Bill Text: FL S1008 | 2023 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Required Instruction in the History of the Holocaust and the History of African Americans

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2023-05-05 - Died in Education Pre-K -12, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 551 (Ch. 2023-103) [S1008 Detail]

Download: Florida-2023-S1008-Introduced.html
       Florida Senate - 2023                                    SB 1008
       
       
        
       By Senator Thompson
       
       
       
       
       
       15-00084B-23                                          20231008__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to required instruction in the history
    3         of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans;
    4         amending s. 1003.42, F.S.; authorizing the Department
    5         of Education to seek input from certain entities for
    6         specified purposes relating to instruction in the
    7         history of African Americans; authorizing the
    8         department to seek input from or contract with
    9         specified entities to develop specified training and
   10         resources; creating s. 1003.4551, F.S.; requiring the
   11         department to annually verify that school districts,
   12         charter schools, and specified private schools
   13         implement certain instruction relating to the history
   14         of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans
   15         and providing requirements therefor; requiring
   16         district school superintendents, charter school
   17         principals, and private school directors or similar
   18         administrators to annually provide specified evidence
   19         to the department by a certain date; providing
   20         penalties for failure to provide such evidence;
   21         authorizing the State Board of Education to adopt
   22         rules; amending s. 1008.22, F.S.; requiring certain
   23         statewide, standardized assessments to include
   24         curricula content from the history of the Holocaust
   25         and the history of African Americans; providing an
   26         effective date.
   27          
   28  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   29  
   30         Section 1. Paragraph (h) of subsection (2) of section
   31  1003.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   32         1003.42 Required instruction.—
   33         (2) Members of the instructional staff of the public
   34  schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education
   35  and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and
   36  faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the
   37  highest standards for professionalism and historical accuracy,
   38  following the prescribed courses of study, and employing
   39  approved methods of instruction, the following:
   40         (h) The history of African Americans, including the history
   41  of African peoples before the political conflicts that led to
   42  the development of slavery, the passage to America, the
   43  enslavement experience, abolition, and the history and
   44  contributions of Americans of the African diaspora to society.
   45  Students shall develop an understanding of the ramifications of
   46  prejudice, racism, and stereotyping on individual freedoms, and
   47  examine what it means to be a responsible and respectful person,
   48  for the purpose of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a
   49  pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic
   50  values and institutions. Instruction shall include the roles and
   51  contributions of individuals from all walks of life and their
   52  endeavors to learn and thrive throughout history as artists,
   53  scientists, educators, businesspeople, influential thinkers,
   54  members of the faith community, and political and governmental
   55  leaders and the courageous steps they took to fulfill the
   56  promise of democracy and unite the nation. Instructional
   57  materials shall include the vital contributions of African
   58  Americans to build and strengthen American society and celebrate
   59  the inspirational stories of African Americans who prospered,
   60  even in the most difficult circumstances. Instructional
   61  personnel may facilitate discussions and use curricula to
   62  address, in an age-appropriate manner, how the individual
   63  freedoms of persons have been infringed by slavery, racial
   64  oppression, racial segregation, and racial discrimination, as
   65  well as topics relating to the enactment and enforcement of laws
   66  resulting in racial oppression, racial segregation, and racial
   67  discrimination and how recognition of these freedoms has
   68  overturned these unjust laws. However, classroom instruction and
   69  curriculum may not be used to indoctrinate or persuade students
   70  to a particular point of view inconsistent with the principles
   71  enumerated in subsection (3) or the state academic standards.
   72  The department shall prepare and offer standards and curriculum
   73  for the instruction required by this paragraph and may seek
   74  input from the Commissioner of Education’s African American
   75  History Task Force or from any state or nationally recognized
   76  African-American history educational organization during the
   77  preparation of such standards and curriculum. The department may
   78  also seek input from the Commissioner of Education’s African
   79  American History Task Force or contract with a recognized museum
   80  of African-American history to develop training for
   81  instructional staff and grade-appropriate classroom resources to
   82  support the developed curriculum.
   83  
   84  The State Board of Education is encouraged to adopt standards
   85  and pursue assessment of the requirements of this subsection.
   86  Instructional programming that incorporates the values of the
   87  recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and that is
   88  offered as part of a social studies, English Language Arts, or
   89  other schoolwide character building and veteran awareness
   90  initiative meets the requirements of paragraph (t).
   91         Section 2. Section 1003.4551, Florida Statutes, is created
   92  to read:
   93         1003.4551School district, charter school, and private
   94  school implementation of the history of the Holocaust and the
   95  history of African Americans.—
   96         (1)Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, the department
   97  shall annually verify that each school district, charter school,
   98  and private school implements the instruction required under s.
   99  1003.42(2)(g) and (h), relating to the history of the Holocaust
  100  and the history of African Americans, efficiently and faithfully
  101  throughout the school district’s, charter school’s, or private
  102  school’s entire curriculum, as appropriate. For purposes of this
  103  section, the term “private school” means a private school that
  104  accepts scholarship students who participate in a scholarship
  105  program under chapter 1002.
  106         (2)Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, each school
  107  district, charter school, and private school must:
  108         (a)Develop, and each district school board, charter school
  109  governing board, and private school director or similar
  110  administrator must adopt, a plan for the implementation of the
  111  history of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans
  112  required instruction and publicize such plan in the school
  113  district’s, charter school’s, or private school’s curriculum
