Bill Text: TX SB3 | 2021 | 87th Legislature 2nd Special Session | Enrolled

Texas Senate Bill 3 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relating to civics training programs for certain public school social studies teachers and principals, parental access to certain learning management systems, and certain curriculum in public schools, including certain instructional requirements and prohibitions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 24-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-09-17 - Effective on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . December 2, 2021 [SB3 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB3-Enrolled.html



	S.B. No. 3




	AN ACT
	relating to civics training programs for certain public school
	social studies teachers and principals, parental access to certain
	learning management systems, and certain curriculum in public
	schools, including certain instructional requirements and
	prohibitions.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1. Subchapter J, Chapter 21, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Sections 21.4555 and 21.4556 to read as follows:
	Sec. 21.4555. CIVICS TRAINING PROGRAM. (a) To facilitate
	the teaching of curriculum consistent with Sections 28.002(h-2) and
	28.0022, the commissioner shall develop and make available civics
	training programs for teachers and administrators.
	(b) A civics training program developed under this section
	must include training in:
	(1) the essential knowledge and skills for the social
	studies curriculum related to civic knowledge adopted under Section
	28.002(h-2);
	(2) guided classroom discussion of current events, as
	appropriate for the grade level and consistent with the
	restrictions under Section 28.0022;
	(3) classroom simulations and models of governmental
	and democratic processes consistent with the requirements and
	restrictions of Sections 28.002(h-2) and 28.0022;
	(4) media literacy, including instruction on
	verifying information and sources, identifying and responding to
	logical fallacies, and identifying propaganda, as appropriate for
	the grade level and consistent with the restrictions under Section
	28.0022; and
	(5) strategies for incorporating civics instruction
	into subject areas other than social studies.
	(c) The commissioner by rule shall establish the grade
	levels at which a teacher provides instruction to be eligible to
	participate in a civics training program. In making the
	determination, the commissioner shall include grade levels for
	which the State Board of Education makes significant revisions to
	the essential knowledge and skills for the social studies
	curriculum under Section 28.002(h-2).
	(d) Each civics training program developed under Subsection
	(a) must be reviewed and approved by the State Board of Education.
	The board shall annually review each program.
	(e) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school
	shall ensure that each district or school campus that offers a grade
	level described by Subsection (c) has at least one teacher and one
	principal or campus instructional leader who has attended a civics
	training program. The agency shall provide assistance to school
	districts and open-enrollment charter schools in complying with the
	requirements of this subsection.
	(f) From funds available for that purpose, a teacher who
	attends a civics training program may receive a stipend in an amount
	determined by the commissioner. A stipend received under this
	section is not included in determining whether a district is paying
	the teacher the minimum monthly salary under Section 21.402.
	(g) The commissioner may delay implementation of Subsection
	(e) to a school year not later than the 2025-2026 school year if the
	revision of the essential knowledge and skills for the social
	studies curriculum under Section 28.002(h-2) or the availability of
	civics training programs does not occur in a manner that reasonably
	affords public schools the ability to comply with that subsection
	by an earlier school year. This subsection expires September 1,
	2026.
	(h) Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the
	teaching of or instruction in the essential knowledge and skills
	adopted under Subchapter A, Chapter 28.
	Sec. 21.4556. CIVICS TRAINING PROGRAM ADVISORY BOARD. (a)
	The commissioner shall establish an advisory board to advise the
	commissioner in developing the civics training programs under
	Section 21.4555.
	(b) The advisory board is composed of nine members appointed
	by the commissioner.
	(c) Each member must be a current or former educator with at
	least 10 years of experience.
	(d) Members are not entitled to reimbursement for travel or
	other expenses.
	(e) The advisory board is not subject to Chapter 551 or 552,
	Government Code.
	(f) Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the
	advisory board.
	SECTION 2. Section 26.006, Education Code, is amended by
	adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
	(e) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school
	that uses a learning management system or any online learning
	portal to assign, distribute, present, or make available
	instructional materials as defined by Section 31.002 to students
	shall provide login credentials to the system or portal to each
	student's parent.
	SECTION 3. Section 28.002, Education Code, as effective
	September 1, 2021, is amended by adding Subsections (h-2), (h-7),
	and (h-8) to read as follows:
	(h-2) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for the
	social studies curriculum for each grade level from kindergarten
	through grade 12, the State Board of Education shall adopt
	essential knowledge and skills that develop each student's civic
	knowledge, including:
	(1) an understanding of:
	(A) the fundamental moral, political,
	entrepreneurial, and intellectual foundations of the American
	experiment in self-government;
	(B) the history, qualities, traditions, and
	features of civic engagement in the United States;
