House File 2330 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 2330
BY GRASSLEY, BODEN, GOLDING,
HORA, STOLTENBERG, HAYES,
KNIFF MCCULLA, FISHER,
THOMSON, GUSTAFSON,
WHEELER, HOLT, GERHOLD,
JOHNSON, OSMUNDSON, STONE,
COLLINS, BRADLEY, JENEARY,
SHERMAN, M. THOMPSON,
GEHLBACH, MOMMSEN, WILLS,
WULF, GUSTOFF, and CISNEROS
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to education, including by modifying provisions
2 related to the social studies instruction provided to
3 students enrolled in grades one through twelve and the
4 educational programs provided by the institutions of higher
5 education under the control of the state board of regents.
6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 Section 1. Section 256.11, subsections 3 and 4, Code 2024,
2 are amended to read as follows:
3 3. a. The following areas shall be taught in grades
4 one through six: English-language arts, social studies,
5 mathematics, science, health, physical education, traffic
6 safety, music, visual art, and, subject to section 279.80,
7 age-appropriate and research-based human growth and
8 development. Computer science instruction incorporating
9 the standards established under section 256.7, subsection
10 26, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (4), shall be offered in
11 at least one grade level commencing with the school year
12 beginning July 1, 2023. The health curriculum shall include
13 the characteristics of communicable diseases. The state board
14 as part of accreditation standards shall adopt curriculum
15 definitions for implementing the elementary program.
16 b. The social studies curriculum shall include instruction
17 related to all of the following:
18 (1) The workings of the federal, state, and local levels of
19 government.
20 (2) The rights and responsibilities of citizens of the
21 United States and the state of Iowa.
22 (3) The history of the secular and religious ideals and
23 institutions of liberty, including political, religious,
24 economic, social, and cultural liberty, in western
25 civilization, the United States, and the state of Iowa, which
26 emphasizes the good, worthwhile, and best achievements of these
27 ideals and institutions of liberty.
28 (4) Exemplary figures in western civilization, the United
29 States, and the state of Iowa who have fought to secure
30 liberty.
31 (5) The cultural heritage of western civilization, the
32 United States, and the state of Iowa.
33 (6) The geography of the United States and the state of
34 Iowa.
35 (7) The history and meaning of the United States flag and
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1 the national anthem.
2 (8) Admirable Americans, including Benjamin Franklin,
3 George Washington, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
4 and Abraham Lincoln.
5 c. During grades five and six, the instruction provided as
6 part of the social studies curriculum shall incorporate the
7 study of documents that are important to the history of the
8 United States, including all of the following:
9 (1) The Mayflower compact.
10 (2) Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine.
11 (3) The Declaration of Independence.
12 (4) The Articles of Confederation.
13 (5) The Pennsylvania Act for the gradual abolition of
14 slavery.
15 (6) The Virginia statute for religious freedom.
16 (7) The northwest ordinance.
17 (8) The Constitution of the United States.
18 (9) The federalist papers, including federalist number ten
19 and federalist number fifty-one.
20 (10) A transcript of George Washington’s farewell address.
21 (11) Relevant excerpts from Democracy in America written by
22 Alexis de Tocqueville.
23 (12) A transcript of the first debate between Abraham
24 Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas.
25 (13) The Emancipation Proclamation.
26 (14) The writings of the founding fathers.
27 4. a. The following shall be taught in grades seven and
28 eight: English-language arts; social studies; mathematics;
29 science; health; age-appropriate and research-based human
30 growth and development; career exploration and development;
31 physical education; music; and visual art. Computer science
32 instruction incorporating the standards established under
33 section 256.7, subsection 26, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (4),
34 shall be offered in at least one grade level commencing with
35 the school year beginning July 1, 2023. Career exploration
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1 and development shall be designed so that students are
2 appropriately prepared to create an individual career
3 and academic plan pursuant to section 279.61, incorporate
4 foundational career and technical education concepts aligned
5 with the six career and technical education service areas as
6 defined in subsection 5, paragraph “h”, incorporate relevant
7 twenty-first century skills to facilitate career readiness,
8 and introduce students to career opportunities within the
9 local community and across this state. The health curriculum
10 shall include age-appropriate and research-based information
11 regarding the characteristics of sexually transmitted diseases.
