CALIFORNIA: AB-1915 PUPIL INSTRUCTION: SOCIAL SCIENCES: ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.
US Official News
June 18, 2014 Wednesday
Sacramento
Office of the Senate, The State of California has issued the following
news release:
AB 1915, as amended, Nazarian. Pupil instruction: social sciences:
Armenian Genocide.
Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12,
inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including
social sciences. Existing law requires the instruction in social
studies to provide instruction in, among other things, human rights
issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of
genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust.
This bill would enact the Armenian Genocide Education Act and would
require the instruction in human rights issues to also include
particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of the Armenian
Genocide, as defined. To the extent this bill would increase the
level of service required to be provided by school districts, the
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing 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, 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 also encourage the department to incorporate materials
related to the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides into
those publications, and would require the commission to consider the
Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides 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 also specify that the Legislature encourages the incorporation of
survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching
of human rights, the Holocaust, and genocide, including the Armenian,
Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory
provisions.
Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES
Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California
do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Armenian Genocide
Education Act.
SEC. 2.
Section 51220 of the Education Code is amended to read:
51220.
The adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive,
shall offer courses in the following areas of study: (a) English,
including knowledge of and appreciation for literature, language,
and composition, and the skills of reading, listening, and speaking.
(b) Social sciences, drawing upon the disciplines of anthropology,
economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and
sociology, designed to fit the maturity of the pupils. Instruction
shall provide a foundation for understanding the history, resources,
development, and government of California and the United States of
America; 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, the
Armenian Genocide, and the Holocaust, and contemporary issues.
(c) Foreign language or languages, beginning not later than grade 7,
designed to develop a facility for understanding, speaking, reading,
and writing the particular language.
(d) Physical education, with emphasis given to physical activities
that are conducive to health and to vigor of body and mind, as required
by Section 51222.
(e) Science, including the physical and biological aspects, with
emphasis on basic concepts, theories, and processes of scientific
investigation and on the place of humans in ecological systems, and
with appropriate applications of the interrelation and interdependence
of the sciences.
(f) Mathematics, including instruction designed to develop mathematical
understandings, operational skills, and insight into problem-solving
procedures.
(g) Visual and performing arts, including dance, music, theater, and
visual arts, with emphasis upon development of aesthetic appreciation
and the skills of creative expression.
(h) Applied arts, including instruction in the areas of consumer and
homemaking education, industrial arts, general business education,
or general agriculture.
(i) Career technical education designed and conducted for the purpose
of preparing youth for gainful employment in the occupations and in
the numbers that are appropriate to the personnel needs of the state
and the community served and relevant to the career desires and needs
of the pupils.
(j) Automobile driver education, designed to develop a knowledge
of the provisions of the Vehicle Code and other laws of this state
relating to the operation of motor vehicles, a proper acceptance
of personal responsibility in traffic, a true appreciation of the
causes, seriousness, and consequences of traffic accidents, and to
develop the knowledge and attitudes necessary for the safe operation
of motor vehicles. A course in automobile driver education shall
include education in the safe operation of motorcycles.
(k) Other studies as may be prescribed by the governing board.
SEC. 3.
Section 51226.3 of the Education Code is amended to read:
51226.3.
(a) (1) 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.
(2) The Legislature encourages the department to 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 the Armenian, Cambodian,
Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.
(b) The Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer,
liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching of human rights, the
Holocaust, and genocide, including, but not limited to, the Armenian,
Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.
(c) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
development activities to provide teachers with content background
and resources to assist them in teaching about civil rights, human
rights violations, genocide, slavery, the Armenian Genocide, and
the Holocaust.
(d) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
development activities to provide teachers with content background
and resources to assist them in teaching about the Great Irish Famine
of 1845-50.
(e) The Great Irish Famine of 1845-50 shall be considered in the next
cycle in which the history-social science curriculum framework and
its accompanying instructional materials are adopted.
(f) When the history-social science curriculum framework is revised as
required by law, the Instructional Quality Commission shall consider
including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides in
the history-social science curriculum framework.
(g) 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.
(h) For purposes of this article, "Armenian Genocide" means the
torture, starvation, and murder of 1,500,000 Armenians, which included
death marches into the Syrian desert, by the rulers of the Ottoman
Turkish Empire and the exile of more than 500,000 innocent people
during the period from 1915 to 1923, inclusive.
