Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3979 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.B. No. 3979
	1	+	By: Toth, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Creighton) H.B. No. 3979
	2	+	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2021;
	3	+	May 14, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on State
	4	+	Affairs; May 19, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable
	5	+	Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 2;
	6	+	May 19, 2021, sent to printer.)
	7	+	Click here to see the committee vote
	8	+	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3979 By: Hughes
2	9
3	10
	11	+	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
4	12		AN ACT
5	13		relating to the social studies curriculum in public schools.
6	14		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
7	15		SECTION 1. Section 28.002, Education Code, is amended by
8		-	adding Subsections (h-2), (h-3), (h-4), and (h-5) to read as
9		-	follows:
	16	+	adding Subsections (h-2), (h-3), and (h-4) to read as follows:
10	17		(h-2) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for the
11	18		social studies curriculum, the State Board of Education shall adopt
12	19		essential knowledge and skills that develop each student's civic
13	20		knowledge, including an understanding of:
14	21		(1) the fundamental moral, political, and
15	22		intellectual foundations of the American experiment in
16	23		self-government;
17	24		(2) the history, qualities, traditions, and features
18	25		of civic engagement in the United States;
19		-	(3) the history of Native Americans;
20		-	(4) the structure, function, and processes of
	26	+	(3) the structure, function, and processes of
21	27		government institutions at the federal, state, and local levels;
22		-	(5) the founding documents of the United States,
	28	+	and
	29	+	(4) the founding documents of the United States,
23	30		including:
24	31		(A) the Declaration of Independence;
25	32		(B) the United States Constitution;
26		-	(C) the Federalist Papers;
27		-	(D) the transcript of the first Lincoln-Douglas
28		-	debate;
29		-	(E) the writings of and about the founding
30		-	fathers and mothers and other founding persons of the United
31		-	States, including the writings of:
32		-	(i) George Washington;
33		-	(ii) Ona Judge;
34		-	(iii) Thomas Jefferson;
35		-	(iv) Sally Hemings; and
36		-	(v) any other founding persons of the
37		-	United States;
38		-	(F) writings from Frederick Douglass's
39		-	newspaper, the North Star;
40		-	(G) the Book of Negroes;
41		-	(H) the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850;
42		-	(I) the Indian Removal Act;
43		-	(J) Thomas Jefferson's letter to the Danbury
44		-	Baptists; and
45		-	(K) William Still's Underground Railroad
46		-	Records;
47		-	(6) historical documents related to the civic
48		-	accomplishments of marginalized populations, including documents
49		-	related to:
50		-	(A) the Chicano movement;
51		-	(B) women's suffrage and equal rights;
52		-	(C) the civil rights movement;
53		-	(D) the Snyder Act of 1924; and
54		-	(E) the American labor movement;
55		-	(7) the history of white supremacy, including but not
56		-	limited to the institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and
57		-	the Ku Klux Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong;
58		-	(8) the history and importance of the civil rights
59		-	movement, including the following documents:
60		-	(A) Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a
61		-	Birmingham Jail" and "I Have a Dream" speech;
62		-	(B) the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
63		-	U.S.C. Section 2000a et seq.);
64		-	(C) the United States Supreme Court's decision in
65		-	Brown v. Board of Education;;
66		-	(D) the Emancipation Proclamation;
67		-	(E) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
68		-	(F) the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth
69		-	Amendments to the United States Constitution;
70		-	(G) the United States Court of Appeals for the
71		-	Ninth Circuit decision in Mendez v. Westminster;
72		-	(H) Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of
73		-	Frederick Douglass, an American Slave;;
74		-	(I) the life and work of Cesar Chavez; and
75		-	(J) the life and work of Dolores Huerta;
76		-	(9) the history and importance of the women's suffrage
77		-	movement, including the following documents:
78		-	(A) the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52
79		-	U.S.C. Section 10101 et seq.);
80		-	(B) the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-Sixth
81		-	Amendments to the United States Constitution;
82		-	(C) Abigail Adams's letter "Remember the
83		-	Ladies";
84		-	(D) the works of Susan B. Anthony; and
85		-	(E) the Declaration of Sentiments;
86		-	(10) the life and works of Dr. Hector P. Garcia;
87		-	(11) the American GI Forum;
88		-	(12) the League of United Latin American Citizens; and
89		-	(13) Hernandez v. Texas (1954).
90		-	(h-3) For any social studies course in the required
91		-	curriculum:
92		-	(1) a teacher may not be compelled to discuss a
93		-	particular current event or widely debated and currently
94		-	controversial issue of public policy or social affairs;
95		-	(2) a teacher who chooses to discuss a topic described
	33	+	(C) the Federalist Papers, including Essays 10
	34	+	and 51;
	35	+	(D) excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's
	36	+	Democracy in America;
	37	+	(E) the transcript of the first Lincoln-Douglas
	38	+	debate; and
	39	+	(F) the writings of the founding fathers of the
	40	+	United States.