12 The state board as part of accreditation standards shall adopt
13 curriculum definitions for implementing the program in grades
14 seven and eight. However, this subsection shall not apply to
15 the teaching of career exploration and development in nonpublic
16 schools.
17 b. (1) The social studies curriculum shall require at
18 least one semester of instruction, or the trimester or quarter
19 equivalent, in each of the following areas:
20 (a) Civics, which shall include instruction related to all
21 of the following:
22 (i) The intellectual sources of the United States’ founding
23 documents.
24 (ii) The political and military narrative of the causes and
25 progress of the American Revolution.
26 (iii) The United States’ founding documents and the
27 original intent of such documents.
28 (iv) The Constitution of the United States, with emphasis on
29 the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the State of Iowa.
30 (v) The basic principles of the United States’ republican
31 form of government.
32 (vi) The historical development of the United States’
33 republican form of government.
34 (vii) The United States’ republican form of government
35 compared with different forms of government including
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1 dictatorship, monarchy, oligarchy, theocracy, communism, and
2 autocracy.
3 (viii) The structure, function, and processes of government
4 institutions at the federal, state, and local levels.
5 (ix) The civic virtues exemplified in the lives of famous
6 Americans.
7 (b) United States history, which shall include instruction
8 related to all of the following:
9 (i) The study of and devotion to the United States’
10 exceptional and praiseworthy history.
11 (ii) The basic political, diplomatic, and military
12 history of the United States, which shall include the period
13 of discovery, early colonies, the War of Independence, the
14 Civil War, the expansion of the United States to its present
15 boundaries, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the civil
16 rights movement, and the period of time from the September 11
17 attacks to the present day, which shall incorporate the study
18 of primary source documents.
19 (iii) The basic history of business and technology in the
20 United States, which shall incorporate the study of primary
21 source documents.
22 (iv) The basic history of the religious and secular aspects
23 of the United States’ common culture, which shall incorporate
24 the study of primary source documents.
25 (v) The concept that United States history shall be viewed
26 as factual, not as constructed, shall be viewed as knowable,
27 teachable, and testable, and shall be defined as the creation
28 of a new nation based largely on the universal principles
29 stated in the Declaration of Independence.
30 (c) The history of western civilization, which shall
31 include instruction that constitutes an extended, coherent
32 account of western civilization, from Athens, Jerusalem, and
33 Rome to the present day, to understand the nature of the
34 nation’s ideals and institutions of liberty, how such ideals
35 and institutions of liberty came into existence, and what
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1 actions the nation’s forefathers took to preserve them.
2 (d) Iowa history, to be taught during grade eight, which
3 shall include instruction related to all of the following:
4 (i) The history of the founding of Iowa.
5 (ii) The history of famous Iowans and their involvement in
6 important events in history.
7 (iii) How Iowans have impacted government, policies,
8 issues, and procedures over the years.
9 (iv) The history of the state motto, bird, tree, and rock.
10 (e) Economics, to be taught during grade eight. The
11 economics instruction shall focus on the free enterprise system
12 and its benefits. The economics curriculum shall include
13 instruction related to the failures of economic systems of
14 communist regimes and the difference between capitalist and
15 communist economic systems.
16 (2) The social studies curriculum shall include instruction
17 related to admirable Americans, including Benjamin Franklin,
18 George Washington, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
19 and Abraham Lincoln.
20 (3) The instruction provided as part of the social studies
21 curriculum shall incorporate the study of documents that are
22 important to the history of the United States, including all
23 of the following:
24 (a) The Mayflower compact.
25 (b) Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine.
26 (c) The Declaration of Independence.
27 (d) The Articles of Confederation.
28 (e) The Pennsylvania Act for the gradual abolition of
29 slavery.
30 (f) The Virginia statute for religious freedom.
31 (g) The northwest ordinance.
32 (h) The Constitution of the United States.
33 (i) The federalist papers, including federalist number ten
34 and federalist number fifty-one.
35 (j) A transcript of George Washington’s farewell address.
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1 (k) Relevant excerpts from Democracy in America written by
2 Alexis de Tocqueville.
3 (l) A transcript of the first debate between Abraham Lincoln
4 and Stephen A. Douglas.
5 (m) The Emancipation Proclamation.
6 (n) The writings of the founding fathers.
