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, which 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 in Hmong history and cultural studies, as specified. Existing law requires the commission, on or before December 31, 2022, to submit the model curriculum to the state board for adoption, and requires the state board to adopt, modify, or reject the model curriculum on or before March 31, 2023. Existing law requires 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. Existing law requires, if the state board modifies the model curriculum, that the state board explain, in writing, the reasons for the modifications to the Governor and certain committees of the Legislature. Existing law also requires the state board to provide, in a public meeting, written reasons for modifying the model curriculum, as specified. Existing law, beginning in the school year following the adoption of the model curriculum, encourages local educational agencies, as defined, to use the model curriculum to provide instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law provides that implementation of these 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. This bill would require that model curriculum to additionally cover Laotian history and cultural studies, as provided. The bill would delay by one year the deadlines for the commission to submit the model curriculum to the state board, and for the state board to adopt, modify, or reject the model curriculum, and would set those deadlines at December 31, 2023, and March 31, 2024, respectively. The bill would delete the provisions requiring the state board to provide written reasons for modifying the model curriculum submitted by the commission.