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 30, 2009
	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 
    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  , commencing on July 1, 2010,  would require
any  public elementary or secondary school in this 
state  agency, board, or commission  that directly, or by
contract, collects demographic data on the race or ethnicity of
 its  pupils  in any elementary or secondary
school  to provide 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   the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
notify each school district, county office of education, and charter
school administrator that it is the intent of the Legislature that,
commencing on July 1, 2010, a pupil asked to provide demographic data
on race or ethnicity be provided written instructions that specify
that multiracial pupils may check 2 or more boxes  . 
   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   no  .


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: 
   SECTION 1.    The Legislature hereby finds and
declares all of the following:  
   (1) 
    (a)  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 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

    (b)     Many changes that influence
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   and has changed over time
 . 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) 
    (c)  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,   heard and answered  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,   requires
state agencies to include "Asian,"  as well as 11 subcategories,
on every form requiring racial and ethnic data. 
   (4) 
    (d)  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
  and  multiracial adults, for one defining
 term, and that   term. That  term was, and
remains today, "multiracial." 
   (5) 
    (e)  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) 
    (f)     (1)    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) 
   (2)  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   representatives  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.   states on how to implement the
federal requirements. None of the task force members were from
California.  
   (7) 
    (g)  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
  use of  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) 
    (h)  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   "multiracial." This
 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.   referring to
multiracial children.  
   (i) (1) Current reports comparing students based on race and
ethnicity data have rarely included multiracial students. Unless
multiracial students are included in data that California uses to
assess the needs of its students, policymakers are denied access to
accurate and complete information.  
   (B) 
    (2)  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
  that those who identified as multiracial 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 
    (j)     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
 
   (k) At this time, when California is changing its forms to conform
with federal requirements for reporting racial and ethnic data, an
opportunity presents itself to include "multiracial" on written
instructions to students. Placing this term in written instructions
will allow multiracial students to see themselves on the form, will
not interfere with conformity to federal requirements, and will begin
a process of validating this growing population of Californians.
 
  SEC. 2.    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)     Commencing on July 1, 2010, any
state agency, board, or commission that  directly, or by
contract, collects demographic data on the race or ethnicity of
 its pupils   pupils in any elementary or
secondary school  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.  
   (c) The Superintendent shall notify each school district, county
office of education, and charter school administrator that it is the
intent of the Legislature that, commencing on July 1, 2010, a pupil
asked to provide demographic data on race or ethnicity be provided
the following written instructions for reporting racial information
on all forms: "Multiracial pupils may check two or more boxes."