  114  guides and on the school district’s, charter school’s, or
  115  private school’s website.
  116         (b)Develop and implement an ongoing professional
  117  development plan for training instructional staff in strategies
  118  for teaching the history of the Holocaust and the history of
  119  African Americans. The school district, charter school, or
  120  private school must allocate adequate resources to structured
  121  professional development programs and for enhancing the
  122  instruction of the history of the Holocaust and the history of
  123  African Americans in an infused format.
  124         (c)Integrate curricula for the history of the Holocaust
  125  and the history of African Americans which meet the requirements
  126  of s. 1003.42(2)(g) and (h) as part of the school district’s,
  127  charter school’s, or private school’s curriculum. Such curricula
  128  must be distributed to curriculum specialists, teachers, media
  129  specialists, and other instructional staff. The school district,
  130  charter school, or private school must ensure that adequate
  131  instructional resources, including, but not limited to, books,
  132  compact discs, digital media, and lesson plans, are available to
  133  support such instruction.
  134         (d)Include the history of the Holocaust and the history of
  135  African Americans content in lesson plans for the entire school
  136  year, as appropriate.
  137         (e)Approve methods for teaching and assessing the history
  138  of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans curricula.
  139         (f)Include the history of the Holocaust and the history of
  140  African Americans content in any preparations for statewide
  141  assessments, as appropriate.
  142         (g)Include the history of the Holocaust and the history of
  143  African Americans content in all appropriate subject areas.
  144         (h)Partner with a state university for the development and
  145  implementation of professional development, curricula, and
  146  instructional support, including jointly seeking external
  147  funding and preparing teachers and other instructional staff to
  148  teach the history of the Holocaust and the history of African
  149  Americans.
  150         (i)Develop strategies to involve parents in the
  151  implementation of the curricula for the history of the Holocaust
  152  and the history of African Americans, including through
  153  awareness information sessions.
  154         (j)Partner with community members in the development and
  155  ongoing implementation of the history of the Holocaust and the
  156  history of African Americans curricula. To better connect
  157  students to the study of African-American history and allow
  158  students to experience places, artifacts, and activities that
  159  authentically represent and are connected to our nation’s
  160  African-American history, members of the instructional staff are
  161  encouraged to include the use of the United States National Park
  162  Service’s Teaching with Historic Places curriculum and tours of
  163  locations listed on the National Register of Historic Places,
  164  houses, parks, and cemeteries, in the study of the history of
  165  African Americans when practicable.
  166         (3)By August 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, each
  167  district school superintendent, charter school principal, and
  168  private school director or similar administrator shall provide
  169  to the department, in a format prescribed by the department,
  170  evidence of school district, charter school, and private school
  171  compliance with subsection (2). If a district school
  172  superintendent, charter school principal, or private school
  173  director or similar administrator fails to provide such
  174  evidence, he or she is subject to the following penalties:
  175         (a)For a district school superintendent, he or she must
  176  provide a written explanation to the district school board and
  177  the Commissioner of Education to explain the district school
  178  superintendent’s failure to provide such evidence.
  179         (b)For a charter school principal, his or her charter
  180  school is deemed in violation of its charter with the school
  181  district until he or she provides such evidence.
  182         (c)For a private school director or similar administrator,
  183  his or her private school may not receive any state funds from a
  184  scholarship program under chapter 1002 until he or she provides
  185  such evidence.
  186         (4)The State Board of Education may adopt rules to
  187  administer this section.
  188         Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
  189  1008.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  190         1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools.—
  191         (3) STATEWIDE, STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.—The
  192  Commissioner of Education shall design and implement a
  193  statewide, standardized assessment program aligned to the core
  194  curricular content established in the state academic standards.
  195  The commissioner also must develop or select and implement a
  196  common battery of assessment tools that will be used in all
  197  juvenile justice education programs in the state. These tools
  198  must accurately measure the core curricular content established
  199  in the state academic standards. Participation in the assessment
  200  program is mandatory for all school districts and all students
  201  attending public schools, including adult students seeking a
  202  standard high school diploma under s. 1003.4282 and students in
  203  Department of Juvenile Justice education programs, except as
  204  otherwise provided by law. If a student does not participate in
  205  the assessment program, the school district must notify the
  206  student’s parent and provide the parent with information
  207  regarding the implications of such nonparticipation. The
  208  statewide, standardized assessment program shall be designed and
  209  implemented as follows:
  210         (a) Statewide, standardized comprehensive assessments.—
  211         1. The statewide, standardized English Language Arts (ELA)
  212  assessments shall be administered to students in grades 3
  213  through 10. Retake opportunities for the grade 10 ELA assessment
  214  must be provided. Reading passages and writing prompts for ELA
  215  assessments shall incorporate grade-level core curricula content
  216  from social studies and, when appropriate, curricula content
  217  from the history of the Holocaust and the history of African
  218  Americans. The statewide, standardized Mathematics assessments
  219  shall be administered annually in grades 3 through 8. The
  220  statewide, standardized Science assessment shall be administered
  221  annually at least once at the elementary and middle grades
  222  levels. In order to earn a standard high school diploma, a
  223  student who has not earned a passing score on the grade 10 ELA
  224  assessment must earn a passing score on the assessment retake or
  225  earn a concordant score as authorized under subsection (9).
  226         2. Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, the end-of
  227  year comprehensive progress monitoring assessment administered
  228  pursuant to s. 1008.25(8)(b)2. is the statewide, standardized
  229  ELA assessment for students in grades 3 through 10 and the
  230  statewide, standardized Mathematics assessment for students in
  231  grades 3 through 8.
  232         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.

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