Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB821 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R5533 GP-F
2	2	By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 821
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the essential knowledge and skills for the public
10	10	school foundation curriculum and social studies curriculum.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Sections 28.002(h-1) and (h-2), Education Code,
13	13	are amended to 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) the history, qualities, traditions, and features
23	23	of civic engagement in the United States;
24	24	(3) the structure, organization, function, and
25	25	processes of government institutions at the federal, state, and
26	26	local levels; and
27	27	(4) the founding documents of the United States,
28	28	including:
29	29	(A) the entirety of the Declaration of
30	30	Independence;
31	31	(B) the entirety of the United States
32	32	Constitution;
33	33	(C) the Federalist Papers, including the
34	34	entirety of Essays 10, [and] 51, and 78;
35	35	(D) excerpts from Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137
36	36	(1803);
37	37	(E) excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's
38	38	Democracy in America;
39	39	(F) [(E)] the transcript of the first
40	40	Lincoln-Douglas debate;
41	41	(G) [(F)] the writings of the founding fathers of
42	42	the United States;
43	43	(H) [(G)] the entirety of Frederick Douglass's
44	44	speeches "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" and "What the
45	45	Black Man Wants"; and
46	46	(I) [(H)] the entirety of Martin Luther King
47	47	Jr.'s speech "I Have a Dream."
48	48	(h-2) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for the
49	49	social studies curriculum for each grade level from kindergarten
50	50	through grade 12, the State Board of Education shall adopt
51	51	essential knowledge and skills that develop each student's civic
52	52	knowledge, including:
53	53	(1) an understanding of:
54	54	(A) the fundamental moral, political,
55	55	entrepreneurial, and intellectual foundations of the American
56	56	experiment in self-government;
57	57	(B) the history, qualities, traditions, and
58	58	features of civic engagement in the United States;
59	59	(C) the structure, organization, function, and
60	60	processes of government institutions at the federal, state, and
61	61	local levels, with an emphasis on:
62	62	(i) the structure of the federal court
63	63	system and the court system of this state;
64	64	(ii) the role the judiciary, as a co-equal
65	65	branch of government, plays in providing checks and balances on
66	66	governmental power;
67	67	(iii) the selection of judicial
68	68	officeholders within the federal and state judicial systems, with
69	69	special consideration given to state and local officeholders of
70	70	this state;
71	71	(iv) the processing and flow of cases at all
72	72	court levels in this state;
73	73	(v) the role judges and juries play in the
74	74	criminal and civil justice systems; and
75	75	(vi) the sharing of governance between the
76	76	federal and state governments in a federalist system and the
77	77	interplay between the judicial examination of legal issues at the
78	78	federal and state level; and
79	79	(D) the founding documents of the United States;
80	80	(2) the ability to:
81	81	(A) analyze and determine the reliability of
82	82	information sources;
83	83	(B) formulate and articulate reasoned positions;
84	84	(C) understand the manner in which local, state,
85	85	and federal government works and operates through the use of
86	86	simulations and models of governmental and democratic processes;
87	87	(D) actively listen and engage in civil
88	88	discourse, including discourse with those with different
89	89	viewpoints; and
90	90	(E) participate as a citizen in a constitutional
91	91	democracy by voting; and
92	92	(3) an appreciation of:
93	93	(A) the importance and responsibility of
94	94	participating in civic life;
95	95	(B) a commitment to the United States and its
96	96	form of government; and
97	97	(C) a commitment to free speech and civil
98	98	discourse.
99	99	SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
100	100	school year.
101	101	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
102	102	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
103	103	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
104	104	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
105	105	Act takes effect September 1, 2025.