89R19470 TYPED
By: Hagenbuch S.B. No. 2802
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to courses to understand the United States and Texas
Constitutions for high school students in public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.002(a), Education Code, 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; and
(D) social studies, consisting of Texas, United
States, and world history, government, United States Constitution
and Texas Constitution, 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:
(i) physical health, including the
importance of proper nutrition and exercise;
(ii) mental health, including instruction
about mental health conditions, substance abuse, skills to manage
emotions, establishing and maintaining positive relationships, and
responsible decision-making; and
(iii) suicide prevention, including
recognizing suicide-related risk factors and warning signs;
(C) physical education;
(D) fine arts;
(E) career and technology education;
(F) technology applications; and
(G) religious literature, including the Hebrew
Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament, and its impact on
history and literature, and,
SECTION 2. Section 28.0021(b), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Each school district and each open-enrollment charter
school that offers a high school program shall provide a [an
elective] course in The United States Constitution and the Texas
Constitution that meets the requirements for a one-half social
studies [elective] credit under Section 28.025, using materials
approved by the State Board of Education. In fulfilling the
requirement to provide financial literacy instruction under this
section, a school district or open-enrollment charter school may
use an existing state, federal, private, or nonprofit program that
provides students without charge the instruction described under
this section.
SECTION 3. Sections 28.025(b-1) and (b-23), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b-1) The State Board of Education by rule shall require
that the curriculum requirements for the foundation high school
program under Subsection (a) include a requirement that students
successfully complete:
(1) four credits in English language arts under
Section 28.002(a)(1)(A), including one credit in English I, one
credit in English II, one credit in English III, and one credit in
an advanced English course authorized under Subsection (b-2);
(2) three credits in mathematics under Section
28.002(a)(1)(B), including one credit in Algebra I, one credit in
geometry, and one credit in any advanced mathematics course
authorized under Subsection (b-2);
(3) three credits in science under Section
28.002(a)(1)(C), including one credit in biology, one credit in any
advanced science course authorized under Subsection (b-2), and one
credit in integrated physics and chemistry or in an additional
advanced science course authorized under Subsection (b-2);
(4) three credits in social studies under Section
28.002(a)(1)(D), including one credit in United States history, at
least one-half credit in government and at least one-half credit in
[economics or] The United States Constitution and the Texas
Constitution [& economics], and one credit in economics, world
geography, or world history;
(5) except as provided under Subsections (b-12),
(b-13), and (b-14), two credits in the same language in a language
other than English under Section 28.002(a)(2)(A);
(6) five elective credits;
(7) one credit in fine arts under Section
28.002(a)(2)(D); and
(8) except as provided by Subsection (b-11), one
credit in physical education under Section 28.002(a)(2)(C).
(b-23) The agency shall:
(1) develop a list of free, open-source, and publicly
available curricula that may be used by a school district to provide
a United States Constitution and Texas Constitution [& economics]
course that satisfies the curriculum requirement under Subsection
(b-1)(4); and
(2) seek, accept, and spend any federal or private
grant funds and gifts that are available for the purpose of
providing a United States Constitution and Texas Constitution [&
economics] course as part of the foundation high school program.
SECTION 4. Section 28.025(b-22), Education Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 5. Sections 28.0021(b) and 28.025(b-1), Education
Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to students entering the
ninth grade during the 2025-2026 school year or a later school year.
For students entering a grade above ninth grade during the
2025-2026 school year, Sections 28.0021(b) and 28.025(b-1),
Education Code, as those sections existed before amendment by this
Act, apply, and those sections are continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 6. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
school year.
SECTION 7. 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, 2025.