Published: 2015-07-08
Key Benefits:
(a) At the request of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Board of Education shall do all of the following as long as the board’s actions do not result in a state mandate or an increase in costs to a state or local program:
(1) Adopt policies directed toward creating a school environment in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, that is free from discriminatory attitudes and practices and acts of hate violence.
(2) Revise, as needed, and in accordance with the State Board of Education’s adopted Schedule for Curriculum Framework Development and Adoption of Instructional Materials developed pursuant to Section 60200, the state curriculum frameworks and guidelines and the moral and civic education curricula to include human relations education, with the aim of fostering an appreciation of the diversity of California’s population and discouraging the development of discriminatory attitudes and practices.
(3) Establish guidelines for use in teacher and administrator in-service training programs to promote an appreciation of diversity and to discourage the development of discriminatory attitudes and practices that prevent pupils from achieving their full potential.
(4) Establish guidelines for use in teacher and administrator in-service training programs designed to enable teachers and administrators to prevent and respond to acts of hate violence occurring on their school campuses.
(5) Establish guidelines designed to raise the awareness and sensitivity of teachers, administrators, and school employees to potentially prejudicial and discriminatory behavior and to encourage the participation of these groups in these programs.
(6) Develop guidelines relating to the development of nondiscriminatory instructional and counseling methods.
(7) Revise any appropriate guidelines previously adopted by the board to include procedures for preventing and responding to acts of hate violence.
(b) The State Department of Education, in accordance with policies established by the State Board of Education for purposes of this subdivision, shall do all of the following:
(1) Prepare guidelines for the design and implementation of local programs and instructional curricula that promote understanding, awareness, and appreciation of the contributions of people with diverse backgrounds and of harmonious relations in a diverse society. The guidelines shall include methods of evaluating the programs and curricula and suggested procedures to ensure coordination of the programs and curricula with appropriate local public and private agencies.
(2) Provide grants, from funds appropriated for that purpose, to school districts and county offices of education to develop programs and curricula consistent with the guidelines developed in paragraph (1).
(3) To the extent possible, provide advice and direct services, consistent with the guidelines developed in paragraph (1), to school districts and county offices of education that implement the programs and curricula developed in paragraph (2).
(c) The State Board of Education shall carry out this section only if private funds, in an amount sufficient to pay for related State Department of Education staff activities on behalf of the board, are made available.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to require the governing board of a school district to offer any ethnic studies or human relations courses in the district.
(e) As used in this section, “hate violence” means any act punishable under Section 422.6, 422.7, or 422.75 of the Penal Code.
(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 955, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2001.)
(a) Each teacher shall endeavor to impress upon the minds of the pupils the principles of morality, truth, justice, patriotism, and a true comprehension of the rights, duties, and dignity of American citizenship, and the meaning of equality and human dignity, including the promotion of harmonious relations, kindness toward domestic pets and the humane treatment of living creatures, to teach them to avoid idleness, profanity, and falsehood, and to instruct them in manners and morals and the principles of a free government.
(b) Each teacher is also encouraged to create and foster an environment that encourages pupils to realize their full potential and that is free from discriminatory attitudes, practices, events, or activities, in order to prevent acts of hate violence, as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 233.
(Added by renumbering Section 44806 by Stats. 1998, Ch. 914, Sec. 42. Effective January 1, 1999.)
(a) The State Department of Education shall provide regional training to assist school district personnel in the identification and determination of hate violence on school campuses.
(b) (1) A grant program for school districts shall be established by the department for the purpose of enabling pupils and teachers to participate in educational programs focused on fostering ethnic sensitivity, overcoming racism and prejudice, and countering hatred and intolerance. It is the intent of the Legislature that the grants be awarded on a competitive basis with similar sized school districts and county offices of education competing against each other for grant funds. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall establish grant competition bands as follows:
(A) Districts with less than 2,501 average daily attendance.
(B) Districts with more than 2,500 average daily attendance but less than 5,001.
(C) Districts with more than 5,000 average daily attendance but less than 15,001.
(D) Districts with more than 15,000 average daily attendance but less than 30,001.
(E) Districts with more than 30,000 average daily attendance.
(F) County offices of education.
(2) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall allocate the appropriated funds for competitive grants to each of the competitive bands based on the amount of average daily attendance in all districts in the competitive range compared to the statewide average daily attendance in all school districts and county offices of education.
The grant program is not required to be implemented under this section unless funds are appropriated for that purpose.
(Added by Stats. 2000, Ch. 959, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2001.)