	41	+	(h-3) For courses in the social studies curriculum in Texas
	42	+	history, United States history, world history, government, civics,
	43	+	social studies, or other similar subjects:
	44	+	(1) a teacher may not be compelled to discuss current
	45	+	events or widely debated and currently controversial issues of
	46	+	public policy or social affairs;
	47	+	(2) a teacher who chooses to discuss topics described
96	48		by Subdivision (1) shall, to the best of the teacher's ability,
97		-	strive to explore ~~the topic~~ from diverse and contending
	49	+	strive to explore those topics from diverse and contending
98	50		perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective;
99	51		(3) a school district, open-enrollment charter
100	52		school, or teacher may not require, make part of a course, or award
101	53		a grade or course credit, including extra credit, for a student's:
102		-	(A) political activism, lobbying, or efforts to
	54	+	(A) work for, affiliation with, or service
	55	+	learning in association with any organization engaged in:
	56	+	(i) lobbying for legislation at the
	57	+	federal, state, or local level; or
	58	+	(ii) social or public policy advocacy;
	59	+	(B) political activism, lobbying, or efforts to
103	60		persuade members of the legislative or executive branch at the
104	61		federal, state, or local level to take specific actions by direct
105	62		communication; or
106		-	(B) participation in any ~~internship, practicum,~~
107		-	~~or similar~~ activity involving social or public policy advocacy; and
	63	+	(C) participation in any practicum or similar
	64	+	activity involving social or public policy advocacy; and
108	65		(4) a teacher, administrator, or other employee of a
109	66		state agency, school district, or open-enrollment charter school
110	67		may not:
111	68		(A) be required to engage in training,
112	69		orientation, or therapy that presents any form of race or sex
113		-	stereotyping or blame on the basis of race or sex;
	70	+	stereotyping or blame on the basis of race or sex; and
114	71		(B) require or make part of a course the concept
115	72		that:
116	73		(i) one race or sex is inherently superior
117	74		to another race or sex;
118	75		(ii) an individual, by virtue of the
119	76		individual's race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or
120	77		oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;
121	78		(iii) an individual should be discriminated
122	79		against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of
123		-	the individual's race;
	80	+	the individual's race or sex;
124	81		(iv) members of one race or sex cannot and
125	82		should not attempt to treat others without respect to race or sex;
126		-	(v) an individual's moral character,
127		-	standing, or worth is necessarily determined by the individual's
128		-	race or sex;
	83	+	(v) an individual's moral character is
	84	+	necessarily determined by the individual's race or sex;
129	85		(vi) an individual, by virtue of the
130	86		individual's race or sex, bears responsibility for actions
131	87		committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex;
132	88		(vii) an individual should feel discomfort,
133	89		guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on
134		-	account of the individual's race or sex;
	90	+	account of the individual's race or sex; or
135	91		(viii) meritocracy or traits such as a hard
136	92		work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a
137		-	particular race to oppress members of another race;
138		-	(ix) the advent of slavery in the territory
139		-	that is now the United States constituted the true founding of the
140		-	United States; or
141		-	(x) with respect to their relationship to
142		-	American values, slavery and racism are anything other than
143		-	deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the
144		-	authentic founding principles of the United States, which include
145		-	liberty and equality; and
146		-	(C) require an understanding of The 1619 Project.
	93	+	particular race to oppress members of another race.
147	94		(h-4) A state agency, school district, or open-enrollment
148	95		charter school may not accept private funding for the purpose of
149	96		developing a curriculum, purchasing or selecting curriculum
150	97		materials, or providing teacher training or professional
151		-	development for a course described by Subsection (h-3)(3).
152		-	(h-5) A school district or open-enrollment charter school
153		-	may not implement, interpret, or enforce any rules or student code
154		-	of conduct in a manner that would result in the punishment of a
155		-	student for discussing, or have a chilling effect on student
156		-	discussion of, the concepts described by Subsection (h-3)(4).
	98	+	development for a course described by Subsection (h-3).
157	99		SECTION 2. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
158	100		this section, this Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022 school
159	101		year.
160	102		(b) Section 28.002(h-2), Education Code, as added by this
161	103		Act, applies beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.
162	104		SECTION 3. Not later than December 31, 2022, the State Board
163	105		of Education shall review and revise, as needed, the essential
164	106		knowledge and skills of the social studies curriculum as required
165	107		by Section 28.002(h-2), Education Code, as added by this Act.
166		-	SECTION 4. If any provision of this Act or its application
167		-	to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does
168		-	not affect other provisions or applications of this Act that can be
169		-	given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to
170		-	this end the provisions of this Act are declared to be severable.
171		-	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	108	+	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
172	109		a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
173	110		provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
174	111		Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
175	112		Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
176		-	______________________________ ______________________________
177		-	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
178		-	I certify that H.B. No. 3979 was passed by the House on May
179		-	11, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 79, Nays 65, 2 present, not
180		-	voting.
181		-	______________________________
182		-	Chief Clerk of the House
183		-	I certify that H.B. No. 3979 was passed by the Senate, with
184		-	amendments, on May 22, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 18, Nays
185		-	13; and that the Senate adopted a motion to recede from amendments
186		-	to H.B. No. 3979 on May 28, 2021, and declared H.B. No. 3979 to have
187		-	passed the Senate in the same form in which it was received from the
188		-	House by the following vote: Yeas 18, Nays 13.
189		-	______________________________
190		-	Secretary of the Senate
191		-	APPROVED: _____________________
192		-	Date
193		-	_____________________
194		-	Governor
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