SEC. 4.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school
districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing
with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
For further information please visit: http://senate.ca.gov/
US Official News
June 18, 2014 Wednesday
Sacramento
Office of the Senate, The State of California has issued the following
news release:
AB 1915, as amended, Nazarian. Pupil instruction: social sciences:
Armenian Genocide.
Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12,
inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including
social sciences. Existing law requires the instruction in social
studies to provide instruction in, among other things, human rights
issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of
genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust.
This bill would enact the Armenian Genocide Education Act and would
require the instruction in human rights issues to also include
particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of the Armenian
Genocide, as defined. To the extent this bill would increase the
level of service required to be provided by school districts, the
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing 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, 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 also encourage the department to incorporate materials
related to the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides into
those publications, and would require the commission to consider the
Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides 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 also specify that the Legislature encourages the incorporation of
survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching
of human rights, the Holocaust, and genocide, including the Armenian,
Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state.
Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory
provisions.
Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES
Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California
do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Armenian Genocide
Education Act.
SEC. 2.
Section 51220 of the Education Code is amended to read:
51220.
The adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive,
shall offer courses in the following areas of study: (a) English,
including knowledge of and appreciation for literature, language,
and composition, and the skills of reading, listening, and speaking.
(b) Social sciences, drawing upon the disciplines of anthropology,
economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and
sociology, designed to fit the maturity of the pupils. Instruction
shall provide a foundation for understanding the history, resources,
development, and government of California and the United States of
America; 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, the
Armenian Genocide, and the Holocaust, and contemporary issues.
(c) Foreign language or languages, beginning not later than grade 7,
designed to develop a facility for understanding, speaking, reading,
and writing the particular language.
(d) Physical education, with emphasis given to physical activities
that are conducive to health and to vigor of body and mind, as required
by Section 51222.
(e) Science, including the physical and biological aspects, with
emphasis on basic concepts, theories, and processes of scientific
investigation and on the place of humans in ecological systems, and
with appropriate applications of the interrelation and interdependence
of the sciences.
(f) Mathematics, including instruction designed to develop mathematical
understandings, operational skills, and insight into problem-solving
procedures.
(g) Visual and performing arts, including dance, music, theater, and
visual arts, with emphasis upon development of aesthetic appreciation
and the skills of creative expression.
(h) Applied arts, including instruction in the areas of consumer and
homemaking education, industrial arts, general business education,
or general agriculture.
(i) Career technical education designed and conducted for the purpose
of preparing youth for gainful employment in the occupations and in
the numbers that are appropriate to the personnel needs of the state
and the community served and relevant to the career desires and needs
of the pupils.
(j) Automobile driver education, designed to develop a knowledge
of the provisions of the Vehicle Code and other laws of this state
relating to the operation of motor vehicles, a proper acceptance
of personal responsibility in traffic, a true appreciation of the
causes, seriousness, and consequences of traffic accidents, and to
develop the knowledge and attitudes necessary for the safe operation
of motor vehicles. A course in automobile driver education shall
include education in the safe operation of motorcycles.
(k) Other studies as may be prescribed by the governing board.
SEC. 3.
Section 51226.3 of the Education Code is amended to read:
51226.3.
(a) (1) 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.
(2) The Legislature encourages the department to 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 the Armenian, Cambodian,
Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.
(b) The Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer,
liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching of human rights, the
Holocaust, and genocide, including, but not limited to, the Armenian,
Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.
(c) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
development activities to provide teachers with content background
and resources to assist them in teaching about civil rights, human
rights violations, genocide, slavery, the Armenian Genocide, and
the Holocaust.
(d) The Legislature encourages all state and local professional
development activities to provide teachers with content background
and resources to assist them in teaching about the Great Irish Famine
of 1845-50.
(e) The Great Irish Famine of 1845-50 shall be considered in the next
cycle in which the history-social science curriculum framework and
its accompanying instructional materials are adopted.
(f) When the history-social science curriculum framework is revised as
required by law, the Instructional Quality Commission shall consider
including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides in
the history-social science curriculum framework.
(g) 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.
(h) For purposes of this article, "Armenian Genocide" means the
torture, starvation, and murder of 1,500,000 Armenians, which included
death marches into the Syrian desert, by the rulers of the Ottoman
Turkish Empire and the exile of more than 500,000 innocent people
during the period from 1915 to 1923, inclusive.
SEC. 4.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school
districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing
with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
For further information please visit: http://senate.ca.gov/