By: Schaefer H.B. No. 3874
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to course content requirements for biology instruction
provided by a public school.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sec. 28.002(a), REQUIRED CURRICULUM, is amended
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, including biology courses that must identify
major stages of human development of an unborn child; including
when the heart starts beating, the development of vital organs, and
sensory development including hearing, seeing, and feeling pain;
and
(D) social studies, consisting of Texas, United States, and
world history, government, economics, with emphasis on the free
enterprise system and its benefits, and geography; and
(2) an enrichment curriculum that includes:
(A) to the extent possible, languages other than English;
(B) health, with emphasis on the importance of proper
nutrition and exercise;
(C) physical education;
(D) fine arts;
(E) career and technology education;
(F) technology applications;
(G) religious literature, including the Hebrew Scriptures
(Old Testament) and New Testament, and its impact on history and
literature; and
(H) personal financial literacy.
SECTION 2. This Act applies to the next adoption of science
curriculum.
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. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2015.