Bill Text: TX SB1954 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the essential knowledge and skills of the public school foundational curriculum for civics education and social studies.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-04-19 - Left pending in committee [SB1954 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB1954-Introduced.html
88R10915 DIO-F | ||
By: Zaffirini | S.B. No. 1954 |
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relating to the essential knowledge and skills of the public school | ||
foundational curriculum for civics education and social studies. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Sections 28.002(h-1) and (h-2), Education Code, | ||
are amended to read as follows: | ||
(h-1) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for the | ||
foundation curriculum under Subsection (a)(1), the State Board of | ||
Education shall, as appropriate, adopt essential knowledge and | ||
skills that develop each student's civic knowledge, including an | ||
understanding of: | ||
(1) the fundamental moral, political, and | ||
intellectual foundations of the American experiment in | ||
self-government; | ||
(2) the history, qualities, traditions, and features | ||
of civic engagement in the United States; | ||
(3) the structure, organization, function, and | ||
processes of government institutions at the federal, state, and | ||
local levels; and | ||
(4) the founding documents of the United States, | ||
including: | ||
(A) the entirety of the Declaration of | ||
Independence; | ||
(B) the entirety of the United States | ||
Constitution; | ||
(C) the Federalist Papers, including the | ||
entirety of Essays 10 [ |
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(D) excerpts from Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 | ||
(1803); | ||
(E) excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's | ||
Democracy in America; | ||
(F) [ |
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Lincoln-Douglas debate; | ||
(G) [ |
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the United States; | ||
(H) [ |
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speeches "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" and "What the | ||
Black Man Wants"; and | ||
(I) [ |
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Jr.'s speech "I Have a Dream." | ||
(h-2) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for the | ||
social studies curriculum for each grade level from kindergarten | ||
through grade 12, the State Board of Education shall adopt | ||
essential knowledge and skills that develop each student's civic | ||
knowledge, including: | ||
(1) an understanding of: | ||
(A) the fundamental moral, political, | ||
entrepreneurial, and intellectual foundations of the American | ||
experiment in self-government; | ||
(B) the history, qualities, traditions, and | ||
features of civic engagement in the United States; | ||
(C) the structure, organization, function, and | ||
processes of government institutions at the federal, state, and | ||
local levels, with an emphasis on: | ||
(i) the structure of the federal court | ||
system and the court system of this state; | ||
(ii) the role the judiciary, as a co-equal | ||
branch of government, plays in providing checks and balances on | ||
governmental power; | ||
(iii) the selection of judicial | ||
officeholders within the federal and state judicial systems, with | ||
special consideration given to state and local officeholders of | ||
this state; | ||
(iv) the processing and flow of cases at all | ||
court levels in this state; | ||
(v) the role judges and juries play in the | ||
criminal and civil justice systems; and | ||
(vi) the sharing of governance between the | ||
federal and state governments in a federalist system and the | ||
interplay between the judicial examination of legal issues at the | ||
federal and state level; and | ||
(D) the founding documents of the United States; | ||
(2) the ability to: | ||
(A) analyze and determine the reliability of | ||
information sources; | ||
(B) formulate and articulate reasoned positions; | ||
(C) understand the manner in which local, state, | ||
and federal government works and operates through the use of | ||
simulations and models of governmental and democratic processes; | ||
(D) actively listen and engage in civil | ||
discourse, including discourse with those with different | ||
viewpoints; and | ||
(E) participate as a citizen in a constitutional | ||
democracy by voting; and | ||
(3) an appreciation of: | ||
(A) the importance and responsibility of | ||
participating in civic life; | ||
(B) a commitment to the United States and its | ||
form of government; and | ||
(C) a commitment to free speech and civil | ||
discourse. | ||
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024 | ||
school year. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives | ||
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as | ||
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this | ||
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this | ||
Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |