Bill Text: MI SB1060 | 2017-2018 | 99th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Education; curriculum; social studies curriculum; expand to include the Holodomor. Amends secs. 1168, 1278 & 1279g of 1976 PA 451 (MCL 380.1168 et seq.).

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-06-07 - Referred To Committee On Education [SB1060 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2017-SB1060-Introduced.html

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SENATE BILL No. 1060

 

 

June 7, 2018, Introduced by Senator BIEDA and referred to the Committee on Education.

 

 

 

     A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled

 

"The revised school code,"

 

by amending sections 1168, 1278, and 1279g (MCL 380.1168, 380.1278,

 

and 380.1279g), section 1168 as added and sections 1278 and 1279g

 

as amended by 2016 PA 170.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1168. (1) Beginning in the 2016-2017 school year, the

 

board of a school district or board of directors of a public school

 

academy shall ensure that the school district's or public school

 

academy's social studies curriculum for grades 8 to 12 includes

 

age- and grade-appropriate instruction about genocide, including,

 

but not limited to, the Holocaust, and the Armenian Genocide. the

 

Armenian Genocide, and the Ukrainian Holodomor. The legislature

 

recommends a combined total of 6 hours of this instruction during

 

grades 8 to 12.

 

     (2) Subsection (1) does not preclude a school district or

 

public school academy from including instruction described in

 

subsection (1) in other subject areas.

 

     (3) The governor's council on genocide and Holocaust education

 

is created as a temporary commission described in section 4 of

 

article V of the state constitution of 1963.

 

     (4) The governor's council on genocide and Holocaust education

 

shall consist of 15 members appointed by the governor. Beginning

 

January 1, 2018, the council shall consist of 17 members appointed

 

by the governor. Members shall be individuals who have a particular

 

interest or expertise in genocide education or Holocaust education,

 

or both.

 

     (5) If the governor determines that sufficient private funding

 

is available for the operations of the governor's council on

 

genocide and Holocaust education, the governor shall appoint the

 

initial 15 members of the governor's council on genocide and

 

Holocaust education within 60 days after the effective date of this

 

section.no later than August 13, 2016. The governor shall appoint

 

the 2 additional members described in subsection (4) no later than

 

March 1, 2018.

 

     (6) If a vacancy occurs on the governor's council on genocide

 

and Holocaust education, the governor shall make an appointment for

 

the unexpired term in the same manner as the original appointment.

 

     (7) The governor may remove a member of the governor's council

 

on genocide and Holocaust education for incompetence, dereliction

 

of duty, malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or any

other good cause.

 

     (8) The first meeting of the governor's council on genocide

 

and Holocaust education shall be called by the governor. At the

 

first meeting, the governor's council on genocide and Holocaust

 

education shall elect from among its members a chairperson and

 

other officers as it considers necessary or appropriate. After the

 

first meeting, the governor's council on genocide and Holocaust

 

education shall meet at least quarterly, or more frequently at the

 

call of the chairperson or if requested by 8 or more members.

 

     (9) A majority of the members of the governor's council on

 

genocide and Holocaust education appointed and serving constitute a

 

quorum for the transaction of business at a meeting of the council.

 

A majority of the members present and serving are required for

 

official action of the council. A member may not vote by proxy.

 

     (10) The business that the governor's council on genocide and

 

Holocaust education may perform shall be conducted at a public

 

meeting of the council held in compliance with the open meetings

 

act, 1976 PA 267, MCL 15.261 to 15.275.

 

     (11) A writing prepared, owned, used, in the possession of, or

 

retained by the governor's council on genocide and Holocaust

 

education in the performance of an official function is subject to

 

the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.

 

     (12) Members of the governor's council on genocide and

 

Holocaust education shall serve without compensation. However, if

 

funding is available for this purpose from private sources, members

 

of the council may be reimbursed for their actual and necessary

 

expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties as

members of the council.

 

     (13) State funds shall not be used for the operations of the

 

governor's council on genocide and Holocaust education.

 

     (14) The governor's council on genocide and Holocaust

 

education shall do all of the following:

 

     (a) Identify, to the extent possible, all sources of

 

strategies and content for providing and enhancing genocide

 

education to students.

 

     (b) Advise the superintendent of public instruction, school

 

districts, public school academies, and nonpublic schools in this

 

state on strategies and content for providing and enhancing

 

genocide education to students.

 

     (c) Identify, to the extent possible, all programs and

 

resources to train teachers in providing genocide education to

 

students and share these programs and resources with the

 

superintendent of public instruction, school districts, public

 

school academies, and nonpublic schools in this state.

