89R5533 GP-F
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 821
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the essential knowledge and skills for the public
school foundation curriculum and social studies curriculum.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 28.002(h-1) and (h-2), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(h-1) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for the
foundation curriculum under Subsection (a)(1), the State Board of
Education shall, as appropriate, adopt essential knowledge and
skills that develop each student's civic knowledge, including an
understanding of:
(1) the fundamental moral, political, and
intellectual foundations of the American experiment in
self-government;
(2) the history, qualities, traditions, and features
of civic engagement in the United States;
(3) the structure, organization, function, and
processes of government institutions at the federal, state, and
local levels; and
(4) the founding documents of the United States,
including:
(A) the entirety of the Declaration of
Independence;
(B) the entirety of the United States
Constitution;
(C) the Federalist Papers, including the
entirety of Essays 10, [and] 51, and 78;
(D) excerpts from Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137
(1803);
(E) excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's
Democracy in America;
(F) [(E)] the transcript of the first
Lincoln-Douglas debate;
(G) [(F)] the writings of the founding fathers of
the United States;
(H) [(G)] the entirety of Frederick Douglass's
speeches "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" and "What the
Black Man Wants"; and
(I) [(H)] the entirety of Martin Luther King
Jr.'s speech "I Have a Dream."
(h-2) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for the
social studies curriculum for each grade level from kindergarten
through grade 12, the State Board of Education shall adopt
essential knowledge and skills that develop each student's civic
knowledge, including:
(1) an understanding of:
(A) the fundamental moral, political,
entrepreneurial, and intellectual foundations of the American
experiment in self-government;
(B) the history, qualities, traditions, and
features of civic engagement in the United States;
(C) the structure, organization, function, and
processes of government institutions at the federal, state, and
local levels, with an emphasis on:
(i) the structure of the federal court
system and the court system of this state;
(ii) the role the judiciary, as a co-equal
branch of government, plays in providing checks and balances on
governmental power;
(iii) the selection of judicial
officeholders within the federal and state judicial systems, with
special consideration given to state and local officeholders of
this state;
(iv) the processing and flow of cases at all
court levels in this state;
(v) the role judges and juries play in the
criminal and civil justice systems; and
(vi) the sharing of governance between the
federal and state governments in a federalist system and the
interplay between the judicial examination of legal issues at the
federal and state level; and
(D) the founding documents of the United States;
(2) the ability to:
(A) analyze and determine the reliability of
information sources;
(B) formulate and articulate reasoned positions;
(C) understand the manner in which local, state,
and federal government works and operates through the use of
simulations and models of governmental and democratic processes;
(D) actively listen and engage in civil
discourse, including discourse with those with different
viewpoints; and
(E) participate as a citizen in a constitutional
democracy by voting; and
(3) an appreciation of:
(A) the importance and responsibility of
participating in civic life;
(B) a commitment to the United States and its
form of government; and
(C) a commitment to free speech and civil
discourse.
SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
school year.
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, 2025.