| 1 | 1 | | By: Oliverson H.B. No. 2230 |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | AN ACT |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | relating to including an understanding of certain political |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | ideologies in the foundation curriculum in public schools. |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Section 28.002, Education Code, is amended by |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | amending Subsections (h-1) and (h-6) and adding Subsection (h-3) to |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | read as follows: |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | (h-1) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for the |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | foundation curriculum under Subsection (a)(1), the State Board of |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | Education shall, as appropriate, adopt essential knowledge and |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | skills that develop each student's civic knowledge, including an |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | understanding of: |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | (1) the fundamental moral, political, and |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | intellectual foundations of the American experiment in |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | self-government; |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | (2) political ideologies, such as communism, |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | socialism, fascism, and totalitarianism, that conflict with the |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | principles of freedom and democracy essential to the founding |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | principles of the United States; |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | (3) the history, qualities, traditions, and features |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | of civic engagement in the United States; |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | (4) [(3)] the structure, function, and processes of |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | government institutions at the federal, state, and local levels; |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | and |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | (5) [(4)] the founding documents of the United States, |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | including: |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | (A) the entirety of the Declaration of |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | Independence; |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | (B) the entirety of the United States |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | Constitution; |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | (C) the Federalist Papers, including the |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | entirety of Essays 10 and 51; |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | (D) excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | Democracy in America; |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | (E) the transcript of the first Lincoln-Douglas |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | debate; |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | (F) the writings of the founding fathers of the |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | United States; |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | (G) the entirety of Frederick Douglass's |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | speeches "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" and "What the |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | Black Man Wants"; and |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | (H) the entirety of Martin Luther King Jr.'s |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | speech "I Have a Dream." |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | (h-3) In providing instruction regarding the political |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | ideologies described by Subsection (h-1)(2), a school district or |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | open-enrollment charter school shall use first-person accounts as |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | part of the instructional materials for the instruction. |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | (h-6) In providing instruction regarding the founding |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | documents of the United States as described by Subsection (h-1)(5) |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | [(h-1)(4)], a school district or open-enrollment charter school |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | shall use those documents as part of the instructional materials |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | for the instruction. |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026 |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | school year. |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |
|---|