Senate Bill 1108

PROPOSED

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AMENDMENTS TO S.B.

1108

(Reference to Senate engrossed bill)


Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert:


"Section 1.


Title 15, chapter 1, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by

adding sections 15-107 and 15-108, to read:


START_STATUTE15-107.


Declaration of policy


The legislature finds and declares that:


1. A primary purpose of public education is to inculcate values of

American citizenship.


2. Public tax dollars used in public schools should not be used to

denigrate American values and the teachings of western civilization.


3. Public tax dollars should not be used to promote political,

religious, ideological or cultural beliefs or values as truth when such

values are in conflict with the values of American citizenship and the

teachings of western CIVILIZATION.



START_STATUTE15-108.



Denigration, disparagement or encouragement of dissent from values of

American democracy and western civilization; prohibition; enforcement;

prohibition of race-based organizations; definition


A. A public school in this state shall not include within the program

of instruction any courses, classes or school sponsored activities that

promote, assert as truth or feature as an exclusive focus any

political, religious, ideological or cultural beliefs or values that

denigrate, disparage or overtly ENCOURAGE dissent from the values of

American democracy and western civilization, including democracy,

capitalism, pluralism and religious toleration.


B. This section does not prohibit the inclusion of diverse political,

religious, ideological or CULTURAL beliefs or values if the course,

CLASS or school sponsored activity as a whole does not denigrate,

disparage or overtly ENCOURAGE dissent from the values of American

democracy and western civilization.


C. On request of the superintendent of public instruction or the

superintendent's designee, a public school shall promptly provide

copies of curricula, course materials and course syllabi to the

superintendent of public INSTRUCTION. the superintendent of public

instruction, after providing appropriate notice and conducting an

appropriate hearing, may withhold a proportionate share of state monies

from any public school that violates subsection A. The superintendent

of public instruction may take reasonable and APPROPRIATE regulatory

actions to enforce this subsection. Nothing in this subsection shall be

construed to enlarge the authority of the superintendent of public


instruction to regulate the CONTENT of curriculum in public schools.



D. A public school in this state, a university under the JURISDICTION

of the arizona board of regents and a community college under the

JURISDICTION of a community college DISTRICT in this state shall not

allow organizations to operate on the CAMPUS of the school, UNIVERSITY

or community college if the organization is based in whole or in part

on race-based criteria.


E.


For the purposes of this section, "public school" means any of the

following:


1. A school district.


2. A school in a school district.


3. A charter school.


4. An accommodation school.


5. The arizona state schools for the deaf and the blind.


" END_STATUTE


Amend title to conform


RUSSELL K.

PEARCE

Plan targets anti-Western lessons: Some fear loss of diversity in lawmaker's education proposal

by Matthew Benson - Apr. 17, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Arizona public schools would be barred from any teachings considered counter to democracy or Western civilization under a proposal endorsed Wednesday by a legislative panel.

Additionally, the measure would prohibit students of the state's universities and community colleges from forming groups based in whole or part on the race of their members, such as the Black Business Students Association at Arizona State University or Native Americans United at Northern Arizona University. Those groups would be forbidden from operating on campus.

The brainchild of Rep. Russell Pearce, the measure appeared as an amendment to Senate Bill 1108, which originally would have made minor changes to the state's Homeland Security advisory councils. The House Appropriations Committee approved the new proposal on a 9-6 vote.

Pearce, a Mesa Republican, said his target isn't diversity instruction, but schools that use taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate students in what he characterized as anti-American or seditious thinking. The measure is at least partially a response to a controversy surrounding an ethnic-studies program in the Tucson Unified School District, which critics have said is unpatriotic and teaches revolution.

SB 1108 states, "A primary purpose of public education is to inculcate values of American citizenship. Public tax dollars used in public schools should not be used to denigrate American values and the teachings of Western civilization."

For schools that violate the anti-Western-teachings provision, the bill provides the state superintendent of public instruction with the authority to withhold a portion of state funding.

Rep. John Kavanagh, a member of the Appropriations Committee, said he hopes the measure helps return cultural studies in the state's schools to a "melting pot" model.

"This bill basically says, 'You're here. Adopt American values,' " said Kavanagh, a Fountain Hills Republican. "If you want a different culture, then fine, go back to that culture."

But Democratic committee members complained that the measure is overly vague, failing to define what constitutes teachings that "disparage or overtly encourage dissent from the values of democracy and Western civilization."

The result, said Rep. Pete Rios, would likely be a chilling effect on public instruction regarding diversity and other cultures.

"There's nothing wrong with being bilingual, bicultural," said Rios, a Hayden Democrat. "I like Mexican music. I like Elvis Presley. I'm bicultural. What's wrong with that? I think kids, students, need to learn about their culture."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/04/17/20080417unamerican0417.html

Hmong school bill gets a boost: Panel approves bid to include Hmong history in textbooks.

By E.J. Schultz / Bee Capitol Bureau

04/09/08 23:07:13

SACRAMENTO -- For most of her childhood, Connie Vang had no idea why she was in America.

Then, at age 14, the Sanger High School student found out. She attended the filming of a documentary depicting the plight of the Hmong people, many of whom who came here after helping the United States fight communism in Laos and Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s.

"That was the first time I ever learned about the reason why the Hmong people are here," said Vang, now 18.

Fighting back tears, Vang shared the story with state lawmakers Wednesday as she successfully urged them to pass a bill that would require California to include Hmong history in school text books.

Assembly Bill 2064, by Assembly Member Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, would mandate teaching of the so-called "secret war" in Laos, the role of Southeast Asians in the war, and the "refugee/immigrant/new American experience."

As Vang told it, Hmong children living in California today know little about their heritage.

Their parents, many of whom are refugees, don't like to talk about their painful pasts. Children struggle with their identities.

"For the first 14 years of my life I was disconnected from my culture," Vang said. "I did not know anything about it."

The bill passed its first test Wednesday, clearing the Assembly Education Committee on a 6-0 vote. On hand were about 20 veterans of the secret war who live in Fresno and Sacramento. In full uniform, they stood to attention when asked whether they support the bill.

Fresno City Council President Blong Xiong, California's first Hmong city council member, spoke in favor, saying that the veterans' stories "need to be told."

The committee's three Republicans abstained. They worried the bill would encourage other groups to seek special recognition in textbooks, burdening schools.

"We're just trying to teach the basics to get our high school exit exams passed," said Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar.

Last year, lawmakers passed a bill, later vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger, that would prohibit schools from using textbooks that disparage gays.

This year, Democrats have introduced a bill, AB 1863, that encourages schools to recognize the role of Italian Americans in California history.

Another bill, AB 2034, calls for instruction on American Indians and their "tribal and sovereign governments and their relationship with the California state government."

The governor has not taken a position on any of the bills.

The Hmong bill comes five years after lawmakers approved legislation to "encourage" teaching of Hmong history.

Arambula said the next step is to require such instruction so that all Californians are aware of the Hmong story.

"Many thousands of individuals ... lost their lives," he said. "Entire families were decimated in support of American policy."

Fresno Unified School District began teaching Hmong history this year, using handouts and the "Hmong Voices" film -- the documentary Vang watched being filmed four years ago.

Doua Vu, a Hmong refugee who works at Fresno Unified, developed the curriculum.

The project was launched in response to a series of Hmong teen suicides in the late 1990s that Vu partly blamed on the identify crisis suffered by many American-born Hmong.

Vu encouraged Arambula to introduce this year's bill to spread the teaching across the state.

"Other districts throughout California, they are missing out on this," she said.

The reporter can be reached at eschultz@fresnobee.com or (916) 326-5541.

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/516434.html