Bill Text: NJ A2544 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires board of education to provide civics instruction in middle schools and requires DOE to provide funding to NJ Center for Civic Education at Rutgers to help prepare civics teachers.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-4)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-03 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee [A2544 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A2544-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JON M. BRAMNICK
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUNOZ
District 21 (Morris, Somerset and Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires board of education to provide civics instruction in middle schools and requires DOE to provide funding to NJ Center for Civic Education at Rutgers to help prepare civics teachers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning civics education in public middle schools and supplementing chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. The most recent civics assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicates that more than one-third of high school seniors lack a basic grasp of the structure and operations of American government;
b. Civic knowledge and engagement are essential to maintaining a representative democracy;
c. The civic mission of the schools, which is to provide citizens with the knowledge, skills, and inclination to participate in a democratic society, was the primary purpose for which public schools were originally established;
d. Independent studies concluded that well-designed civics education programs foster an understanding and appreciation of democracy and the skills for participation in a democratic society;
e. Teacher education and professional development are critical to ensure effective classroom instruction in civics education;
f. By age 10, students have the ability to do the higher order thinking necessary for a rigorous, relevant, reflective course in civics, and students at this age are more open to attitudinal changes than students at older ages; and
g. A required civics course in middle school will help to ensure that all New Jersey students have the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills for active citizenship.
2. Beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, each board of education shall provide a course of study about the values and principles underlying the American system of constitutional democracy, the function and limitations of government, and the role of a citizen in a democratic society, which shall be taken by all pupils in an appropriate middle school grade. The board shall ensure that the course of study includes a minimum of one semester of instruction, or the equivalent.
3. The Department of Education shall provide a minimum of $250,000 a year for three years to the New Jersey Center for Civic Education at Rutgers, the State University to enable the center to provide a clearinghouse of materials, an online resource center, technical assistance, professional development, and any other activities deemed appropriate by the department to help prepare teachers to teach the required middle school civics course of study. These funds may be matched by support from other sources.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the provision of civics instruction to middle school pupils in public schools. Current law requires a course of study in civics, geography, and the history of New Jersey to be provided to public school elementary students, but no similar requirement exists for middle school pupils. Under this bill, beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, each board of education is required to provide a course of study about the values and principles underlying the American system of constitutional democracy, the function and limitations of government, and the role of a citizen in a democratic society. The course is to be taken by all pupils in an appropriate middle school grade. The course of study must include a minimum of one semester of instruction, or the equivalent.
The bill also directs the Department of Education to annually provide a minimum of $250,000 a year for three years to the New Jersey Center for Civic Education at Rutgers, the State University. The purpose of the funding is to enable the center to provide a clearinghouse of materials, an online resource center, technical assistance, professional development and any other activities deemed appropriate by the department to help prepare the teachers who will be teaching the middle school civics course of study required by the bill.
