RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
Act 469 (SB 283) 2015 Regular Session Cortez
Prior law, as a prerequisite to high school graduation, required students to complete two
semesters of instruction in Civics, including a section on Free Enterprise, equal to one unit
of credit.
Prior law provided that for students who enter the ninth grade on or after July 1, 2014,
Government, AP US Government and Politics: Comparative, or AP US Government and
Politics: United States may be substituted for Civics and shall satisfy the Civics and Free
Enterprise instruction required by prior law.
New law retains prior law and additionally provides for the Louisiana Civics Education
Initiative as follows:
(1)Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year:
(a)The curriculum for Civics, and courses permitted to substitute for Civics,
must contain a unit of study that includes civics-related subject matter of
which naturalized citizens are required to demonstrate a knowledge.
(b)As a means to inform civics-related curricula and instruction, each student
enrolled in Civics, or a course permitted to substitute for Civics, shall be
administered a test based upon the civics portion of the naturalization test
used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to survey his
knowledge of the fundamentals of the history, principles, and form of the
United States government.
(2)Requires BESE to promulgate rules and regulations to implement new law.
Effective upon signature of the governor (July 1, 2015).
(Adds R.S. 17:274.1(D))