California Assembly Bill AB659 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 659AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JANUARY 6, 2014 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 19, 2013 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Nazarian FEBRUARY 21, 2013 An act to amend Section  1620   51226.3  of the Education Code, relating to  county educational agencies   pupil instruction  . LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 659, as amended, Nazarian.  County educational agencies: county school service fund budgets: posting online.   Pupil instruction: Armenian Genocide.   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.   This bill would also require the incorporation of materials related to the Armenian Genocide into those publications, and would require the Armenian Genocide to be considered in the next cycle in which the history/social science curriculum framework and its accompanying instructional materials are adopted. The bill would also specify that the Legislature encourages the incorporation of an oral history component specifically related to genocide, including, but not limited to, the Darfur, Rwandan, Cambodian, and Armenian genocides, and the Jewish Holocaust, and would require testimony incorporated into an oral history component to consist only of first-hand accounts of significant historical events presented in a specified format.   Existing law requires the county board of education to hold a public hearing on the proposed county school service fund budget for that fiscal year. Existing law further requires that the agenda for that hearing be posted at least 72 hours prior to the hearing and that it include the location where the budget will be available for inspection.   This bill would authorize the county board of education to post the proposed budget on its Internet Web site for public inspection.  Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no   yes  . State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:  SECTION 1.   Section 51226.3 of the   Education Code   is amended to read:  51226.3. (a) The  State Department of Education   department  shall  incorporate,   incorporate  into publications that provide examples of curriculum resources for teacher  use,   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  , and the Armenian Genocide  . (b) The Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness testimony into the teaching of human rights, genocide,  and  the Holocaust  , and the Armenian Genocide  .  (c) (1) The Legislature encourages the incorporation of an oral history component specifically related to genocide, including, but not limited to, the Darfur, Rwandan, Cambodian, and Armenian genocides, and the Jewish Holocaust.   (2) As used in this subdivision, testimony incorporated into an oral history component shall consist only of first-hand accounts of significant historical events presented in a format that includes, but is not limited to, in-person testimony, video, or a multimedia option, such as a DVD or online video.   (c)   (d)  The Legislature encourages all state and local professional development activities to provide teachers with content background and resources to assist in teaching about civil rights, human rights violations, genocide, slavery,  and  the Holocaust  , and the Armenian Genocide  .  (d)   (e)  The Legislature encourages all state and local professional development activities to provide teachers with content background and resources to assist in teaching about the Great Irish Famine of 1845-50.  (e)   (f)  The Great Irish Famine of 1845-50  and the Armenian Genocide  shall be considered in the next cycle in which the history/social science curriculum framework and its accompanying instructional materials are adopted.  (f)   (g)  The Model Curriculum for Human Rights and Genocide adopted by the  State Board of Education,   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  State Department of Education   department  shall make the curriculum available on its  Internet  Web site.  SECTION 1.   Section 1620 of the Education Code is amended to read: 1620. On or before July 1 of each fiscal year, the county board of education shall hold a public hearing on the proposed county school service fund budget for that fiscal year (the "budget year"). The public hearing shall be held before the adoption of the budget by the county board of education, and shall occur not less than three days following the availability of the proposed budget for public inspection. The agenda for that hearing shall be posted at least 72 hours before the hearing and shall include the location of where the budget will be available for inspection. The county board of education may post the proposed budget on its Internet Web site for public inspection. At the hearing, a taxpayer directly affected by the county school service fund budget may appear before the county board of education and speak on the proposed budget or an item therein.