CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 787

Introduced by Assembly Member Gabriel

February 13, 2023

An act to add Section 51206.5 to, and to add and repeal Section 51206.6 of, the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 787, as introduced, Gabriel. Pupil instruction: digital citizenship and media literacy: survey.
Existing law provides for a system of public schools and requires the adopted course of study for grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to include instruction in specified areas of study. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, on or before July 1, 2019, to make available to school districts on its internet website a list of resources and instructional materials on media literacy, including media literacy professional development programs for teachers.
This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2025, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the state board, to survey teacher librarians, principals, and technology directors to understand how they are currently integrating digital citizenship and media literacy education into their curriculum, as provided. The bill would require the superintendent to convene and consult with an advisory committee consisting of specified representatives to develop best practices and recommendations for instruction in digital citizenship, internet safety, and media literacy. The bill would also require the superintendent to share the results of the survey with the advisory committee. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2026, the superintendent, in consultation with the State Board of Education, to submit a report to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on strategies to implement those best practices and recommendations statewide.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) Media and technology have become pervasive in all areas of our lives.
(2) In our classrooms, pupils must learn how to safely, ethically, responsibly, and effectively use media and technology resources.
(3) Kids have never had as much access to the internet, media, and mobile technologies at home and school as they do today.
(4) Schools can play a critical role by educating, empowering, and engaging children with the best practices around technology use.
(5) While media and technology have great promise for learning, young people need support and education to learn how to make sound judgments when navigating the digital world.
(6) School administrators and educators are now faced with new and, at times, overwhelming challenges, such as those related to privacy, digital footprints, cyberbullying, and sexting.
(7) The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many schools adopting the use of new digital platforms and technology to deliver education, further integrating digital media and technology into the lives of kids and families.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to provide a process by which pupils, parents, guardians, teachers, teacher librarians, other school employees, school administrators, and community representatives will engage in an ongoing discussion on safe media and technology use, with the goal of establishing digital citizenship and media literacy as part of the state’s basic educational goals and essential academic learning requirements.

SEC. 2.

 Section 51206.5 is added to the Education Code, immediately following Section 51206.4, to read:

51206.5.
 (a) (1) For purposes of this section, “digital citizenship” and “media literacy” are broad terms that encompass consumption and production of media and digital products and are defined as follows:
(A) “Digital citizenship” means a diverse set of skills related to current technology and social media, including the norms of appropriate, responsible, and healthy behavior. Major areas include safety concerns such as cyberbullying prevention, protecting private information online, understanding digital footprints, civil online discourse, and online safety.
(B) “Media literacy” means the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, develop, produce, and interpret media and encompasses the foundational skills that lead to digital citizenship. Media literacy includes digital literacy, consisting of the skills and perspectives needed to read and write using a range of digital devices, typically in a networked environment.
(2) The Legislature finds and declares that digital citizenship and media literacy education provide digital technology skills essential for success in the 21st century.
(b) (1) On or before January 1, 2026, the Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, shall identify best practices and recommendations for instruction in digital citizenship, internet safety, and media literacy and shall report to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature on strategies to implement the best practices and recommendations statewide.
(2) The best practices and recommendations shall be developed in consultation with the advisory committee specified in subdivision (c).
(3) The best practices and recommendations shall include instruction that provides guidance about thoughtful, safe, and strategic uses of online and other media resources and education on how to apply critical thinking skills when consuming and producing media in any form.
(4) The requirement for submitting a report imposed pursuant to this subdivision is inoperative on January 1, 2030, pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code.
(c) The Superintendent shall convene and consult with an advisory committee when developing best practices and recommendations for instruction in digital citizenship, internet safety, and media literacy. A majority of the membership of the advisory committee shall be composed of certificated teacher librarians and current certificated classroom teachers with experience teaching media literacy and the advisory committee shall include representatives from all of the following:
(1) A statewide association representing county superintendents of schools.
(2) A statewide association representing school district governing boards.
(3) Experts in digital citizenship, digital literacy, internet safety, and media literacy.
(4) Other stakeholders, including pupils, certificated teacher librarians, parent organizations, diverse current classroom teachers, and school administrators.
(d) The recommendations of the advisory committee may include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) Revisions to the state content standards and the state educational technology plan.
(2) Existing model policies and procedures on digital citizenship, internet safety, and media literacy.
(3) School district processes necessary to develop customized school district policies and procedures on electronic resources and internet safety that can be used within a school district technology plan.
(4) Best practices, resources, and models for instruction in digital citizenship, internet safety, and media literacy.
(5) Best practices, resources, and models for instruction that are compliant with the federal Universal Service E-rate program and federal mandates established in the federal Children’s Internet Protection Act (Public Law 106-554).
(6) Strategies that will support school districts in local implementation of the best practices and recommendations developed by the department, including strategies for delivering professional development to educators and school administrators.
(e) The members of the advisory committee shall serve without compensation, including compensation for travel and per diem expenses. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the use of private funds for the compensation, travel expenses, or per diem of members of the advisory committee.
(f) Meetings of the advisory committee shall be conducted pursuant to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

SEC. 3.

 Section 51206.6 is added to the Education Code, immediately following Section 51206.5, to read:

51206.6.
 (a) On or before January 1, 2025, the Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, shall survey teacher librarians, principals, and technology directors to understand how they are currently integrating digital citizenship and media literacy education into their curriculum. The purpose of the survey shall be to determine how teacher librarians, principals, and technology directors can lead, teach, and support digital citizenship and media literacy across all grades and content areas. The Superintendent shall share the results of the survey with the advisory committee described in subdivision (c) of Section 51206.5.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.