 

     (d) Promote, within the schools and general population of this

 

state, implementation of genocide education. This duty includes,

 

but is not limited to, all of the following:

 

     (i) In accordance with 2004 PA 10, MCL 435.311 to 435.312,

 

engendering and coordinating events, activities, and education that

 

will appropriately memorialize the victims of the Holocaust, such

 

as observance of Holocaust Remembrance Day and the Days of

 

Remembrance.

 

     (ii) In accordance with 2002 PA 558, MCL 435.281, engendering

 

and coordinating events, activities, and education that will

appropriately memorialize the victims of the Armenian Genocide,

 

such as observance of the Michigan Days of Remembrance of the

 

Armenian Genocide.

 

     (iii) Engendering and coordinating events, activities, and

 

education that will appropriately memorialize the victims of the

 

Ukrainian Holodomor, such as observance of Holodomor Remembrance

 

Day.

 

     (iv) (iii) Engendering and coordinating events, activities,

 

and education that will appropriately memorialize the victims of

 

other genocides.

 

     (e) Secure private funding for the governor's council on

 

genocide and Holocaust education. The governor's council on

 

genocide and Holocaust education may also apply for and accept

 

grants and receive gifts, donations, and other financial support

 

from private sources, in accordance with state law, for the purpose

 

of carrying out its duties under this section.

 

     (f) Carry out any other tasks that it considers to be

 

advisable to support the ability of this state to meet its goals in

 

providing genocide education.

 

     (g) Submit an annual report to the legislature on the progress

 

and status of the council.

 

     (15) With respect to its duties, the governor's council on

 

genocide and Holocaust education is an advisory body only. There is

 

no right or obligation on the part of this state or its

 

subdivisions, officials, or employees to implement the findings or

 

recommendations of the governor's council on genocide and Holocaust

 

education unless further legislation is enacted that specifically

authorizes implementation of those findings or recommendations.

 

     (16) As used in this section:

 

     (a) "Armenian Genocide" means the systematic, bureaucratic,

 

state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately 1,500,000

 

Armenians by the Ottoman Turkish Empire and its collaborators.

 

     (b) "Genocide" means any of the following acts committed with

 

intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical,

 

racial, or religious group, as such: killing members of the group;

 

causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

 

deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated

 

to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

 

imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; or

 

forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

 

     (c) "Holocaust" means the systematic, bureaucratic, state-

 

sponsored persecution and murder of approximately 6,000,000 Jews

 

and 5,000,000 other individuals by the Nazi regime and its

 

collaborators.

 

     (d) "Ukrainian Holodomor" means the brutal, artificial famine

 

imposed by Stalin's regime on Soviet Ukraine and primarily

 

ethnically Ukrainian areas in the Northern Caucasus from 1932 to

 

1933 that killed an estimated 7,000,000 to 10,000,000 people.

 

     Sec. 1278. (1) In addition to the requirements for

 

accreditation under section 1280 specified in that section, if the

 

board of a school district wants all of the schools of the school

 

district to be accredited under section 1280, the board shall

 

provide to all pupils attending public school in the district a

 

core academic curriculum in compliance with subsection (3) in each

of the curricular areas specified in the state board recommended

 

model core academic curriculum content standards developed under

 

subsection (2). The state board model core academic curriculum

 

content standards shall encompass academic and cognitive

 

instruction only. For purposes of this section, the state board

 

model core academic curriculum content standards shall not include

 

attitudes, beliefs, or value systems that are not essential in the

 

legal, economic, and social structure of our society and to the

 

personal and social responsibility of citizens of our society.

 

     (2) Recommended model core academic curriculum content

 

standards shall be developed and periodically updated by the state

 

board, shall be in the form of knowledge and skill content

 

standards that are recommended as state standards for adoption by

 

public schools in local curriculum formulation and adoption, and

 

shall be distributed to each school district in the state. The

 

recommended model core academic curriculum content standards shall

 

set forth desired learning objectives in math, science, reading,

 

history, geography, economics, American government, and writing for

 

all children at each stage of schooling and be based upon the

 

"Michigan K-12 Program Standards of Quality" to ensure that high

 

academic standards, academic skills, and academic subject matters

 

are built into the instructional goals of all school districts for

 

all children. The state board shall ensure that the recommended

 

model core academic curriculum content standards for history for

 

grades 8 to 12 include learning objectives concerning genocide,

 

including, but not limited to, the Holocaust, and the Armenian

 

Genocide. the Armenian Genocide, and the Ukrainian Holodomor. The

state board also shall ensure that the state assessment program and

 

the Michigan merit examination are based on the state recommended

 

model core curriculum content standards, are testing only for

 

proficiency in basic and advanced academic skills and academic

 

subject matter, and are not used to measure pupils' values or

 

attitudes.

