After Long Delay, Attorney General Releases Title and Summary for CLASS Initiative

Sacramento, CA – The StopSB48 coalition of pro-family groups across California is announcing that a new initiative should be ready to begin signature gathering this week. The new Children Learning Accurate Social Science (CLASS) Initiative follows last year’s attempted referendum on SB 48, the state’s controversial law mandating that social studies be slanted to favor lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons.

So far, the Sacramento political establishment isn’t helping. In an apparent attempt to keep the CLASS Initiative off this November’s ballot, the office of Attorney General Kamala Harris held the initiative for nearly a month beyond the statutory deadline for issuing an official title and summary. The AG’s office claimed a fiscal review was needed, even though the text of the initiative expressly precludes such an impact. In violation of California’s Election Code, state officials then released title and summary late last Friday two days past the deadline. Further, title and summary were issued just before the holiday weekend to blunt its impact and cause proponents to lose a few extra days. The Attorney General’s actions will make it more difficult to get the needed signatures in time for the November 2012 ballot. At the same time, the early opposition is fueling organizers’ resolve, and they believe concern about SB 48 will only grow since it went into effect last month.

“We fully expect that Sacramento politicians, Hollywood elites and union bosses will pull out all the stops to prevent the people from having a voice in their public schools,” said Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, an active member of the StopSB48 coalition. “It is time for the people to say enough is enough and restore integrity and objectivity to social science instruction.”

PJI Chief Counsel Kevin Snider, the primary author of the initiative, noted, “We strongly believe that history and social science should highlight inpiduals based on their achievements, not their sexual orientation. We believe most Californians share this view, and we look forward to the opportunity to restore some sanity to social studies.” Official petitions are now being finalized and should be available in the next few days atwww.pji.org and www.StopSB48.com.