Kentucky 2025 2025 Regular Session

Kentucky House Bill HB119 Introduced / Bill

                    UNOFFICIAL COPY  	25 RS BR 469 
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AN ACT relating to historical instruction. 1 
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2 
SECTION 1.   A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 158 IS CREATED TO 3 
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4 
(1) Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, any world history or world civilization 5 
course offered by a public middle or high school that is not an advanced 6 
placement course shall include instruction on African history relevant to the time 7 
period covered by the course, including but not limited to the following 8 
civilizations: 9 
(a) The Kingdoms of Kush, Kongo, Punt, Benin, Zulu, Berber, Mutapa, and 10 
Zimbabwe; and 11 
(b) The Mali, Songhai, Carthage, Ghana, Asante, Ethiopian, Aksumite, and 12 
Egyptian Empires. 13 
(2) (a) Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, any United States history course 14 
offered by a public middle or high school that is not an advanced placement 15 
course and includes instruction on the founding of the United States shall 16 
also include instruction on Native American culture and history prior to 17 
and after the founding of the United States. 18 
(b) The Native American instruction required by this subsection shall include 19 
but not be limited to instruction on the history and culture of the indigenous 20 
peoples of the Eastern Woodlands, Great Basin, Plains, Southwest, Mission 21 
Indians, Northwest Coast, Alaska, and Pacific Islands. 22 
(3) The department shall collaborate with: 23 
(a) The Kentucky Center for African-American Heritage to develop an elective 24 
high school course offering in African history; and 25 
(b) The Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission to develop an elective 26 
high school course offering in Native American history. 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	25 RS BR 469 
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(4) In accordance with KRS 156.160, the board shall promulgate administrative 1 
regulations establishing academic standards for: 2 
(a) African history instruction required by subsection (1) of this section 3 
developed in collaboration with the Kentucky Center for African-American 4 
Heritage; and 5 
(b) Native American history instruction required by subsection (2) of this 6 
section developed in collaboration with the Kentucky Native American 7 
Heritage Commission. 8 
(5) The superintendent of each school district shall determine curricula for course 9 
offerings pursuant to KRS 160.345 that include the instruction required by 10 
subsections (1) and (2) of this section and are aligned with the academic 11 
standards required by subsection (4) of this section.  12 
(6) The department shall collaborate with the Kentucky Center for African-American 13 
Heritage to develop: 14 
(a) Recommended curricula for the African history instruction required by 15 
subsection (1) of this section that are aligned with the academic standards 16 
required by subsection (4)(a) of this section; 17 
(b) Historical instruction guidelines that provide direction to public middle and 18 
high schools in implementing the academic standards for African history 19 
instruction required by subsection (4)(a) of this section; and 20 
(c) Professional development materials to prepare public middle and high 21 
school instructors to provide the African history instruction described in 22 
this section. 23 
(7) The department shall collaborate with the Kentucky Native American Heritage 24 
Commission to develop: 25 
(a) Recommended curricula for the Native American history instruction 26 
required by subsection (2) of this section that are aligned with the academic 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	25 RS BR 469 
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standards required by subsection (4)(b) of this section; 1 
(b) Historical instruction guidelines that provide direction to public middle and 2 
high schools in implementing the academic standards for Native American 3 
history instruction required by subsection (4)(b) of this section; and 4 
(c) Professional development materials to prepare public middle and high 5 
school instructors to provide the Native American history instruction 6 
described in this section. 7