Bill Text: CA AB1281 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Pupil data: California School Racial Equality

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2010-01-14 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB1281 Detail]

Download: California-2009-AB1281-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 1281	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 15, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Portantino

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2009

   An act to add Section 49062.5 to the Education Code, relating to
pupil data.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1281, as amended, Portantino. Pupil data: California School
Racial Equality Designation Act.
   (1) Existing law establishes the public elementary and secondary
school system in this state. Under this system, school districts
throughout the state provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten
and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, at the public elementary and secondary
schools.
   This bill would enact the California School Racial Equality
Designation Act. The bill would express findings and declarations of
the Legislature relating to the collection of data on the race or
ethnicity of persons who identify themselves as members of more than
one race.
   The bill would require any public elementary or secondary school
in this state that directly, or by contract, collects demographic
data on the race or ethnicity of its pupils to provide  forms
that offer respondents the option to select one or more racial
designations pursuant to prescribed federal guidelines and to ensure
that the data is tabulated and reported as specified  
written instructions for reporting racial information that specify
that multiracial pupils may check 2 or more boxes  . The bill
would require public elementary schools, as well as local educational
agencies, to comply as early as reasonably feasible when updating
forms, software, hardware, or information collection procedures
pursuant to the bill, but in no event later than the commencement of
the fall semester of the 2010-11 academic year.
   Because this bill would impose new duties on local educational
agencies, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.
   (2) 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.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 49062.5 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
   49062.5.  (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the
California School Racial Equality Designation Act.
   (b) The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) The State of California currently has the largest population
of people among the 50 states who checked more than one race in the
2000 Census, which  provided the first-ever option for
respondents to identify themselves as members of more than one race,
and this population of Californians who identify themselves as such
is rapidly growing.   was   the first time that
multiracial individuals were allowed to accurately identify their
full heritage. Forty-two percent of persons who chose more than one
race on the United States 2000 Census were under 18 years of age.
 
   (2) Many changes that have influenced terminology for the race and
ethnicity of Americans have started with data collection forms.
Although the census is often a source for the proper terms to refer
to individual races and ethnicities, it is not infallible, has
changed terminology and definitions often, and has frequently changed
due to public usage of terminology. For example, in 1850, United
States Census forms carried this terminology: "Color (White, Black or
Mulatto)." In 1880, the forms stated: "Color--White, W; Black, B;
Mulatto, Mu; Chinese, C; Indian, I." The 1930 Census was the last
time that census takers were ordered to apply the "one drop rule." In
fact, the only definition that has never changed on the Census is
the definition of "White."  
   (3) Just as the federal government officially replaced "Oriental"
or "Chinese" with "Asian," changed "Colored" to "Negro," "African
American," or "Black," and changed "Alaskan Native" to "Alaska
Native," the federal government has heard, and answered to, the
public's need for changes in terminology. In California, Section
8310.5 of the Government Code goes even further by requiring state
agencies to include the "Asian" category, as well as 11
subcategories, on every form requiring racial and ethnic data. 

   (4) Today, while the census allows persons to check more than one
box, it does not collectively refer to those individuals as
multiracial, but rather as "people of more than one race in the
United States" or as "people of two races." During hearings in
Washington, D.C. in 1993, the Office of Management and Budget asked
parents of multiracial children, as well as multiracial adults, for
one defining term, and that term was, and remains today,
"multiracial."  
   (5) The "Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting
Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity" were published in 1997 by the
federal Office of Management and Budget. These standards require
federal agencies to ensure that individuals have the option of
selecting one or more ethnic or racial designation on federal
government forms.  
   (6) (A) Beginning in the 2009-10 fiscal year, the United States
Department of Education will require schools and school districts to
collect and report race and ethnicity data using a two-part question,
which will consist of one question for ethnicity (Hispanic or
Latino) and one question for race. The State Department of Education
is incorporating the federal requirements regarding race and
ethnicity into the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data
System, but its "Guidance Letter, Attachment 1" to schools and school
districts does not include or mention multiracial children. The
inclusion of multiracial children is therefore possible and
preferable in the written instructions, and will not change the data
in anyway.  
   (B) The document "Managing an Identity Crisis: Forum Guide to
Implementing new Federal Race and Ethnicity Categories" has been
issued by the National Forum on Education Statistics. This task
force, chosen by the United States Department of Education, selected
22 educators from 14 state departments of education and consultants
to disseminate their findings and suggestions to the states. None
were from California. States will differ on their ethnic and racial
forms. One state is using 63 racial categories, another state is
asking multiracial students for one and only one final
classification, and most states have not yet decided on their
recommendations.  
   (7) Multiracial children have historically been forced to choose a
single race when demographic information is collected. Although it
is progress to have the ability to check more than one box, it is
also time to terminate the option of using pejorative or derogatory
terminology for this group of Americans, which have included such
terms as mulatto, mixed-up, half-caste, mutt, oreo, and half-breed.
Although most states do not use the term "multiracial" to validate
the existence of this growing population, where 10 states and
numerous school districts have adopted a term, "multiracial" is
overwhelmingly the word of choice. In the most comprehensive book on
the subject, The Multiracial Experience: Racial Borders in the New
Frontier (1996; Sage Publications, Maria P.P. Root, Editor), the
glossary states:  
     
   "Multiracial refers to people who are of two or more racial
heritages. It is the most inclusive term to refer to people across
all racial mixes. Thus it also includes biracial people."  
     
