BILL NUMBER: SB 283	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Wyland

                        FEBRUARY 14, 2011

   An act to add Section 51008.5 to the Education Code, relating to
curriculum.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 283, as introduced, Wyland. Education: curriculum.
   Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to
6, inclusive, and grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to include courses in
the social sciences for the purpose of, among other things, providing
pupils with a foundation for understanding the history, resources,
development, and government of California and the United States of
America.
   This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction
and the State Board of Education to consider methods for enhancing
pupil knowledge of, and pride in, our history and form of government
and for increasing civic participation. The bill would set forth
methods that the Superintendent and the state board should consider
to accomplish these goals, which include, among other things,
developing new curriculum frameworks and, if necessary, standards,
expanding the time, and grades in which, American history and
government are studied, and requiring a basic understanding of United
States history in order to graduate from high school.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 51008.5 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
   51008.5.  (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (1) Over the last 20 years and more, high school pupils have
significantly less knowledge of American history and government than
previous generations.
   (2) Pupils and young adults over this period know significantly
less about current events, and they subscribe at a significantly
lower rate to newspapers and news periodicals.
   (3) Pupils and young adults have, over time, less faith and pride
in American government and its institutions.
   (4) Pupils and young people vote at significantly lower rates than
their elders.
   (b) The Superintendent and the state board shall consider methods
for accomplishing all of the following:
   (1) Enhancing pupil knowledge of, and pride in, our history and
form of government.
   (2) Increasing all levels of civic participation, from knowledge
of current events to regular voting in elections.
   (c) To accomplish the goals set forth in subdivision (b), the
Superintendent and state board may consider the following methods:
   (1) Developing new curriculum frameworks and, if necessary,
standards that engage pupils in learning about American history and
government from oral histories to biographical sketches and
age-appropriate descriptions of heroic efforts on the part of
Americans to build our society and its institutions.
   (2) Expanding the time devoted to the study of American history
and government and the grades in which that study is provided.
   (3) Developing pride in American values, history, and government
through the comparative study of other cultures and histories.
   (4) Comparing the success of American society and government in
developing a society governed by the democratically devised rule of
law with societies that, although desiring to be so governed, have
struggled to reach this accomplishment.
   (5) Incorporating in the curriculum, at age-appropriate levels,
the objective analysis of both historical and modern governmental
policies so that pupils may learn to understand the complexity of
many issues, to view those policies from different perspectives, to
consider evidence, and to reach their own conclusions.
   (6) Comparing American and Western democracies and histories of
those in other regions of the world, and the role that American
democracy and society may play in modern history.
   (7) Requiring basic understanding of United States history in
order to graduate from high school.