Holden Bill to Recognize President Obama in California Textbooks

Including President Barack Obama in California textbooks seems like a no-brainer. But, it’s not necessarily so. That’s why Assemblymember Chris Holden’s legislation would include recognizing the historical significance of President Obama as the first African American President.

AB 1912 had its first hearing in Senate Education Committee today and unanimously passed with bipartisan support and a vote of 7 to 0.

“This presidency should not be relegated to a footnote in textbooks,” said Assemblymember Holden. “There has been a long history of minimizing the accomplishments of African Americans in this country. We want to make sure that future generations will understand the significance of our nation’s first African-American President by giving him respect and recognition in our school history books.”

AB 1912 would encourage the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) and the State Board of Education (SBE) to develop, and recommend for adoption, curriculum on the significance of the United States electing its first African-American President.

California curriculum is based on content standards that are developed by the IQC and approved by the SBE. The history-social science standards were developed in 1998 and were last revised in 2005. A review and update of this framework was almost complete until the state suspended its continuation in 2009 due to the state’s fiscal crises. Therefore, the SBE specifically prohibited the Commission from adopting instructional materials until the 2015-16 school year.