Bill Text: CA AB1393 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Assembly Bill 1393 (Prior Session Legislation)

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

Bill Title: Pupil instruction: model curriculum: Laotian history and cultural studies.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Vetoed) 2020-01-21 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB1393 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB1393-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 1393

Introduced by Assembly Members Weber and Arambula
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Chau)

February 22, 2019

An act to add Section 33540.8 to the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1393, as introduced, Weber. Pupil instruction: model curriculum: Laotian history and cultural studies.

Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to include, among other subjects, the social sciences. Existing law encourages instruction in the area of social sciences for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, that may include instruction on the Vietnam War, including a component drawn from personal testimony of Southeast Asians who were involved in the Vietnam War and men and women who contributed to the war effort on the homefront, as specified. Existing law requires the State Board of Education, with the assistance of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to establish a list of textbooks and other instructional materials that highlight the contributions of minorities in the development of California and the United States. Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the state board.

Existing law requires the commission to develop and submit to the state board a model curriculum relative to the Vietnamese American refugee experience, a model curriculum relative to the Cambodian genocide, and a model curriculum in Hmong history and cultural studies, as specified.

This bill would require the commission to develop and submit to the state board a model curriculum relative to the history and cultural study of Laotian refugees, as provided, on or before December 31, 2022. The bill would require the state board, on or before March 31, 2023, to adopt, modify, or reject the model curriculum. The bill would require the Superintendent, following the adoption of the model curriculum, to post the model curriculum on the State Department of Education’s internet website for use on a voluntary basis by educators. The bill, beginning in the school year following the adoption of the model curriculum, would encourage local educational agencies, as defined, to use the model curriculum to provide instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, and to offer to all otherwise qualified pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, a course of study in Laotian studies based on the model curriculum. The bill would provide that implementation of its provisions is subject to the receipt of grants, donations, or other financial support from private or public sources for its purposes, including, but not limited to, an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

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

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

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) The State of California is committed to providing excellent educational opportunities to all of its diverse pupils.

(b) There are 92 languages other than English spoken throughout the state, with the primary languages being Arabic, Armenian, Cantonese, Hmong, Iu Mien, Korean, Lao, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.

(c) There is a growing body of academic research that shows the importance of culturally meaningful and relevant curriculum, which positively impact pupil educational achievement.

(d) The state’s educational standards should be guided by core values of equity, inclusiveness, and universally high expectations.

(e) The state is committed to its obligation to ensure its youth are college prepared and career ready, while graduating 100 percent of its pupils.

(f) The implementation of various culturally relevant courses within California’s curriculum that are A–G approved, with the objective of preparing all pupils to be global citizens with an appreciation for the contributions of multiple cultures, will close the achievement gap, reduce pupil truancy, increase pupil enrollment, reduce dropout rates, and increase graduation rates.

(g) The state recognizes the importance of teaching its pupils the complete and accurate history of the Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, which cost more than 58,000 American lives and took place in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.

(h) The state acknowledges that during the war, the American people were not informed about the Secret War in Laos in which Laotian civilians and the Royal Lao Army special forces, known as the “Special Guerrilla Units,” supported the American covert war efforts in Laos, and recognizes the need to accept and include this war in United States history.

(i) For the past 40 years, Laotian American refugees have enriched the social, cultural, and economic landscape of California and have achieved success in many professional fields, including entertainment, the military, medicine, business, law, science, education, literature, journalism, and sports. This includes the highly-decorated Lao American United States Navy Expeditionary Warfare Specialist John Douangdara, who served our country with distinction and was killed in action while serving with Seal Team 6 in Afghanistan.

(j) Sections 33540.2, 33540.4, and 33540.6 of the Education Code require, among other things, that the Instructional Quality Commission develop and submit to the State Board of Education a model curriculum relative to the history of the Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Hmong refugees, but those sections omit the history of Laotian refugees of other ethnic groups, such as the Lao, Iu Mien, Khmu, Phutai, Tai Lue, Tai Dam, and Tai Deng.

(k) The state recognizes the importance of teaching K–12 pupils the complete and accurate history of the war refugee experiences.

(l) The state encourages the participation of pupils, community members, and members of California Laotian American communities in the development of a model curriculum that recognizes the importance of survivors of the Secret War in Laos, particularly Laotian American refugees who were members of the Royal Lao Army.

(m) The state currently encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness oral testimony into the teaching of human rights, the Holocaust, and genocide, including the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, and Rwandan genocides.

(n) Currently, the instructional resources available for use in California public schools do not include sufficient oral testimonies from survivors of the Secret War in Laos.

(o) The state acknowledges the need to elevate tragic personal stories like those of the Laotian refugees, after the fall of the Royal Lao Government in 1975, who risked their lives escaping communism and spent years in refugee camps enduring starvation, diseases, and dehumanization.

(p) The state acknowledges the importance of the history and experiences of members of the Royal Lao Army and Laotian civilians who were sent to reeducation camps after the fall of the Royal Lao Government in 1975.

(q) The state acknowledges that oral histories can help pupils better relate to and understand different perspectives in curriculum by providing first-person accounts from individuals who have experienced some of the most tragic times in international history, helping the subject become more than statistics on a page.

(r) California is home to the largest Laotian population outside of Laos.

