Bill Text: MI SB0119 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Education; curricula; celebrate freedom week to be observed in all public schools; require. Amends 1976 PA 451 (MCL 380.1 - 380.1852) by adding sec. 1167.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 9-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-09 - Referred To Committee On Education [SB0119 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-SB0119-Introduced.html
SENATE BILL No. 119
February 9, 2011, Introduced by Senators COLBECK, GREEN, MOOLENAAR, WALKER, NOFS, EMMONS, CASPERSON, PROOS and PAVLOV and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled
"The revised school code,"
(MCL 380.1 to 380.1852) by adding section 1167.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 1167. (1) The week of Veteran's day, November 11, each
year is designated as "Celebrate Freedom Week" to be observed by
all public school teachers and pupils as provided in this section.
Observation of Celebrate Freedom Week under this section is in
addition to the commemorative exercise in observance of Veteran's
day required under section 1175.
(2) The board of a school district or board of directors of a
public school academy shall ensure that, during Celebrate Freedom
Week or during another full school week as determined by the board
or board of directors, each social studies class shall include
appropriate instruction concerning the intent, meaning, and
importance of the Declaration of Independence and the United States
Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, in their historical
contexts. The study of the Declaration of Independence shall
include the study of the relationship of the ideas expressed in
that document to subsequent American history, including the
relationship of its ideas to the rich diversity of the American
people as a nation of immigrants, the American Revolution, the
formulation of the United States Constitution, and the abolitionist
movement, which led to the Emancipation Proclamation and the
women's suffrage movement.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the board
of a school district or board of directors of a public school
academy shall also ensure that, during Celebrate Freedom Week or
during the other full school week determined under subsection (2),
all pupils in grades 3 to 12 are required to study and recite the
following text from the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these
Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness--
That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.".
A board or board of directors shall excuse from the recitation
required under this subsection a pupil who meets any of the
following:
(a) The pupil's parent or legal guardian submits to the school
district or public school academy a written request that the pupil
be excused from the recitation.
(b) The pupil has a conscientious objection to the recitation,
as determined by the school district or public school academy.
(c) The pupil is the child of a representative of a foreign
government to whom the United States government extends diplomatic
immunity.
