87(2) HB 28 - Introduced version - Bill Text

	By:  Toth	H.B.  No.  28

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to curriculum, materials, and activities in public
	schools.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION  1.    Chapter 26, Education Code, is amended by adding
	Section 26.0061 to read as follows:
	Sec.  26.0061.    REQUIRED DISCLOSURE REGARDING TEACHING
	MATERIALS AND ACTIVITIES. (a) In this section:
	(1)    "Activity" includes a presentation, assembly,
	lecture, or other event facilitated by a school district or
	open-enrollment charter school, other than a student presentation.
	(2)    "Teaching material" includes:
	(A)    instructional material, as that term is
	defined by Section 31.002;
	(B)    teaching aids; and
	(C)    any other material a student is given the
	option to select for the student's instruction.
	(b)    Subject to Subsection (g), not later than the fifth day
	of each month, each school district and open-enrollment charter
	school shall make available to the public on the district's or
	school's Internet website:
	(1)    a list disaggregated by subject area and grade
	level that states all information, including the title, author,
	organization, or Internet website, as applicable, necessary to
	identify a teaching material or activity that was assigned,
	distributed, or otherwise presented to the district's or school's
	students during the preceding month in:
	(A)    a course for which students receive academic
	credit; or
	(B)    an educational event that the district or
	school requires students to attend or in which a majority of
	students participate;
	(2)    the district's or school's procedures for
	documenting, reviewing, or approving a material or activity
	described by Subdivision (1); and
	(3)    any changes made in the preceding month to the
	procedures described by Subdivision (2).
	(c)    For purposes of Subsection (b)(1), a school district or
	open-enrollment charter school is not required to list the
	individual components of teaching materials produced as a single
	volume except that for a volume that contains works by multiple
	authors, the district or school shall include in the list under that
	subsection:
	(1)    a table of contents for the volume; or
	(2)    a link to an Internet website that discloses the
	title and author of each work included in the volume.
	(d)    Information posted to a school district's or
	open-enrollment charter school's Internet website under Subsection
	(b) must be maintained on the website for not less than one year.
	(e)    A school district or open-enrollment charter school may
	use collaborative online document or spreadsheet software to
	prepare or post on the district's or school's Internet website the
	information required under Subsection (b).
	(f)    This section does not require a school district or
	open-enrollment charter school to reproduce a material or activity
	described by Subsection (b)(1).
	(g)    This section does not apply to:
	(1)    a school district or open-enrollment charter
	school with a student enrollment of less than 300 students; or
	(2)    a material or activity described by Subsection
	(b)(1) that is selected independently by teachers employed at a
	campus with a student enrollment of less than 50 students for use
	only at that campus.
	SECTION  2.    Sections 28.002(h-3), (h-4), and (h-5),
	Education Code, as effective September 1, 2021, are redesignated as
	Section 28.0022, Education Code, and amended to read as follows:
	Sec.  28.0022.    CERTAIN INSTRUCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND
	PROHIBITIONS. (a) [(h-3)] For any [social studies] course for a
	grade level from kindergarten through grade 12 [in the required
	curriculum]:
	(1)    [a teacher may not be compelled to discuss a
	particular current event or widely debated and currently
	controversial issue of public policy or social affairs;