New Addition to California Schools' Curriculum?

Yesterday, the California State Senate Education Committee passed SB 1437 by an 8-3 vote along party lines. The bill, authored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, mandates that California schools adopt only textbooks which include “contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.”

The following points are from the text of SB 1437, showing that the bill

4) Revises the social sciences course of study to include
the age appropriate study of the role and
contributions of people who are lesbian, gay,
bisexual, or transgender to the development of
California and the nation with emphasis on their role
in contemporary society.

5) Requires that when adopting instructional materials,
local governing boards may only include instructional
materials that they determine to accurately portray,
in an age appropriate manner, the cultural, racial,
gender and sexual orientation diversity of our
society, including the contributions of people who are
lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender to the
development of California and the United States.

The bill now moves to the Senate floor and would have to eventually garner Governor Schwarzenegger's signature to become law, but if it does, California schools will be mandated to teach students about the contributions of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders.

Here’s a novel idea for California schools: teach students how to read, write, add, and subtract.