SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — A bill that would develop LGBTQ+ online training curriculum for teachers brought several detractors to the state Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday with pleas to kill the legislation.
Opponents of the bill decried its price tag and its perceived impact, saying it would teach kids they were born in the wrong body.
The committee didn’t vote on Assembly Bill 5, called the “Safe and Supportive Schools Act.” Instead, the bill went to the so-called suspense file where it will proceed to a future vote-only suspense hearing and from there, potentially, to the Senate floor. The date of the vote-only suspense hearing hasn’t yet been announced.
Issues surrounding LGBTQ+ students have become a national flashpoint. California Attorney Rob Bonta this month announced an investigation into the Chino Valley Unified School District’s choice to tell parents if their child asks teachers or staff to use a name or pronoun different than the one given at birth. Last week Bonta denounced a similar policy enacted at the Murrieta Valley Unified School District, also in Southern California.
On Tuesday, Beth Bourne told the committee that she’s the mother of a girl who once believed she was a boy.
“Parents are not forgiving, nor are we afraid,” Bourne told lawmakers, before adding: “We know that our children are just dollar signs."
The true cost of the bill, Bourne said, would be a generation of children. State leaders would also discover the cost when teachers begin leaving California over the changes the bill would impose.
Allie Snyder pointed to the state’s initial forecast of an almost $100 billion budget surplus before determining it faced around a $20 billion shortfall. She questioned how lawmakers would explain to parents their choice of spending money they don’t have to teach kids they were born in the wrong body.
Several others also voiced their opposition, though a handful of people, like a representative of Equality California — a statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights group — did offer support.
A Department of Finance representative, who gave a department opinion on many of the bills during Monday’s session, also opposed AB 5. Initial and recurring costs were cited for the training and development of the online delivery platform required by the bill.
The state Department of Education in a bill analysis estimated a one-time cost of $1.3 million to contract for the creation of a portal enabling it to monitor compliance with the new training requirements. Another $487,000 is estimated for ongoing costs related to the bill, which include $250,000 for 1.5 job positions and $175,000 for the portal’s maintenance.
Additionally, the bill could lead to local school districts receiving reimbursement for required, annual training. That could total $7.8 million.
The bill, if passed, would require the creation of the online training curriculum and online delivery platform by July 1, 2025. They would support “LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for teachers and certificated employees.” It also would require at least one hour of training each year for certificated staff.
The annual training would start with the 2025-26 school year and go through the 2029-30 year. It would serve students in grades 7 through 12.
The state education department already has processes in place to monitor local educational agencies. That’s to ensure, among other things, they have adopted a policy prohibiting discrimination, harassment, intimidation and bullying of people for several reasons, including gender identity and expression.
Under the bill, the curriculum training for staff would focus on certain topics. They’d include the creation of safe learning environments for LGBTQ+ students. Additionally, there would be support services for those students, like counseling. There would also be requirements for suicide prevention policies.
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