   (8) California has the opportunity at this time to be the most
progressive of all 50 states by utilizing the term "multiracial,"
while other states will adopt the federal guidelines. The act that
adds this section will allow multiracial children in California
schools to feel included in the system, not excluded and invisible.
Furthermore, it will give teachers and administrators a clear and
appropriate term when asked what to call multiracial children. It is
time to give our multiracial population the dignified, clear, and
consistent terminology they deserve.  
   (9) (A) Information should not deprive the state and policymakers
of accurate data with which to meet the needs of its diverse
students. Unless multiracial students are included as a community of
individuals that California specifies when it collects data or
assesses the needs of its students, policymakers are denied accurate
information. Reports comparing students based on race and ethnicity
data have rarely included multiracial students. We will now have the
ability to collect the data, but we should not stop short of enacting
the proper terminology.  
   (B) In a paper published by the Psychological Study of Social
Issues (2009), The Interpretation of Multiracial Status and Its
Relation to Social Engagement and Psychological Well-Being,
researchers from Stanford University, the University of California,
Los Angeles, and the University of Kansas, studied 182 multiracial
students in California. Results showed that, compared with
multiracial individuals who identified primarily with a low-or
high-status group, those who identified with multiple groups tended
to report either equal or higher psychological well-being and social
engagement. The Board of Education of the Canton City Schools of
Canton, Ohio (Ohio was the first state to add a multiracial
classification to its school forms) found that multiracial girls have
the highest graduation rate among all subgroups. This is the kind of
information California schools could glean from similar data. 

   (10) With most of the nation's multiracial population residing in
California and with the expectation that this population will
continue to grow, it is in the best interests of the State of
California to collect accurate multiracial data relating to children
in the California public schools.  
   (11) To ensure that all children find themselves on data
collection forms, respect for their individual dignity is part of the
process, and methods for collecting and encoding data on race and
equality is as inclusive as possible. The term multiracial should be
incorporated at the very least in written instructions to students.
 
   (12) At this time when new forms are being developed to conform to
federal guidelines, it is a prime opportunity to validate the
growing multiracial pupil population in California and use data
collection to accurately track their progress in California schools.
 
   (c) Any public elementary or secondary school in this state that
directly, or by contract, collects demographic data on the race or
ethnicity of its pupils shall provide the following written
instructions for reporting racial or ethnic information on all forms:
"Multiracial pupils may check two or more boxes."  
   (d) Each local educational agency or public elementary or
secondary school that is required to comply with subdivision (c)
shall comply as soon as reasonably feasible when updating forms,
software, hardware, or information collection procedures, and in no
event later than the commencement of the fall semester of the 2010-11
academic year. 
   SEC. 2.   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.  
   (2) Many California public elementary and secondary school forms
currently require that pupils or their parents choose only a single
race when racial classifications are required, and this forces them
to deny a significant part of their heritage and choose between their
parents. Information collected in this manner often deprives the
state of accurate data with which to meet the needs of its diverse
communities. These children need to see a place for them on forms,
using dignified, clear, and consistent terminology deemed most
appropriate by the multiracial community.  
   (3) It is in the best interests of the State of California to
collect accurate biracial and multiracial data relating to children
in the California public schools, as 42 percent of persons who chose
more than one race on the 2000 Census were under the age of 18 and
fall into the age range of elementary and secondary school pupils.
Demographic classifications should be sensitive to the needs of
interracial families and multiracial children so that they can
embrace their entire heritage in future years.  
   (4) Respect for individual dignity should guide the processes and
methods for collecting and encoding data on race and equality.
 
   (5) Since 1997, the "Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and
Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity" of the federal Office
of Management and Budget have required federal agencies to ensure
that individuals have the option of selecting one or more ethnic or
racial designations on federal government forms requesting this
information.  
   (6) This is the ideal time to close the gap in disparity in proper
terminology for biracial and multiracial children. This timing
coincides with the changes in federal guidelines. School is usually
the place where children first see and understand appropriate
terminology for themselves and their peers. Ten states have adopted a
true multiracial classification in addition to a large number of
individual school districts in other states. The treatment of
California's pupil population in this regard should be proactive and
progressive on this issue.  
   (c) Any public elementary or secondary school in this state that
directly, or by contract, collects demographic data on the race or
ethnicity of its pupils shall do all of the following: 

   (1) Provide forms that offer respondents the option to select one
or more racial designations pursuant to guidelines of the United
States Department of Education, and designate written instructions
such as: "Choose one; or, if you consider yourself to be biracial or
multiracial, choose two or more."  
   (2) Ensure, in cases where data on the race and ethnicity of
pupils are reported to any other state agency, board, or commission,
that those data are neither tabulated nor reported without all of the
following:  
   (A) The number or percentage of respondents who identify with each
racial designation alone and not in combination with any other
ethnic or racial designation.  
   (B) The number or percentage of respondents who identify with each
ethnic or racial designation, whether alone or in combination with
other ethnic or racial designations.  
   (C) The number or percentage of respondents who identify with
multiple ethnic or racial designations, reported as "biracial or
multiracial (two or more races)."  
   (D) For civil rights monitoring and enforcement, complying with
the rules for multiple race response allocation issued by the federal
Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 00-02 in cases of state
or federally mandated actions related to an ethnic or a racial
community, or to assessing disparate impacts or discriminatory
patterns. In these cases, the requirements of subparagraph (C) shall
not be considered to be satisfied without concurrent compliance with
subparagraphs (A) and (B), as well as this subparagraph. 

   (d) Each local educational agency or public elementary or
secondary school that is required to comply with subdivision (c)
shall comply as soon as reasonably feasible when updating forms,
software, hardware, or information collection procedures, and in no
event later than the commencement of the fall semester of the 2010-11
academic year.  
   (e) Each public elementary or secondary school shall offer an
opportunity to its pupils and staff, and encourage them, to
reidentify their race or ethnicity using the new forms developed
pursuant to this section as soon as these forms are available.
 
  SEC. 2.    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.