	(C) the structure, function, and processes of
	government institutions at the federal, state, and local levels;
	and
	(D) the founding documents of the United States;
	(2) the ability to:
	(A) analyze and determine the reliability of
	information sources;
	(B) formulate and articulate reasoned positions;
	(C) understand the manner in which local, state,
	and federal government works and operates through the use of
	simulations and models of governmental and democratic processes;
	(D) actively listen and engage in civil
	discourse, including discourse with those with different
	viewpoints; and
	(E) participate as a citizen in a constitutional
	democracy by voting; and
	(3) an appreciation of:
	(A) the importance and responsibility of
	participating in civic life;
	(B) a commitment to the United States and its
	form of government; and
	(C) a commitment to free speech and civil
	discourse.
	(h-7) The agency shall ensure that each school district or
	open-enrollment charter school teaches civics education as part of
	the district's social studies curriculum in a manner consistent
	with the essential knowledge and skills adopted under Subsection
	(h-2).
	(h-8) Nothing in Subsection (h-2) or (h-7) may be construed
	as limiting the teaching of or instruction in the essential
	knowledge and skills adopted under this subchapter.
	SECTION 4. Section 28.002(h-2), Education Code, as added by
	H.B. 4509, Acts of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, is
	redesignated as Section 28.002(h-6), Education Code, to read as
	follows:
	(h-6) [~~(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 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
	amended by adding Section 28.0022 to read as follows:
	Sec. 28.0022. CERTAIN INSTRUCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND
	PROHIBITIONS. (a) For any course or subject, including an
	innovative course, for a grade level from kindergarten through
	grade 12:
	(1) a teacher may not be compelled to discuss a widely
	debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or
	social affairs;
	(2) a teacher who chooses to discuss a topic described
	by Subdivision (1) shall explore that topic objectively and in a
	manner free from political bias;
	(3) a school district, open-enrollment charter
	school, or teacher may not require, make part of a course, or award
	a grade or course credit, including extra credit, for a student's:
	(A) work for, affiliation with, or service
	learning in association with any organization engaged in:
	(i) lobbying for legislation at the
	federal, state, or local level, if the student's duties involve
	directly or indirectly attempting to influence social or public
	policy or the outcome of legislation; or
	(ii) social policy advocacy or public
	policy advocacy;
	(B) political activism, lobbying, or efforts to
	persuade members of the legislative or executive branch at the
	federal, state, or local level to take specific actions by direct
	communication; or
	(C) participation in any internship, practicum,
	or similar activity involving social policy advocacy or public
	policy advocacy; and
	(4) a teacher, administrator, or other employee of a
	state agency, school district, or open-enrollment charter school
	may not:
	(A) require or make part of a course inculcation
	in the concept that:
	(i) one race or sex is inherently superior
	to another race or sex;
	(ii) an individual, by virtue of the
	individual's race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or
	oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously;
	(iii) an individual should be discriminated
	against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of
	the individual's race or sex;
	(iv) an individual's moral character,
	standing, or worth is necessarily determined by the individual's
	race or sex;
	(v) an individual, by virtue of the
	individual's race or sex, bears responsibility, blame, or guilt for
	actions committed by other members of the same race or sex;
	(vi) meritocracy or traits such as a hard
	work ethic are racist or sexist or were created by members of a
	particular race to oppress members of another race;
	(vii) the advent of slavery in the
	territory that is now the United States constituted the true
	founding of the United States; or
	(viii) with respect to their relationship
	to American values, slavery and racism are anything other than
	deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to the
	authentic founding principles of the United States, which include
	liberty and equality;
	(B) teach, instruct, or train any administrator,
	teacher, or staff member of a state agency, school district, or
	open-enrollment charter school to adopt a concept listed under
	Paragraph (A); or
	(C) require an understanding of the 1619 Project.
	(b) Subsection (a)(3) does not apply to a student's
	participation in:
	(1) community charitable projects, such as building
	community gardens, volunteering at local food banks, or other
	service projects;
	(2) an internship or practicum:
	(A) for which the student receives course credit
	under a career and technology education program or under the P-TECH
	program established under Section 29.553; and
	(B) that does not involve the student directly
	engaging in lobbying, social policy advocacy, or public policy
	advocacy; or
	(3) a program that prepares the student for
	participation and leadership in this country's democratic process
	at the federal, state, or local level through the simulation of a
	governmental process, including the development of public policy.
	(c) A state agency, school district, or open-enrollment
	charter school may not accept private funding for the purpose of
	developing a curriculum, purchasing or selecting curriculum
	materials, or providing teacher training or professional
	development related to a concept listed in Subsection (a)(4)(A).
	(d) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
	not implement, interpret, or enforce any rule in a manner that would
	result in the punishment of a student for reasonably discussing the
