On September 25, 2023, Governor Newsom signed AB 1078 into law, officially preventing school districts from banning books and censoring curriculum based on the materials’ depiction of inclusive and diverse perspectives. Specifically, the new law:
- Reaffirms, in the Introduction, that:
- California supports accurate and inclusive education;
- the California Constitution guarantees pupils equal protection under the law;
- California schools have an obligation to combat bias against pupils within their schools;
- and accurate and inclusive education are essential to ensure the educational success of all pupils
- Requires the Department of Education to develop guidance and public educational materials to ensure that all Californians can access information about educational laws and policies that safeguard the right to an accurate and inclusive curriculum
- Requires all school districts to have sufficient instructional materials for all students that align with approved content standards
- Adds to list of included topics in social sciences textbooks: the role and contributions of people of all genders, Latino Americans, LGBTQ+ Americans, and members of other ethnic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic status groups
- Reduces a school district’s funding formula allocation if the district does not provide sufficient instructional materials pursuant to these provisions
- Prohibits governing members of school districts from refusing to approve or prohibiting the use of any book or instructional material on the basis that it contains inclusive and diverse perspectives
You can find the Governor’s press release here: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/09/25/california-bans-book-bans-and-textbook-censorship-in-schools/
You can find the text of AB 1078 here: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1078