7 Sec. 2. Section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph b, Code
8 2024, is amended to read as follows:
9 b. Five units of the social studies including instruction
10 in voting statutes and procedures, voter registration
11 requirements, the use of paper ballots and voting systems in
12 the election process, and the method of acquiring and casting
13 an absentee ballot. All students shall complete a minimum of
14 one-half unit of United States government, and one unit of
15 civics, two units of United States history, and one unit of
16 western civilization. The social studies curriculum shall not
17 include any advanced placement course that requires action
18 civics. The social studies curriculum shall incorporate the
19 study of documents that are important to the history of the
20 United States, including the Mayflower compact; Common Sense,
21 written by Thomas Paine; the Declaration of Independence; the
22 Articles of Confederation; the Pennsylvania Act for the gradual
23 abolition of slavery; the Virginia statute for religious
24 freedom; the northwest ordinance; the Constitution of the
25 United States; the federalist papers, including federalist
26 number ten and federalist number fifty-one; a transcript of
27 George Washington’s farewell address; relevant excerpts from
28 Democracy in America written by Alexis de Tocqueville; a
29 transcript of the first debate between Abraham Lincoln and
30 Stephen A. Douglas; the Emancipation Proclamation; and the
31 writings of the founding fathers.
32 (1) The one-half unit of United States government shall
33 include the voting procedure as described in this lettered
34 paragraph and section 280.9A and other instruction related
35 to voting statutes and procedures, voter registration
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1 requirements, the use of paper ballots and voting systems in
2 the election process, and the method of acquiring and casting
3 an absentee ballot. The government instruction shall also
4 include a study of the Constitution of the United States
5 and the Bill of Rights contained in the Constitution and an
6 assessment of a student’s knowledge of the Constitution and the
7 Bill of Rights.
8 (2) The one unit of civics shall include a culminating
9 civic literacy examination that was not developed by the
10 school district or accredited nonpublic school or the teacher
11 providing the civics instruction. The examination shall
12 include an assessment of the student’s knowledge of United
13 States government and United States history, shall provide a
14 means of assessing civics instruction in grades nine through
15 twelve, and shall provide information that colleges and
16 universities may use to determine if incoming students possess
17 sufficient civic literacy. The one unit of civics shall not
18 include any requirements related to political activism, service
19 learning, civic engagement, action civics, or any cognate
20 activity. The one unit of civics shall include instruction
21 related to all of the following:
22 (a) The intellectual sources of the United States’
23 founding documents, including documents that illustrate the
24 Greek, Hebrew, and Roman exemplars of liberty and republican
25 government; the Christian synthesis of Greek, Hebrew, and Roman
26 thought that emphasized the equal dignity of all individual
27 humans in the eyes of God; the medieval English inheritance
28 of common law, jury, local self-government, liberty, and
29 representative government; the early modern English inheritance
30 of Christian liberty, republicanism, the militia, accountable
31 government, mixed government, parliamentary sovereignty,
32 freedom of the press, and the English bill of rights and
33 toleration Act; the colonial American inheritance of Christian
34 liberty, self-government, and local government; and the
35 enlightenment theories of John Locke, Montesquieu, Adam Smith,
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1 and their contemporaries that universalized the European
2 traditions of liberty.
3 (b) The political and military narrative of the causes and
4 progress of the American revolution.
5 (c) The original intent of the documents described in
6 unnumbered paragraph 1.
7 (d) The Constitution of the United States, with an emphasis
8 on the Bill of Rights contained in the Constitution, and the
9 Constitution of the State of Iowa.
10 (e) The basic principles of the United States’ republican
11 form of government and the institutions and principles to
12 preserve liberty and prevent misuse of government power,
13 including balance of power; consent of the governed; the
14 electoral college; federalism and the division of powers
15 between the federal government and the states; individual
16 liberties; rights of life, liberty, and property; popular
17 sovereignty; religious freedom; an educated citizenry;
18 representative government; civilian control of the military;
19 rule of law; control of faction; checks and balances; and
20 separation of powers among the executive, the legislature, and
21 the judiciary.
22 (f) The historical development of the United States’
23 republican form of government, including the federalist and
24 antifederalist debates; the rise and role of political parties;
25 the rise of Jacksonian democracy; the expansion of the ideals
26 and institutions of liberty and republican self-government
27 to include all Americans, regardless of sex or race; the
28 causes and t