Bill Text: TX HB1457 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the inclusion of a course on modern conflicts in the curriculum requirements for public high school students.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-11-22 - Filed [HB1457 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB1457-Introduced.html

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89R3567 CMO-D
By: Tepper H.B. No. 1457

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the inclusion of a course on modern conflicts in the
curriculum requirements for public high school students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.025, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b-1) and adding Subsection (b-25) to read as
follows:
(b-1) The State Board of Education by rule shall require
that the curriculum requirements for the foundation high school
program under Subsection (a) include a requirement that students
successfully complete:
(1) four credits in English language arts under
Section 28.002(a)(1)(A), including one credit in English I, one
credit in English II, one credit in English III, and one credit in
an advanced English course authorized under Subsection (b-2);
(2) three credits in mathematics under Section
28.002(a)(1)(B), including one credit in Algebra I, one credit in
geometry, and one credit in any advanced mathematics course
authorized under Subsection (b-2);
(3) three credits in science under Section
28.002(a)(1)(C), including one credit in biology, one credit in any
advanced science course authorized under Subsection (b-2), and one
credit in integrated physics and chemistry or in an additional
advanced science course authorized under Subsection (b-2);
(4) three and one-half credits in social studies under
Section 28.002(a)(1)(D), including one credit in United States
history, at least one-half credit in government and at least
one-half credit in economics or personal financial literacy &
economics, [and] one credit in world geography or world history,
and one-half credit in modern conflicts;
(5) except as provided under Subsections (b-12),
(b-13), and (b-14), two credits in the same language in a language
other than English under Section 28.002(a)(2)(A);
(6) four and one-half [five] elective credits;
(7) one credit in fine arts under Section
28.002(a)(2)(D); and
(8) except as provided by Subsection (b-11), one
credit in physical education under Section 28.002(a)(2)(C).
(b-25) In adopting rules under Subsection (b-1), the State
Board of Education shall ensure that a course on modern conflicts
taken to comply with the requirements under Subsection (b-1)(4)
includes instruction in accordance with Section 28.0122.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 28.0122 to read as follows:
Sec. 28.0122. REQUIRED COURSE ON MODERN CONFLICTS. A
course in modern conflicts required under Section 28.025(b-1)(4)
must include instruction relating to:
(1) the modern history of Russia, including:
(A) the Bolshevik Revolution;
(B) the Chernobyl disaster;
(C) the government structure of the Soviet Union
and the disbursement of wealth in the region;
(D) the collapse of the Soviet Union, including
the Revolutions of 1989 and Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall"
and "Evil Empire" speeches;
(E) economic reform under Mikhail Gorbachev;
(F) the invasion of Afghanistan and the funding
by the United States of the mujahideen related to the invasion; and
(G) relevant political ideologies, including:
(i) Leninism;
(ii) War Communism; and
(iii) Stalinism, including atrocities
committed under Stalin;
(2) the history of the People's Republic of China,
including:
(A) the rise of the Communist Party of China;
(B) the concept of the Great Leap Forward;
(C) the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests;
(D) any history of famine experienced in the
country;
(E) the conquering of Tibet and the effects on
the Dalai Lama; and
(F) the treatment of ethnic and religious
minorities, including the Uyghurs and Tibetans and the followers of
Falun Gong;
(3) the history of North Korea;
(4) the Communist Party of Cuba and the economic
effects of communism on Cuba;
(5) the Cambodian Genocide;
(6) the fall of the Berlin Wall;
(7) the Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm;
(8) the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the
collapse of the World Trade Center Twin Towers; and
(9) the Iraq and Afghan Wars, including:
(A) the history of Saddam Hussein;
(B) the history of the mujahideen and the
Taliban;
(C) the concept of Sharia law;
(D) the history of Osama Bin Laden; and
(E) the history of the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria (ISIS).
SECTION 3. Section 28.025(b-1), Education Code, as amended
by this Act, applies only to students entering the ninth grade
during the 2025-2026 school year or a later school year. For
students entering a grade above ninth grade during the 2025-2026
school year, Section 28.025(b-1), Education Code, as that section
existed before amendment by this Act, applies, and that section is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
school year.
SECTION 5. 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.