	concepts described by Subsection (a)(4) in school or during a
	school-sponsored activity or have a chilling effect on reasonable
	student discussions involving those concepts in school or during a
	school-sponsored activity.
	(e) Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the
	teaching of or instruction in the essential knowledge and skills
	adopted under this subchapter.
	(f) This section does not create a private cause of action
	against a teacher, administrator, or other employee of a school
	district or open-enrollment charter school. A school district or
	open-enrollment charter school may take appropriate action
	involving the employment of any teacher, administrator, or other
	employee based on the individual's compliance with state and
	federal laws and district policies.
	(g) Nothing in this section may be construed as prohibiting
	a teacher employed by a school district or open-enrollment charter
	school from directing a classroom activity that involves students
	communicating with an elected official so long as the district,
	school, or teacher does not influence the content of a student's
	communication.
	SECTION 6. Sections 28.002(h-2), (h-3), (h-4), and (h-5),
	as added by H.B. 3979, Acts of the 87th Legislature, Regular
	Session, 2021, and effective September 1, 2021, are repealed.
	SECTION 7. Section 28.002(h-2), Education Code, as added by
	this Act, applies beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.
	SECTION 8. Not later than December 31, 2022, the State Board
	of Education shall review and revise, as needed, the essential
	knowledge and skills of the social studies curriculum as required
	by Section 28.002(h-2), Education Code, as added by this Act.
	SECTION 9. During the revision of the essential knowledge
	and skills for the social studies curriculum beginning in 2021 and
	scheduled to conclude in or around 2023, the State Board of
	Education may not use the removal by this Act of documents,
	speeches, historical figures, and other knowledge and skills from
	specific statutory reference in Section 28.002(h-2), Education
	Code, as added by H.B. 3979, Acts of the 87th Legislature, Regular
	Session, 2021, as a reason for the removal or noninclusion of those
	documents, speeches, historical figures, or other knowledge and
	skills from the essential knowledge and skills for the social
	studies curriculum, including any essential knowledge and skills
	that require 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 history of Native Americans;
	(4) the structure, function, and processes of
	government institutions at the federal, state, and local levels;
	(5) the founding documents of the United States,
	including:
	(A) the Declaration of Independence;
	(B) the United States Constitution; and
	(C) the Federalist Papers;
	(6) the contributions of Frederick Douglass;
	(7) the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850;
	(8) the Indian Removal Act;
	(9) the political organizations that promoted the
	Chicano movement;
	(10) the impact of the women's suffrage and equal
	rights movements;
	(11) the history of white supremacy, including the
	institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and the Ku Klux
	Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong;
	(12) the history and importance of the civil rights
	movement, including the following documents:
	(A) Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a
	Birmingham Jail" and "I Have a Dream" speech;
	(B) the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
	U.S.C. Section 2000a et seq.);
	(C) the United States Supreme Court's decision in
	Brown v. Board of Education (1954);
	(D) the Emancipation Proclamation;
	(E) the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth
	Amendments to the United States Constitution;
	(F) the life and work of Cesar Chavez; and
	(G) the life and work of Dolores Huerta;
	(13) the history and importance of the women's
	suffrage movement, including the following documents:
	(A) the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52
	U.S.C. Section 10101 et seq.);
	(B) the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-Sixth
	Amendments to the United States Constitution;
	(C) the role of Abigail Adams during the American
	Revolution; and
	(D) the works of Susan B. Anthony;
	(14) the life and works of Dr. Hector P. Garcia;
	(15) the League of United Latin American Citizens; and
	(16) the United States Supreme Court's decision in
	Hernandez v. Texas (1954).
	SECTION 10. If any provision of this Act or its application
	to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does
	not affect other provisions or applications of this Act that can be
	given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to
	this end the provisions of this Act are declared to be severable.
	SECTION 11. If this Act receives a vote of two-thirds of all
	the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39,
	Article III, Texas Constitution, this Act takes effect on the first
	day that occurs after August 31, 2021, and is on or after the
	earliest date on which this Act may take effect. If this Act does
	not receive the vote necessary for effect on that date, this Act
	takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the legislative
	session.





	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House

	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 3 passed the Senate on
	August 11, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 18, Nays 11; and that
	the Senate concurred in House amendments on September 2, 2021, by
	the following vote: Yeas 18, Nays 13.


	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate

	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 3 passed the House, with
	amendments, on September 2, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 84,
	Nays 41, one present not voting.


	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House



	Approved:

	______________________________
	Date


	______________________________
	Governor