 

     (3) The board of each school district, considering academic

 

curricular objectives defined and recommended pursuant to

 

subsection (2), shall do both of the following:

 

     (a) Establish a core academic curriculum for its pupils at the

 

elementary, middle, and secondary school levels. The core academic

 

curriculum shall define academic objectives to be achieved by all

 

pupils and shall be based upon the school district's educational

 

mission, long-range pupil goals, and pupil performance objectives.

 

The core academic curriculum may vary from the model core academic

 

curriculum content standards recommended by the state board

 

pursuant to subsection (2).

 

     (b) After consulting with teachers and school building

 

administrators, determine the aligned instructional program for

 

delivering the core academic curriculum and identify the courses

 

and programs in which the core academic curriculum will be taught.

 

     (4) The board may supplement the core academic curriculum by

 

providing instruction through additional classes and programs.

 

     (5) For all pupils, the subjects or courses, and the delivery

 

of those including special assistance, that constitute the

 

curriculum the pupils engage in shall assure the pupils have a

 

realistic opportunity to learn all subjects and courses required by

the district's core academic curriculum. A subject or course

 

required by the core academic curriculum pursuant to subsection (3)

 

shall be provided to all pupils in the school district by a school

 

district, a consortium of school districts, or a consortium of 1 or

 

more school districts and 1 or more intermediate school districts.

 

     (6) To the extent practicable, the state board may adopt or

 

develop academic objective-oriented high standards for knowledge

 

and life skills, and a recommended core academic curriculum, for

 

special education pupils for whom it may not be realistic or

 

desirable to expect achievement of initial mastery of the state

 

board recommended model core academic content standards objectives

 

or of a high school diploma.

 

     (7) The state board shall make available to all nonpublic

 

schools in this state, as a resource for their consideration, the

 

model core academic curriculum content standards developed for

 

public schools pursuant to subsection (2) for the purpose of

 

assisting the governing body of a nonpublic school in developing

 

its core academic curriculum.

 

     (8) Excluding special education pupils, pupils having a

 

learning disability, and pupils with extenuating circumstances as

 

determined by school officials, a pupil who does not score

 

satisfactorily on the fourth or seventh grade state assessment

 

program reading test shall be provided special assistance

 

reasonably expected to enable the pupil to bring his or her reading

 

skills to grade level within 12 months.

 

     (9) Any course that would have been considered a nonessential

 

elective course under Snyder v Charlotte School Dist, 421 Mich 517

(1984), on April 13, 1990 shall continue to be offered to resident

 

pupils of nonpublic schools on a shared time basis.

 

     (10) As used in this section, "Armenian Genocide", "genocide",

 

and "Holocaust", and "Ukrainian Holodomor" mean those terms as

 

defined in section 1168.

 

     Sec. 1279g. (1) The board of a school district or board of

 

directors of a public school academy shall comply with this section

 

and shall administer the Michigan merit examination to pupils in

 

grade 11, and to pupils in grade 12 who did not take the complete

 

Michigan merit examination in grade 11, as provided in this

 

section.

 

     (2) For the purposes of this section, the department of

 

technology, management, and budget shall contract with 1 or more

 

providers to develop, supply, and score the Michigan merit

 

examination. The Michigan merit examination shall consist of all of

 

the following:

 

     (a) Assessment instruments that measure English language arts,

 

mathematics, reading, and science and are used by colleges and

 

universities in this state for entrance or placement purposes. This

 

shall include a writing component in which the pupil produces an

 

extended writing sample. The Michigan merit examination shall not

 

require any other extended writing sample.

 

     (b) One or more tests from 1 or more test developers that

 

assess a pupil's ability to apply at least reading and mathematics

 

skills in a manner that is intended to allow employers to use the

 

results in making employment decisions. The department of

 

technology, management, and budget and the superintendent of public

instruction shall ensure that any test or tests selected under this

 

subdivision have all the components necessary to allow a pupil to

 

be eligible to receive the results of a nationally recognized

 

evaluation of workforce readiness if the pupil's test performance

 

is adequate.

 

     (c) A social studies component.

