Davis Vetoes Jackson’s Violence Bill

In an unexpected setback for Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, Gov. Gray Davis on Monday vetoed the Ventura County lawmaker’s bill requiring the state to distribute to public schools a curriculum on how students can help curb domestic violence in their homes and avoid it as adults.

“I’m very shocked and disappointed,” Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said of the veto by Davis, who is also a Democrat.

Jackson’s bill, which passed the Legislature without opposition, would have required the state to supply districts with teaching materials aimed at ending the cycle that often carries domestic violence from one generation to another.

The cost of distributing the materials was $50,000, according to an Assembly analysis.

The bill did not require school districts to teach the curriculum.

But the governor, in a veto message, concluded that the bill might prompt school districts statewide to redirect $7 million meant for core academic programs to those teaching domestic-violence prevention.

Davis said such lessons could be taught in existing health classes. He also noted that there are no provisions in Jackson’s bill allowing parents to exempt their children from the special instruction.

“While I am supportive of efforts to reduce domestic violence, I cannot support this bill,” Davis wrote. “I would support a requirement that the state’s health curriculum framework, as adopted by the State Board of Education, include sections on domestic violence.”

Jackson, in a statement from the Netherlands, where she is attending an environmental conference, said she would introduce a similar bill soon after the Assembly opens its next session in January.

“But I regret that most children in California will be without domestic-violence prevention education for at least another year,” she said.

Davis’ veto came as a surprise, Jackson said, because “we sought feedback from the [Davis] administration and the agencies involved throughout the process,” and there was no indication of a problem.

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Janice Rocco, chief of staff for Jackson, said she addressed an early concern by some groups that parents be able to see the new curriculum ahead of time and keep their children from the classes if they found it objectionable.

“But when we asked the state Department of Education about that, they said that’s already an automatic thing,” Rocco said. “So I’m not sure if that should be a true concern.”

The bill was supported by the Junior League of California and the California Alliance Against Domestic Violence.

A spokeswoman for the alliance said she was outraged by the veto.

“We’re talking about children’s lives,” said Carmen de Arce of Los Angeles, who had supported similar legislation for the last five years.

“I can’t even fathom this. This was just a vehicle to allow domestic-violence education. There were shelters and groups willing to go in and provide the education at no cost to the schools.”

The education bill is one of a three-bill package Jackson pushed through the Legislature to attempt to curb domestic violence.

One bill allows authorities to jail suspected stalkers without bail if they violate a restraining order.

Another includes counseling for abused children as a service paid for by the state Victims Restitution Fund.