S-0110.1
SENATE BILL 5161
State of Washington 67th Legislature 2021 Regular Session
By Senators Wellman, Stanford, Carlyle, Conway, Das, Dhingra, Frockt,
Hasegawa, Kuderer, Liias, Lovelett, Nobles, Saldaña, and Wilson, C.
Read first time 01/12/21. Referred to Committee on Early Learning &
K-12 Education.
1 AN ACT Relating to the teaching of Washington's tribal history,
2 culture, and government; and amending RCW 28A.320.170 and 28B.10.710.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
4 Sec. 1. RCW 28A.320.170 and 2015 c 198 s 2 are each amended to
5 read as follows:
6 (1)(a) Beginning July 24, 2015, when a school district board of
7 directors reviews or adopts its social studies curriculum, it shall
8 incorporate curricula about the history, culture, and government of
9 the nearest federally recognized Indian tribe or tribes, so that
10 students learn about the unique heritage and experience of their
11 closest neighbors.
12 (b) School districts shall meet the requirements of this section
13 by using curriculum developed and made available free of charge by
14 the office of the superintendent of public instruction and may modify
15 that curriculum in order to incorporate elements that have a
16 regionally specific focus or to incorporate the curriculum into
17 existing curricular materials.
18 (c) All school districts must incorporate curricula about the
19 history, culture, and government of the nearest federally recognized
20 Indian tribe or tribes into social studies curricula by September 1,
21 2023.
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 1 (2) As they conduct regularly scheduled reviews and revisions of
2 their social studies and history curricula, school districts shall
3 collaborate with any federally recognized Indian tribe within their
4 district, and with neighboring Indian tribes, to incorporate expanded
5 and improved curricular materials about Indian tribes, and to create
6 programs of classroom and community cultural exchanges.
7 (3) School districts shall collaborate with the office of the
8 superintendent of public instruction on curricular areas regarding
9 tribal government and history that are statewide in nature, such as
10 the concept of tribal sovereignty and the history of federal policy
11 towards federally recognized Indian tribes. The program of Indian
12 education within the office of the superintendent of public
13 instruction shall help local school districts identify federally
14 recognized Indian tribes whose reservations are in whole or in part
15 within the boundaries of the district and/or those that are nearest
16 to the school district.
17 (4) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall
18 develop and utilize a system to monitor and report on district
19 implementation and compliance with this section.
20 Sec. 2. RCW 28B.10.710 and 2018 c 144 s 2 are each amended to
21 read as follows:
22 (1)(a) There shall be a one quarter or semester course in either
23 Washington state history and government, or Pacific Northwest history
24 and government in the curriculum of all teacher preparation programs.
25 (b) No person shall be graduated from any of said programs
26 without completing said course of study, unless otherwise determined
27 by the Washington professional educator standards board.
28 (2) Any course in Washington state or Pacific Northwest history
29 and government used to fulfill the requirement in subsection (1) of
30 this section shall include information on the culture, history, and
31 government of the American Indian peoples who were the first human
32 inhabitants of the state and the region.
33 (3) Teacher preparation programs shall meet the requirements of
34 this section by integrating the curriculum developed and made
35 available free of charge by the office of the superintendent of
36 public instruction into existing programs or courses and may modify
37 that curriculum in order to incorporate elements that have a
38 regionally specific focus.
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1 (4) Administrator preparation programs shall include information
2 on the culture, history, and government of the American Indian
3 peoples who were the first human inhabitants of the state and region.
4 Programs shall meet the requirements of this section by integrating
5 the curriculum developed and made free of charge by the office of the
6 superintendent of public instruction into existing programs or
7 courses and may modify that curriculum in order to incorporate
8 elements that have a regionally specific focus.
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Statutes affected:
Original Bill: 28A.320.170, 28B.10.710
Bill: 28A.320.170, 28B.10.710