 

     (d) Any other component that is necessary to obtain the

 

approval of the United States Department of Education to use the

 

Michigan merit examination for the purposes of the no child left

 

behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110, or the every student

 

succeeds act, Public Law 114-95.

 

     (3) In addition to all other requirements of this section, all

 

of the following apply to the Michigan merit examination:

 

     (a) The department of technology, management, and budget and

 

the superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that any

 

contractor used for scoring the Michigan merit examination supplies

 

an individual report for each pupil that will identify for the

 

pupil's parents and teachers whether the pupil met expectations or

 

failed to meet expectations for each standard, to allow the pupil's

 

parents and teachers to assess and remedy problems before the pupil

 

moves to the next grade.

 

     (b) The department of technology, management, and budget and

 

the superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that any

 

contractor used for scoring, developing, or processing the Michigan

 

merit examination meets quality management standards commonly used

 

in the assessment industry, including at least meeting level 2 of

 

the capability maturity model developed by the Software Engineering

Institute of Carnegie Mellon University for the first year the

 

Michigan merit examination is offered to all grade 11 pupils and at

 

least meeting level 3 of the capability maturity model for

 

subsequent years.

 

     (c) The department of technology, management, and budget and

 

the superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that any

 

contract for scoring, administering, or developing the Michigan

 

merit examination includes specific deadlines for all steps of the

 

assessment process, including, but not limited to, deadlines for

 

the correct testing materials to be supplied to schools and for the

 

correct results to be returned to schools, and includes penalties

 

for noncompliance with these deadlines.

 

     (d) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that

 

the Michigan merit examination meets all of the following:

 

     (i) Is designed to test pupils on grade level content

 

expectations or course content expectations, as appropriate, in all

 

subjects tested.

 

     (ii) Complies with requirements of the no child left behind

 

act of 2001, Public Law 107-110, or the every student succeeds act,

 

Public Law 114-95, as applicable.

 

     (iii) Is consistent with the code of fair testing practices in

 

education prepared by the joint committee on testing practices

 

Joint Committee on Testing Practices of the American Psychological

 

Association.

 

     (iv) Is factually accurate. If the superintendent of public

 

instruction determines that a question is not factually accurate

 

and should be excluded from scoring, the state board and the

superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that the question

 

is excluded from scoring.

 

     (4) A school district or public school academy that operates a

 

high school shall include on each pupil's high school transcript

 

all of the following:

 

     (a) For each high school graduate who has completed the

 

Michigan merit examination under this section, the pupil's scaled

 

score on each subject area component of the Michigan merit

 

examination.

 

     (b) The number of school days the pupil was in attendance at

 

school each school year during high school and the total number of

 

school days in session for each of those school years.

 

     (5) The superintendent of public instruction shall work with

 

the provider or providers of the Michigan merit examination to

 

produce Michigan merit examination subject area scores for each

 

pupil participating in the Michigan merit examination, including

 

scaling and merging of test items for the different subject area

 

components. The superintendent of public instruction shall design

 

and distribute to school districts, public school academies,

 

intermediate school districts, and nonpublic schools a simple and

 

concise document that describes the scoring for each subject area

 

and indicates the scaled score ranges for each subject area.

 

     (6) The Michigan merit examination shall be administered each

 

year after March 1 and before June 1 to pupils in grade 11. The

 

superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that the Michigan

 

merit examination is scored and the scores are returned to pupils,

 

their parents or legal guardians, and schools not later than the

beginning of the pupil's first semester of grade 12. The returned

 

scores shall indicate at least the pupil's scaled score for each

 

subject area component and the range of scaled scores for each

 

subject area. In reporting the scores to pupils, parents, and

 

schools, the superintendent of public instruction shall provide

 

standards-specific, meaningful, and timely feedback on the pupil's

 

performance on the Michigan merit examination.

 

     (7) A school district or public school academy shall

 

administer the complete Michigan merit examination to a pupil only

 

once and shall not administer the complete Michigan merit

 

examination to the same pupil more than once. If a pupil does not

 

take the complete Michigan merit examination in grade 11, the

 

school district or public school academy shall administer the

 

complete Michigan merit examination to the pupil in grade 12. If a

 

pupil chooses to retake the college entrance examination component

 

of the Michigan merit examination, as described in subsection

 

(2)(a), the pupil may do so through the provider of the college

 

entrance examination component and the cost of the retake is the

 

responsibility of the pupil unless all of the following are met:

 

     (a) The pupil has taken the complete Michigan merit

 

examination.

 

     (b) The pupil meets the income eligibility criteria for free

 

breakfast, lunch, or milk, as determined under the Richard B.

