AB 738: Pupil instruction: Native American studies: model curriculum.

Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to include, among other subjects, the social sciences. 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.

This bill would require the commission to develop, and the state board to adopt, modify, or revise, a model curriculum in Native American studies, and would encourage each school district and charter school that maintains any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, that does not otherwise offer a standards-based Native American studies curriculum to offer a course of study in Native American studies based on the model curriculum. The bill would require the model curriculum to be developed with participation from specified entities, including, among others, certain Native American tribes, and would require the Governors Tribal Advisor, the Native American Heritage Commission, and the State Department of Education to assist the commission in statewide tribal consultations with those tribes. 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.