Bill Text: CA SB596 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Civics education: Student Empowerment Commission.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2018-03-03 - Last day to consider Governor’s veto pursuant to Joint Rule 58.5. [SB596 Detail]

Download: California-2017-SB596-Amended.html

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Amended  IN  Assembly  July 03, 2017

Amended  IN  Senate  March 30, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 596

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Introduced by Senator Stern

February 17, 2017

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An act to amend Section 33000.5 of add Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 48960) to Chapter 6 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to the State Board of Education. civics education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 596, as amended, Stern. State Board of Education: student member: school elections. Civics education: Student Empowerment Commission.

Existing law establishes various educational programs and activities for pupils, including programs and activities relating to civics education.

This bill would establish the Student Empowerment Commission program, under which public and private schools may choose to participate in the program and elect a pupil in grade 9, 10, or 11 to participate in regional and statewide conferences and to prepare proposals addressing legislative solutions to public policy issues, as specified. The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to solicit proposals and select one or more qualified nonprofit organizations to assist in the administration of the program. The bill would require the Secretary of State to divide the state into 12 regions and would require the program administrators to conduct regional conferences and a statewide conference each year and to set forth procedures for the preparation, discussion, and vetting of issues at the conferences.

Existing law requires the Governor to appoint a student member to the State Board of Education with the advice and consent of 23 of the Senate, and establishes a process in that regard.

This bill would authorize a school to hold an election where the student body may vote to nominate a student or students to be considered for appointment as a student member of the state board in accordance with procedures determined by the school administrators. The bill would also make technical changes to those provisions.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  

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Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a)

(1) The fastest growing voting demographic in California and nationwide is made up of millennials, youths 18 to 34 years of age.

(b)

(2) Millennials are consistently and dramatically underrepresented in every election type in California, with the greatest disparities among 18 to 24 year olds.

(c)

(3) A person’s first vote matters most, as demonstrated by the correlation between young people’s early experiences with voting and future rates of voting participation.

(d)

(4) Increased youth and millennial voter turnout is a key step to increasing future turnout for California and the nation as a whole.

(e)

(5) Without significant action to remove barriers to building the habits of the next generation of citizens, youth voter turnout disparities will persist, resulting in continued stagnancy in overall civic engagement and voter turnout rates.

(f)

(6) The California Task Force on K-12 Civic Learning analyzed the central role the K-12 public education system has in developing the next generation of citizens and addressed all of the following:

(A) The correlation between income levels and access to high-quality civic learning.

(B) The absence of civic engagement technology from curriculum and instruction.

(C) The overemphasis on memorization over participatory skills and experiential learning about the power of democracy.

(b) The intent of the Legislature in enacting this act is to empower and engage pupils statewide in the democratic process and to provide pupil insight and feedback on public policy issues to state and local government.

SEC. 2.Section 33000.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:

33000.5.

(a)Notwithstanding Sections 33000 and 33001, the Governor shall also appoint a student member to the state board with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate.

(b)The term of office of the student member is one year, and shall begin on August 1. An individual may serve only one term as a student member.

(c)Notwithstanding Section 1020 of the Government Code, the student member shall be, at the time the member’s one-year term commences, a student enrolled in good standing in grade 12 in a public high school. The student member shall be selected from three students recommended by the state board pursuant to subdivision (d). The student member shall be a voting member with the full rights and duties of the other 10 members of the state board.

(d)The process for selecting the student member shall be as follows:

(1)The state board shall notify every school district governing board, district superintendent, high school principal, high school student activities director, and student body president by September 15 of each year that applications are being accepted for the student member’s position.

(2)Subject to authorization by the school administration, a school may, but is not required to, hold an election where the student body may vote to nominate a student or students to be considered for appointment as a student member of the state board in accordance with procedures to be determined by the school administrators.

(3)Applications for the student member’s position shall be submitted to the state board no later than October 31 of each year.

(4)A screening committee of the state board shall select 12 semifinalists for the student member’s position.

(5)The school district governing board student members shall select six candidates from the 12 semifinalists.

(6)The state board shall, by December 31 of each year, select three finalists for the Governor’s consideration and shall rank the finalists according to its preference.

(e)Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the governing board of a school district that maintains a high school to grant voting rights to a student member serving on the school district governing board.

SEC. 2.

 Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 48960) is added to Chapter 6 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

Article  3.5. Student Empowerment Commission

48960.

 For purposes of this article, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Program” means the Student Empowerment Commission program established pursuant to this article.

(b) “Administrators” means one or more nonprofit organizations selected by the Superintendent pursuant to Section 48961.

48961.

 (a) The Superintendent, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall solicit proposals and select one or more nonprofit organizations to assist in administering the program. Preference shall be given to nonprofit organizations working collaboratively and in partnership with other nonprofit organizations that present multiorganizational proposals. A nonprofit organization shall satisfy both of the following criteria to be eligible for selection:

(1) The nonprofit organization shall be registered as a nonprofit public benefit corporation under Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code.

(2) The nonprofit organization presents documentation of sufficient resources to fund a portion of the costs required to administer the program.

(b) The duties of the administrators shall include, but are not limited to, organizing and conducting annual regional conferences and a statewide conference.

48962.

 (a) To participate in the program, a public or private school may conduct an election of the student governing body to determine whether the school will participate in the program. If a majority of the student governing body votes to participate in the program, an election of the student body shall be held to nominate a regional delegate.

(b) To qualify as a candidate for regional delegate, a pupil shall meet both of the following requirements:

(1) The pupil shall be enrolled in the school in grades 9, 10, or 11.

(2) The pupil agrees to faithfully and diligently represent all pupils at the school.

(c) The term of a regional delegate participating in the program shall begin upon nomination and shall terminate two years later or upon the pupil’s graduation, whichever occurs first.

(d) The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Superintendent, shall annually recommend the date or dates on which elections to opt into the program and to nominate regional delegates shall be held. In making these recommendations, the Secretary of State shall take into consideration the dates of regularly scheduled student body elections as well as programs to encourage pupil civic engagement, including, but not limited to, high school voter education weeks pursuant to Article 7 (commencing with Section 49040).

(e) Participation in the program by a school is subject to approval by the school administration.

48963.

 (a) The Secretary of State shall divide the state’s counties, or segments thereof, into 12 geographic regions, which shall be designated as region 1 to region 12, inclusive. The regions shall be designed to be relatively equal in population.

(b) The administrators, in consultation with the Superintendent, shall organize and conduct a conference in each of the 12 regions each year, to be attended by each pupil nominated by their school in the region in which the school is located.

(c) Regional conferences shall be conducted in the spring and shall be scheduled to give participating schools and regional delegates sufficient notice of important dates and responsibilities. The Superintendent, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall annually determine the date of the regional conferences.

(d) Each regional conference shall be attended by pupils from each participating school in the region that elected a pupil as a regional delegate.

(e) Regional delegates attending the regional conference shall prepare proposals addressing legislative solutions to public policy issues identified by regional delegates at their own schools.

(f) The administrators shall set forth procedures for the preparation, discussion, and vetting of issues at the regional conference that include peer-to-peer facilitation and consensus-based decisionmaking.

(g) At the conclusion of each regional conference, the regional delegates shall do both of the following:

(1) Adopt by a majority vote of the regional delegates attending the regional conference an official proposal or proposals for the region to be identified as the official proposal or proposals of the region.

(2) Select from among the regional delegates attending the regional conference a Student Empowerment Commission, consisting of five student commissioners and two alternate student commissioners from each of the 12 regions, who shall represent the regions at the statewide conference.

(h) Regional delegates are encouraged to present their proposals to local governmental agencies and to take action to implement their proposals in their communities.

48964.

 (a) The administrators, in consultation with the Superintendent, shall organize and conduct a statewide conference in Sacramento each year, to be attended by the Student Empowerment Commission.

(b) The statewide conference shall be conducted in the fall and shall be scheduled on a date determined by the Superintendent in consultation with the administrators.

(c) The administrators shall set forth procedures for the preparation, discussion, and vetting of issues at the statewide conference that include peer-to-peer facilitation and consensus-based decisionmaking.

(d) At the conclusion of the statewide conference, recommendations and proposals developed and adopted by the Student Empowerment Commission, in accordance with rules promulgated by the Student Empowerment Commission, shall be presented to the appropriate committees of the Legislature before the deadline for bills to be introduced in the Legislature. The Legislature is encouraged to provide the Student Empowerment Commission with opportunities to formally present their recommendations and proposals to the appropriate legislative committees.