TITLE: Relating to social studies curriculum in public schools.

SUMMARY: Relating to social studies curriculum in public schools.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to social studies curriculum in public schools. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Sections 28.002(h-1) and (h-6), 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, function, and processes of government institutions at the federal, state, and local levels; [and] (4) the roles and contributions of culturally and racially diverse groups to the economic, political, and social development of this state and the United States, including the histories, contributions, and perspectives of: (A) women; (B) Native Americans, Indigenous Americans, and American Indians; (C) African Americans; (D) Latinos; (E) Asian Americans; (F) Pacific Islanders; (G) persons who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or asexual; (H) persons with disabilities; (I) members of persecuted religious minorities; and (J) members of other ethnic and cultural groups that have contributed to the history of this state and the United States; and (5) 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 and 51; (D) excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America; (E) the transcript of the first Lincoln-Douglas debate; (F) the writings of the founding fathers of the United States; (G) the entirety of Frederick Douglass's speeches "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" and "What the Black Man Wants"; and (H) the entirety of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I Have a Dream." (h-6) In providing instruction regarding the founding documents of the United States as described by Subsection (h-1)(5) [(h-1)(4)],a school district or open-enrollment charter school shall use those documents as part of the instructional materials for the instruction. 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.