Governor Gavin Newsom signs the legislation.

Photo: Office of the Governor of California

New California state laws will protect the privacy of LGBTQ+ students, ensure Native American history is taught accurately, and make it harder to discriminate against people of color based on their hairstyle.

These and other new laws will go into effect when students return to campus after winter break.

Schools cannot require parental notification

Assembly Bill 1955, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in July prohibits California school boards from passing resolutions requiring school personnel, including teachers, to notify parents if they believe a child is transgender.

The Supporting the Academic Future and Educators of Today’s Youth program, or SECURITY Actalso protects school personnel from retaliation if they refuse to inform parents of a child’s gender preference. The legislation, which takes effect January 1, also provides additional resources and support for LGBTQ+ students in middle and high schools.

The legislation was created in response to more than a dozen California school boards proposing or adopting parental notification policies in just over a year. The policies require school staff to notify parents if a child requests to use a name or pronoun different from the one assigned at birth, or if they participate in activities and use facilities designed for the opposite sex.

“Politically motivated attacks on the rights, safety, and dignity of transgender, nonbinary, and other LGBTQ+ youth are on the rise across the country, including in California,” said Assembly Member Chris Ward and author of the bill, in a press release. “While some school districts have adopted policies to forcibly expel students, the SAFE law ensures that discussions about gender identity remain a private matter within the family.”

Opponents of the bill, including Rep. Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, indicated that the matter would be resolved in court.

Precise history of Native Americans

Building a Spanish mission – with popsicle sticks or sugar cubes – was once a common task for fourth graders in California. The state’s educational framework adopted in 2016 says this “offensive” mission does not help students understand this era, particularly the experiences of Native Californians subjected to forced labor and deadly diseases caused by Spanish colonizers.

But supporters of a new law that will take effect Jan. 1 say serious concerns remain that the history of California’s Native Americans — including slavery, starvation, disease and violence — is still misleading or completely absent from the school curriculum.

AB 1821authored by Assembly Member James Ramos, D-San Bernardino, aims to address this problem. When California updates its history and social studies curriculum – on or after January 1 – it will ask the Education Quality Commission to consult with California tribes to develop a curriculum that includes the treatment and perspectives of Native Americans during Spanish colonization and the Gold Rush. .

“The missionary era of Spanish occupation was one of the most devastating and sensitive periods in the history of California’s indigenous peoples and the lasting impact of this period is lost in the current curriculum,” according to a statement from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. , one of the supporters of the legislation.

Teaching desegregation in California

Another law that also goes into effect this year also requires the state to update its history and social studies curriculum. AB 1805 requires the landmark case Mendez v. Westminster School District of Orange County to be incorporated into the updated history and social studies curriculum beginning January 1.

The case, filed in 1945, involved four Orange County districts that segregated students. The plaintiffs in this case were Mexican-American parents whose children were denied admission to local public schools. The case led California to become the first state to ban segregation in public schools – and it set a precedent for Brown v. Board of Education.

This case is mentioned in the history and social studies curriculum last adopted in 2016 for fourth and eleventh graders, as well as in the model ethnic studies curriculum, as an example of interethnic rapprochement.

The Westminster School District wrote a statement in support of the law to ensure the matter was “properly recognized and rightfully integrated into the state’s educational curriculum.”

Protect yourself against hair discrimination

Assembly Bill 1815 makes it harder to discriminate against people of color, including students, based on their hairstyle. Although this type of discrimination is already prohibited by the Crown Lawit did not extend to amateur and club sports.

The new legislation also clarifies language in the California Code, eliminating the requirement that a trait be “historically” associated with a race, as opposed to culturally, in order to be protected.

“(This bill) addresses an often overlooked form of racial discrimination that affects our youth: prejudice based on hair texture and protective hairstyles, such as braids, highlights and twists,” says a letter of support from the ACLU. “By expanding anti-discrimination protections within amateur sports organizations, this bill recognizes and seeks to dismantle the deeply ingrained biases that impact children and adolescents of color in their sporting activities and beyond.

Protection of creators of children’s content

Newsom signed two pieces of legislation in September that provide additional protection for children who play or create content online.

The new laws expand state laws meant to protect child artists. Senate Bill 764 and Assembly Bill 1880 require that at least 15% of money earned by children who create, post or share content online, including vloggers, podcasters, social media influencers and streamers, be placed in a trust to which they will be able to access when they reach adulthood.

“Much has changed since the early days of Hollywood, but here in California, our top priority on protecting children from exploitation remains the same,” Newsom said in a statement. “In old Hollywood, child actors were exploited. In 2024, it is now the child influencers. Today, this modern-day exploitation is ending thanks to two new laws aimed at protecting young influencers on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and other social media platforms.