(s) It is in the best interest of all people and the future of the state to ensure that each school district, county office of education, and charter school has access to a model curriculum and culturally accurate instructional materials relative to the Laotian American history, refugee experiences, and communities in California and the United States.

SEC. 2.

Section 33540.8 is added to the Education Code, to read:

33540.8.

(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Laotian” means a person who has at least one ancestor who was part of an ethnic group from Laos, including, but not limited to, Lao, Iu Mien, Khmu, Phutai, Tai Lue, Tai Dam, and Tai Deng. For purposes of the model curriculum developed pursuant to this section, “Laotian” does not include the ethnic group included in the model curriculum developed pursuant to Section 33540.6.

(2) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.

(b) On or before December 31, 2022, the commission shall develop and submit to the state board a model curriculum relative to the history and cultural study of Laotian refugees, as provided in this section. The model curriculum shall include, but not be limited to, the Lao, Iu Mien, Khmu, Phutai, Tai Lue, Tai Dam, and Tai Deng ethnic groups.

(c) The model curriculum shall be developed with participation from Laotian American cultural centers and community groups located in California, surviving members of the Royal Lao Army and descendants of the those members, Laotian American refugees and descendants of the those refugees, faculty of Laotian studies programs at universities and colleges, and a group of representatives of local educational agencies, a majority of whom are kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, teachers who have relevant experience or educational backgrounds in the study and teaching of Laotian American history and culture.

(d) The curriculum shall identify the ways in which the model curriculum aligns with, and is supportive of, the common core academic content standards and of the goals of the curriculum framework in history-social science adopted by the state board in 2016.

(e) The model curriculum shall include curriculum appropriate for use in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.

(f) The model curriculum developed for use in high schools shall include examples of courses offered by local educational agencies that have been approved as meeting the A–G admissions requirements of the University of California and the California State University, including, to the extent possible, course outlines for those courses.

(g) The model curriculum shall address, but shall not necessarily be limited to, all of the following:

(1) The history of Laos in the 14th century at the time of the Lan Xang Kingdom, which means the “Land of a Million Elephants,” under King Fa Ngum, and the history of the Laotian people who lived in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and China.

(2) The history of war and conflict in Laos that led to the migration to the United States, which shall include, but not be limited to, the United States Secret War in Laos, the bombing missions to interdict supply lines along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and the unexploded ordnance, which not only pose an imminent and real threat to Laotians, but significantly impact quality of life for all Lao citizens.

(3) The contributions and sacrifices of the Laotian civilians and soldiers in the Royal Lao Army who fought in the Secret War.

(4) The history of the Laotian migration to California and to other parts of the United States and the world, which shall include, but not be limited to, family separation, escape across the Mekong River, and life inside refugee camps.

(5) The writings, oral testimonies, videos, documentaries, and other media that represent all perspectives of the Laotian refugee experience.

(6) Unique cultural beliefs, practices, and traditions of Laotian Americans of the Lao, Iu Mien, Khmu, Phutai, Tai Lue, Tai Dam, and Tai Deng ethnic groups, including, but not limited to, new year festivals, traditional arts and music, food, and ceremonies for marriages, births, and funerals.

(7) Assimilation to a new life in California and the United States, the generational issues, and the contributions of Laotian American communities to California and the United States.

(h) In order for the public to provide input on the model curriculum, the commission shall hold a minimum of two public hearings, which shall be held pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(i) The model curriculum shall be written as a guide to allow local educational agencies to adapt their related courses to best meet the educational needs of their communities.

(j) (1) On or before March 31, 2023, the state board shall adopt, modify, or reject the model curriculum. The commission shall provide a minimum of 45 days for public comment before submitting the model curriculum to the state board.

(2) If the state board modifies the model curriculum submitted by the commission, the state board shall explain, in writing, the reasons for the modifications to the Governor and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, and shall provide that written explanation in a meeting conducted pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. The state board shall not adopt the model curriculum at the same meeting at which it provides its written explanation, but, instead, shall adopt the modifications at a subsequent meeting conducted no later than July 31, 2023.

(3) If the state board rejects the model curriculum, the state board shall transmit to the Superintendent, the Governor, and the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature a specific written explanation of the reasons for the rejection of the model curriculum.

(k) Following the adoption of the model curriculum, the Superintendent shall post the model curriculum on the department’s internet website for use on a voluntary basis by educators.

(l) (1) Beginning in the school year following the adoption of the model curriculum, a local educational agency is encouraged to use the model curriculum to provide instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive.

(2) Beginning in the school year following the adoption of the model curriculum, a local educational agency that maintains any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, that does not otherwise offer a standards-based Laotian studies curriculum is encouraged to offer to all otherwise qualified pupils a course of study in Laotian studies based on the model curriculum.

(3) For a local educational agency for which the Laotian pupil population consists of 3.5 percent or more of the total pupil population of the local educational agency, a meeting of the governing board or body of the local educational agency to decide whether or not to adopt the model curriculum shall be conducted pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act (Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code). A local educational agency that decides not to adopt the model curriculum shall articulate and record the reasons for not adopting the model curriculum, and shall maintain those records for a minimum of 10 years.

(m) The implementation of this section is subject to the receipt of grants, donations, or other financial support from private or public sources for its purposes, including, but not limited to, an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute.