TITLE: Relating to Victims of Communism Remembrance Day in public schools and the inclusion of an understanding of Victims of Communism Remembrance Day in the essential knowledge and skills for government under the social studies curriculum for public school students.

SUMMARY: Relating to Victims of Communism Remembrance Day in public schools and the inclusion of an understanding of Victims of Communism Remembrance Day in the essential knowledge and skills for government under the social studies curriculum for public school students.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to Victims of Communism Remembrance Day in public schools and the inclusion of an understanding of Victims of Communism Remembrance Day in the essential knowledge and skills for government under the social studies curriculum for public school students. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 28.002, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsection (h-9) to read as follows: (h-9) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for instruction in government under the social studies curriculum, the State Board of Education shall adopt essential knowledge and skills that develop each student's knowledge of Victims of Communism Remembrance Day and include instruction with information on: (1) Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution; (2) Joseph Stalin and the Soviet System; (3) Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution; (4) Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Revolution; (5) Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge; (6) Nicolas Maduro and the Chavismo movement; and (7) the oppression experienced by people living under the regimes described by Subdivisions (1) through (6), including poverty, starvation, forced migration, systemic lethal violence, and suppression of free expression. SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 29, Education Code, is amended by adding Section 29.9075 to read as follows: Sec. 29.9075. VICTIMS OF COMMUNISM REMEMBRANCE DAY. (a) To educate students about the people who have fallen victim to communist regimes across the world, the governor shall designate a day to be known as Victims of Communism Remembrance Day in public schools. (b) Victims of Communism Remembrance Day shall include age-appropriate instruction, as determined by each school district, regarding the information described by Section 28.002(h-9). SECTION 3. As soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act, the State Board of Education shall review and revise, as needed, the essential knowledge and skills of the social studies curriculum as required by Section 28.002(h-9), Education Code, as added by this Act. SECTION 4. Section 29.9075, Education Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. SECTION 5. 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.