81R1375 PAM-D
By: Davis of Dallas H.B. No. 3999
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring Spanish language instruction in public
elementary schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.002, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (o) to read as
follows:
(a) Each school district that offers kindergarten through
grade 12 shall offer, as a required curriculum:
(1) a foundation curriculum that includes:
(A) English language arts;
(B) mathematics;
(C) science; [and]
(D) social studies, consisting of Texas, United
States, and world history, government, and geography; and
(E) Spanish language; and
(2) an enrichment curriculum that includes:
(A) to the extent possible, languages other than
English and Spanish;
(B) health, with emphasis on the importance of
proper nutrition and exercise;
(C) physical education;
(D) fine arts;
(E) economics, with emphasis on the free
enterprise system and its benefits;
(F) career and technology education;
(G) technology applications; and
(H) religious literature, including the Hebrew
Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament, and its impact on
history and literature.
(o) A student enrolled in kindergarten through grade three
must participate in a Spanish language course as part of the school
district's Spanish language curriculum. The State Board of
Education shall develop a Spanish language program that a school
district may use in the Spanish language curriculum under
Subsection (a)(1)(E).
SECTION 2. Section 39.023(a), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The agency shall adopt or develop appropriate
criterion-referenced assessment instruments designed to assess
essential knowledge and skills in reading, writing, mathematics,
social studies, [and] science, and Spanish. All students, except
students assessed under Subsection (b) or (l) or exempted under
Section 39.027, shall be assessed in:
(1) mathematics, annually in grades three through
seven without the aid of technology and in grade eight with the aid
of technology on any assessment instrument that includes algebra;
(2) reading, annually in grades three through eight;
(3) writing, including spelling and grammar, in grades
four and seven;
(4) social studies, in grade eight;
(5) science, in grades five and eight; [and]
(6) Spanish language, in grade five; and
(7) any other subject and grade required by federal
law.
SECTION 3. Not later than January 1, 2010, the State Board
of Education shall develop a Spanish language program as required
by Section 28.002(o), Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, this Act applies beginning with the 2010-2011 school year.
(b) Section 39.023(a), Education Code, as amended by this
Act, applies beginning with the 2012-2013 school year.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.