(a) On or before December 31, 2022, the commission shall develop and submit to the state board a model curriculum relative to the Vietnamese American refugee experience that includes, but is not limited to, curriculum on the fall of Saigon in 1975. On or before March 31, 2023, the state board shall adopt, modify, or revise the model curriculum. The commission shall provide a minimum of 45 days for public comment before submitting the model curriculum to the state board.

(b) The model curriculum shall be developed with participation from Vietnamese American cultural centers and community groups located in California, survivors, rescuers, and liberators of the Vietnam War, Vietnamese American refugees, and a group of representatives of local educational agencies, a majority of which are kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, teachers who have relevant experience or educational backgrounds in the study and teaching of Vietnamese American history.

(c) (1) The model curriculum shall include the incorporation of writings and other media that represent all perspectives of the Vietnamese refugee experience, including oral testimony by survivors, rescuers, and liberators of the Vietnam War, including Vietnamese American refugees, Vietnamese boat people, and members of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces, to ensure quality standards and materials for this area of study.

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “oral testimony” means the firsthand accounts of significant historical events presented in a format that includes, but is not limited to, in-person testimony, video, or a multimedia option, such as a DVD or an online video.

(d) The model curriculum shall include discussion of the Vietnamese boat people and members of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces, the reasons behind the exodus, the hardships faced by the Vietnamese people attempting to flee who were apprehended by the communist government, and the conditions that led to the resettlement of Vietnamese people in the United States.

(e) The model curriculum shall include curriculum appropriate for use in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.

(f) The model curriculum shall be written as a guide to allow school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education to adapt their related courses to best meet the educational needs of their communities. The model curriculum developed for use in high schools shall include examples of courses offered by local educational agencies that have been approved as meeting the A–G admissions requirements of the University of California and the California State University, including, to the extent possible, course outlines for those courses.

(g) Beginning in the school year following the adoption of the model curriculum pursuant to subdivision (a), each school district, charter school, or county office of education maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, that does not otherwise offer standards-based curriculum relative to the Vietnamese American refugee experience, Vietnamese boat people, and the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces, is encouraged to offer to pupils a course of study relative to the Vietnamese American refugee experience based on the model curriculum. A school district, charter school, or county office of education that serves pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, that elects to offer a course of study in the Vietnamese American refugee experience pursuant to this subdivision, shall offer the course as an elective in the social sciences or world history and shall make the course available in at least one year during a pupil’s enrollment in grades 7 to 12, inclusive.

(h) It is the intent of the Legislature that local educational agencies that maintain high schools submit course outlines for studies relative to the Vietnamese American refugee experience for approval as A–G courses.

(i) The implementation of this section is subject to the receipt of grants, donations, or other financial support from private or public sources for its purposes, including, but not limited to, an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute.

(Added by Stats. 2018, Ch. 686, Sec. 2. (SB 895) Effective January 1, 2019.)