, 1999
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Kerry Mazzoni, Chair
SB 305 (Vasconcellos) - As Amended: April 21, 1999
SENATE VOTE : 25-12
SUBJECT : Parenting education.
SUMMARY : Requires school districts to ensure that all students
in grades 9 to 12 receive specified parenting education.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires, beginning in the 2000-2001 school year, all students
in grades 9 to 12 to receive parenting education from
adequately trained instructors in existing appropriate
education courses.
2)Requires the parenting education to be designed to develop
knowledge of topics including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
a) Parental responsibilities;
b) Child growth and development;
c) Maintaining healthy relationships;
d) Child abuse and neglect issues;
e) Self-esteem;
f) Personal hygiene;
g) Household budgeting; and
h) Teen parenting issues.
3)States legislative intent that each school district ensures
that all students who are pregnant and all students who are
known to be prospective fathers for the babies of these
pregnant students be enrolled in the next scheduled parenting
education course.
SB 305
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4)Requires each parent or guardian of a student in a course in
which parenting education is taught to be given notice about
the proposed participation of the student, and access to the
instructional materials.
5)Requires a teacher of parenting education to hold specified
qualifications.
6)Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to submit to
the Legislature, by January 1, 2004, an evaluation of the
effectiveness of requiring parenting education.
7)Requires a juvenile court school and CYA to offer a course in
parenting to each student or ward who is at least 12 years
old.
8)Requires the Director (director) of the State Department of
Health Services (DHS) to convene a summit no later than March
31, 2000 to develop a master plan for parenting education in
nonpublic school settings. Requires the director to submit a
proposed master plan of parenting education to the Legislature
by January 1, 2001.
EXISTING LAW
1)Requires the course of study in grades 7 or 8 to include a
course in parenting skills and education.
2)Requires the SDE to supply a sample curriculum in parenting
education suitable as a stand-alone course or for
incorporation within existing courses in grades 7 or 8. The
content of which should develop a knowledge of topics
including, but not limited to:
a) Child growth and development;
b) Parental responsibilities;
c) Household budgeting;
d) Child abuse and neglect issues;
e) Personal hygiene;
f) Maintaining healthy relationships;
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g) Teen parenting issues; and
h) Self-esteem.
3)Requires county boards of education to administer the
operation of juvenile court schools.
4)Requires the State Department of the Youth Authority (CYA) to
adopt and prescribe minimum standards of programs of education
for juvenile homes, ranches, camps, forestry camps, and youth
correctional facilities.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee: Unknown, potentially significant, General Fund (Prop
98) costs.
COMMENTS :
Need for this bill . According to the author, "What could be
more important than a decent start on life - all the rest
depends upon this foundation. 75% of all prison inmates were
abused as children, and inappropriate or inadequate parenting
are among the strongest predictors of later delinquency."
Study supporting the need for effective parenting . Several
studies have concluded that the first 3 years of life lay the
foundation for all that follows and cite many factors,
particularly the lack of family support, for the causes of
health, economic and social problems later in life. "If a poor
start leaves an enduring legacy of impairment, then high costs
follow. They may show up in various systems: health, education,
justice. We call them by many names: disease, disability,
ignorance, incompetence, hatred, violence. By whatever name,
these outcomes involve severe economic and social penalties for
the entire society," according to David A. Hamburg, president of
the Carnegie Corporation, which released a 3-year study in 1994
on early childhood development and the effects of that
development on later life. The idea is that effective parenting
will remove a large barrier to children developing into
pro-social, productive adults.
Prior legislation . SB 2138 (Vasconcellos) and SB 669
(Vasconcellos), of the 1997-98 session, are similar to this
bill. SB 2138 and SB 669 were passed by the Legislature and
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vetoed by the Governor. AB 262 (Vasconcellos), of the 1995-96
session, is similar to this bill. AB 262 failed passage in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION : (as of 6/25/99)
Support
California Association for the Education of Young Children
California Child, Youth and Family Coalition
California School Counselor Association
California Teachers Association
Children's Advocacy Institute
County of Los Angeles, Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and
Neglect
Friends Committee on Legislation
Juvenile Court Judges of California
League of Women Voters of California
Planned Parenthood
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916)319-2087