 

Russell national school lunch act, 42 USC 1751 to 1769j.

 

     (c) The pupil has applied to the provider of the college

 

entrance examination component for a scholarship or fee waiver to

 

cover the cost of the retake and that application has been denied.

     (d) After taking the complete Michigan merit examination, the

 

pupil has not already received a free retake of the college

 

entrance examination component paid for either by this state or

 

through a scholarship or fee waiver by the provider.

 

     (8) The superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that

 

the length of the Michigan merit examination and the combined total

 

time necessary to administer all of the components of the Michigan

 

merit examination are the shortest possible that will still

 

maintain the degree of reliability and validity of the Michigan

 

merit examination results determined necessary by the

 

superintendent of public instruction. The superintendent of public

 

instruction shall ensure that the maximum total combined length of

 

time that schools are required to set aside for pupils to answer

 

all test questions on the Michigan merit examination does not

 

exceed 8 hours if the superintendent of public instruction

 

determines that sufficient alignment to applicable Michigan merit

 

curriculum content standards can be achieved within that time

 

limit.

 

     (9) A school district or public school academy shall provide

 

accommodations to a pupil with disabilities for the Michigan merit

 

examination, as provided under section 504 of title V of the

 

rehabilitation act of 1973, 29 USC 794; subtitle A of title II of

 

the Americans with disabilities act of 1990, 42 USC 12131 to 12134;

 

the individuals with disabilities education act amendments of 1997,

 

Public Law 105-17; and the implementing regulations for those

 

statutes. The provider or providers of the Michigan merit

 

examination and the superintendent of public instruction shall

mutually agree upon the accommodations to be provided under this

 

subsection.

 

     (10) To the greatest extent possible, the Michigan merit

 

examination shall be based on grade level content expectations or

 

course content expectations, as appropriate. Not later than July 1,

 

2008, the department shall identify specific grade level content

 

expectations to be taught before and after the middle of grade 11,

 

so that teachers will know what content will be covered within the

 

Michigan merit examination.

 

     (11) A child who is a student in a nonpublic school or home

 

school may take the Michigan merit examination under this section.

 

To take the Michigan merit examination, a child who is a student in

 

a home school shall contact the school district in which the child

 

resides, and that school district shall administer the Michigan

 

merit examination, or the child may take the Michigan merit

 

examination at a nonpublic school if allowed by the nonpublic

 

school. Upon request from a nonpublic school, the superintendent of

 

public instruction shall direct the provider or providers to supply

 

the Michigan merit examination to the nonpublic school and the

 

nonpublic school may administer the Michigan merit examination. If

 

a school district administers the Michigan merit examination under

 

this subsection to a child who is not enrolled in the school

 

district, the scores for that child are not considered for any

 

purpose to be scores of a pupil of the school district.

 

     (12) In contracting under subsection (2), the department of

 

technology, management, and budget shall consider a contractor that

 

provides electronically-scored essays with the ability to score

constructed response feedback in multiple languages and provide

 

ongoing instruction and feedback.

 

     (13) The purpose of the Michigan merit examination is to

 

assess pupil performance in mathematics, science, social studies,

 

and English language arts for the purpose of improving academic

 

achievement and establishing a statewide standard of competency.

 

The assessment under this section provides a common measure of data

 

that will contribute to the improvement of Michigan schools'

 

curriculum and instruction by encouraging alignment with Michigan's

 

curriculum framework standards and promotes pupil participation in

 

higher level mathematics, science, social studies, and English

 

language arts courses. These standards are based upon the

 

expectations of what pupils should learn through high school and

 

are aligned with national standards.

 

     (14) In addition to the other requirements of this section and

 

the requirements of 1970 PA 38, MCL 388.1081 to 388.1086, beginning

 

with assessments conducted during the 2016-2017 school year, the

 

superintendent of public instruction shall ensure that the Michigan

 

merit examination social studies component and the M-STEP and any

 

successor state assessment for social studies, as appropriate,

 

include questions related to the learning objectives in the state

 

board recommended model core academic curriculum standards

 

concerning genocide, including, but not limited to, the Holocaust,

 

and the Armenian Genocide. the Armenian Genocide, and the Ukrainian

 

Holodomor.

 

     (15) As used in this section:

 

     (a) "Armenian Genocide", "genocide", and "Holocaust", and

"Ukrainian Holodomor" mean those terms as defined in section 1168.

 

     (b) "English language arts" means reading and writing.

 

     (c) "Social studies" means United States history, world

 

history, world geography, economics, and American government.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.