Bill Text: TX HB4509 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to instruction on informed American patriotism in public schools.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 14-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-18 - Effective immediately [HB4509 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB4509-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Relating to instruction on informed American patriotism in public schools.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 14-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-06-18 - Effective immediately [HB4509 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HB4509-Comm_Sub.html
By: Bonnen, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Taylor) | H.B. No. 4509 | |
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 17, 2021; | ||
May 21, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on | ||
Education; May 24, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable | ||
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0; | ||
May 24, 2021, sent to printer.) | ||
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 4509 | By: Taylor |
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relating to instruction on informed American patriotism in public | ||
schools. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 4.001(b), Education Code, is amended to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(b) The objectives of public education are: | ||
OBJECTIVE 1: Parents will be full partners with educators in | ||
the education of their children. | ||
OBJECTIVE 2: Students will be encouraged and challenged to | ||
meet their full educational potential. | ||
OBJECTIVE 3: Through enhanced dropout prevention efforts, | ||
all students will remain in school until they obtain a high school | ||
diploma. | ||
OBJECTIVE 4: A well-balanced and appropriate curriculum will | ||
be provided to all students. Through that curriculum, students | ||
will be prepared to succeed in a variety of postsecondary | ||
activities, including employment and enrollment in institutions of | ||
higher education. | ||
OBJECTIVE 5: Educators shall cultivate in [ |
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students an informed American patriotism and lead students in a | ||
close study of the founding documents of the United States and | ||
Texas. The purpose of this objective is to: | ||
(1) increase students' knowledge of the deepest and | ||
noblest purposes of the United States and Texas; | ||
(2) enhance students' intellectual independence so | ||
that students may become [ |
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citizens who have an appreciation for the fundamental democratic | ||
principles [ |
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(3) guide students toward understanding [ |
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enterprise society. | ||
OBJECTIVE 6: Qualified and highly effective personnel will | ||
be recruited, developed, and retained. | ||
OBJECTIVE 7: The state's students will demonstrate exemplary | ||
performance in comparison to national and international standards. | ||
OBJECTIVE 8: School campuses will maintain a safe and | ||
disciplined environment conducive to student learning. | ||
OBJECTIVE 9: Educators will keep abreast of the development | ||
of creative and innovative techniques in instruction and | ||
administration using those techniques as appropriate to improve | ||
student learning. | ||
OBJECTIVE 10: Technology will be implemented and used to | ||
increase the effectiveness of student learning, instructional | ||
management, staff development, and administration. | ||
OBJECTIVE 11: The State Board of Education, the agency, and | ||
the commissioner shall assist school districts and charter schools | ||
in providing career and technology education to students. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 5.001, Education Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subdivision (10) to read as follows: | ||
(10) "Informed American patriotism" means a reasoned | ||
appreciation, gained through the study of historical primary | ||
sources, of why America has been, is now, and continues to be the | ||
destination of choice for those around the world who yearn to live | ||
in freedom. Informed American patriotism is only a conditional | ||
pledge of devotion that will be maintained only so long as America | ||
adheres to a republican form of government. If we abandon a | ||
representative democracy, our pledge of allegiance will be | ||
withdrawn as is stated in the Pledge of Allegiance, which swears | ||
devotion to a "republic". | ||
SECTION 3. Section 28.002, Education Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsection (h) and adding Subsections (h-1) and (h-2) to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(h) The State Board of Education and each school district | ||
shall require [ |
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teaching of informed American patriotism, [ |
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history, and the free enterprise system [ |
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materials for kindergarten through grade 12, including the founding | ||
documents of the United States. A primary purpose of the public | ||
school curriculum is to prepare thoughtful, informed [ |
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citizens who understand the importance of patriotism and can | ||
function productively in a free enterprise society with | ||
appreciation for the fundamental [ |
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[ |
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(h-1) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for the | ||
foundation curriculum under Subsection (a)(1), the State Board of | ||
Education shall, as appropriate, adopt essential knowledge and | ||
skills that develop each student's civic knowledge, including an | ||
understanding of: | ||
(1) the fundamental moral, political, and | ||
intellectual foundations of the American experiment in | ||
self-government; | ||
(2) the history, qualities, traditions, and features | ||
of civic engagement in the United States; | ||
(3) the structure, function, and processes of | ||
government institutions at the federal, state, and local levels; | ||
and | ||
(4) the founding documents of the United States, | ||
including: | ||
(A) the entirety of the Declaration of | ||
Independence; | ||
(B) the entirety of the United States | ||
Constitution; | ||
(C) the Federalist Papers, including the | ||
entirety of Essays 10 and 51; | ||
(D) excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's | ||
Democracy in America; | ||
(E) the transcript of the first Lincoln-Douglas | ||
debate; | ||
(F) the writings of the founding fathers of the | ||
United States; | ||
(G) the entirety of Frederick Douglass's | ||
speeches The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro and What the Black | ||
Man Wants; and | ||
(H) the entirety of Martin Luther King Jr.'s | ||
speech I Have a Dream. | ||
(h-2) In providing instruction regarding the founding | ||
documents of the United States as described by Subsection (h-1)(4), | ||
a school district or open-enrollment charter school shall use those | ||
documents as part of the instructional materials for the | ||
instruction. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2021-2022 | ||
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, 2021. | ||
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