Bill Text: IL HB1278 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Courses of Study Article of the School Code. Provides that beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of pre-Columbian Native American societies. Sets forth additional topics of instruction. Provides that beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the history of Native Americans during and after the American Revolution, as well as the contributions of Native Americans to the economic, cultural, social, and political development of the United States. Provides that the State Superintendent of Education may prepare and make available to all school boards instructional materials that may be used as guidelines for development of these units of instruction. Provides that a school may meet the curricular requirements through an online program or course. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-02-23 - Added Co-Sponsor Rep. Carol Ammons [HB1278 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB1278-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB1278 Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
105 ILCS 5/27-20.05 new
30 ILCS 805/8.47 new
Amends the Courses of Study Article of the School Code. Provides that beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of pre-Columbian Native American societies. Sets forth additional topics of instruction. Provides that beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the history of Native Americans during and after the American Revolution, as well as the contributions of Native Americans to the economic, cultural, social, and political development of the United States. Provides that the State Superintendent of Education may prepare and make available to all school boards instructional materials that may be used as guidelines for development of these units of instruction. Provides that a school may meet the curricular requirements through an online program or course. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement.
LRB103 05243 RJT 50261 b
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
HB1278 LRB103 05243 RJT 50261 b
AN ACT concerning education.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section
27-20.05 as follows:
(105 ILCS 5/27-20.05 new)
Sec. 27-20.05. Study of Native Americans.
(a) Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, every public
elementary school and high school shall include in its
curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of
pre-Columbian Native American societies, including, but not
limited to, the Pueblo, Adena, Hopewell, Mississippian, and
Clovis cultures. This instruction shall further be
supplemented by education concerning the contemporary life of
Native American societies, including, but not limited to, the
Navajo and Cherokee, and the cultural traditions and customs
of Native American societies, such as their beliefs,
traditions, geography, and language. The studying of this
material shall constitute an affirmation by students to
understand the foundations of the land in which they live and
to restore history previously lost.
(b) Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, every public
elementary school and high school shall include in its

HB1278 - 2 - LRB103 05243 RJT 50261 b
curriculum a unit of instruction studying the history of
Native Americans during and after the American Revolution,
including studying their relationships with settlers in the
18th and 19th centuries, as well as the contributions of
Native Americans to the economic, cultural, social, and
political development of the United States. These
contributions shall include those made to advance civil rights
both in the Midwest and across the United States in the 19th
and 20th centuries. The study of this material shall
constitute an affirmation by students of their commitment to
respect the dignity of all races and peoples and to forever
eschew every form of unjust discrimination in their lives and
careers.
(c) The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and
make available to all school boards instructional materials,
including those established by the Public Broadcasting
Service, that may be used as guidelines for development of the
units of instruction under this Section. However, each school
board shall itself determine the minimum amount of
instructional time that qualifies as a unit of instruction
satisfying the requirements of this Section.
(d) The regional superintendent of schools shall monitor a
school district's compliance with this Section's curricular
requirements during the regional superintendent's annual
compliance visit.
(e) A school may meet the requirements of this Section

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through an online program or course.
Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
Section 8.47 as follows:
(30 ILCS 805/8.47 new)
Sec. 8.47. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and
8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for
the implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory
Act of the 103rd General Assembly.