Bill Text: MI HB6052 | 2015-2016 | 98th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Education; graduation requirements; sustainability and environmental literacy instruction; require. Amends sec. 1278 of 1976 PA 451 (MCL 380.1278) & adds sec. 1167.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-11-30 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 11/29/2016 [HB6052 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2015-HB6052-Introduced.html

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HOUSE BILL No. 6052

 

 

November 29, 2016, Introduced by Rep. Pagan and referred to the Committee on Education.

 

     A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled

 

"The revised school code,"

 

by amending section 1278 (MCL 380.1278), as amended by 2016 PA 170,

 

and by adding section 1167.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1167. (1) Beginning with pupils entering grade 8 in 2016,

 

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

 

school academy shall not award a high school diploma to a pupil

 

unless the pupil has satisfactorily completed at least 40 hours of

 

instruction during each grade level for grades 9 to 12 on

 

sustainability and environmental literacy as described in this

 

section.

 

     (2) Instruction on sustainability and environmental literacy

 

shall be designed to advance a pupil's knowledge, confidence,

 

skills, and motivation to make decisions and take actions that

create and maintain an optimal relationship between the pupil and

 

the environment and to preserve and protect the unique natural

 

resources of this state. Instruction on sustainability and

 

environmental literacy shall provide a pupil an opportunity to

 

investigate and analyze environmental issues, ranging from local to

 

global perspectives, and to develop and implement a local action

 

project that protects, sustains, or enhances the natural

 

environment. Instruction on sustainability and environmental

 

literacy shall include all of the following topics or

 

characteristics:

 

     (a) Interaction of earth's systems, such as the biosphere,

 

geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and cryosphere.

 

     (b) Movement of matter and energy through interactions of the

 

earth's systems and the influence of this movement on weather

 

patterns, climatic zones, and the distribution of life.

 

     (c) Physical, chemical, biological, and ecological concepts

 

applied to explain the interdependence of humans and organisms in

 

populations, communities, and ecosystems.

 

     (d) Chemistry, physics, biology, and ecology concepts applied

 

to explain positive and negative impacts of human activities on

 

earth's natural systems and resources.

 

     (e) Science, social studies, economics, and health concepts

 

applied to explain positive and negative impacts of natural events

 

and human activities on human health.

 

     (f) The influence of interactions of heredity, experience,

 

learning, and culture on social decisions and change.

 

     (g) Sustainability, including ecological, economic, political,

and social systems of human communities and how individual and

 

collective actions affect the sustainability of these interrelated

 

systems.

 

     (h) An authentic context for the application of learning.

 

     (i) Instruction that adjusts to the evolving nature and

 

context of the concept of sustainability.

 

     (j) Instruction that builds capacity for community-based

 

decision-making, empathy, environmental stewardship, workforce

 

adaptability, and quality of life.

 

     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 state board shall ensure that the recommended model

 

core academic curriculum content standards for science for grades

 

K-12 include learning objectives consistent with the sustainability

 

and environmental literacy instruction described in section 1167,

 

as modified to be age-appropriate. 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" mean those terms as defined in section 1168.

 

     Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days

 

after the date it is enacted into law.