F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
HB 479 2023
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to required instruction in the history
3 of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans;
4 amending s. 1003.42, F.S.; authorizing the department
5 to seek input from certain entities for specified
6 purposes relating to instruction in the history of
7 African Americans; authorizing the department to seek
8 input from or contract with specified entities to
9 develop specified training and resources; creating s.
10 1003.4551, F.S.; requiring the department to annually
11 verify that school districts, charter schools, and
12 specified private schools implement certain
13 instruction relating to the history of the Holocaust
14 and the history of African Americans and providing
15 requirements therefor; requiring district school
16 superintendents, charter school principals, and
17 private school directors or similar administrators to
18 annually provide specified evidence to the department
19 by a certain date; providing penalties for failure to
20 provide such evidence; authorizing the State Board of
21 Education to adopt rules; amending s. 1008.22, F.S.;
22 requiring certain statewide, standardized assessments
23 to include curricula content from the history of the
24 Holocaust and the history of African Americans;
25 providing an effective date.
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HB 479 2023
26
27 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
28
29 Section 1. Paragraph (h) of subsection (2) of section
30 1003.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
31 1003.42 Required instruction.—
32 (2) Members of the instructional staff of the public
33 schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education
34 and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and
35 faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the
36 highest standards for professionalism and historical accuracy,
37 following the prescribed courses of study, and employing
38 approved methods of instruction, the following:
39 (h) The history of African Americans, including the
40 history of African peoples before the political conflicts that
41 led to the development of slavery, the passage to America, the
42 enslavement experience, abolition, and the history and
43 contributions of Americans of the African diaspora to society.
44 Students shall develop an understanding of the ramifications of
45 prejudice, racism, and stereotyping on individual freedoms, and
46 examine what it means to be a responsible and respectful person,
47 for the purpose of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a
48 pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic
49 values and institutions. Instruction shall include the roles and
50 contributions of individuals from all walks of life and their
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51 endeavors to learn and thrive throughout history as artists,
52 scientists, educators, businesspeople, influential thinkers,
53 members of the faith community, and political and governmental
54 leaders and the courageous steps they took to fulfill the
55 promise of democracy and unite the nation. Instructional
56 materials shall include the vital contributions of African
57 Americans to build and strengthen American society and celebrate
58 the inspirational stories of African Americans who prospered,
59 even in the most difficult circumstances. Instructional
60 personnel may facilitate discussions and use curricula to
61 address, in an age-appropriate manner, how the individual
62 freedoms of persons have been infringed by slavery, racial
63 oppression, racial segregation, and racial discrimination, as
64 well as topics relating to the enactment and enforcement of laws
65 resulting in racial oppression, racial segregation, and racial
66 discrimination and how recognition of these freedoms has
67 overturned these unjust laws. However, classroom instruction and
68 curriculum may not be used to indoctrinate or persuade students
69 to a particular point of view inconsistent with the principles
70 enumerated in subsection (3) or the state academic standards.
71 The department shall prepare and offer standards and curriculum
72 for the instruction required by this paragraph and may seek
73 input from the Commissioner of Education's African American
74 History Task Force or from any state or nationally recognized
75 African-American history educational organization during the
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76 preparation of such standards and curriculum. The department may
77 also seek input from the Commissioner of Education's African
78 American History Task Force or contract with a recognized museum
79 of African-American history to develop training for
80 instructional staff and grade-appropriate classroom resources to
81 support the developed curriculum.
82
83 The State Board of Education is encouraged to adopt standards
84 and pursue assessment of the requirements of this subsection.
85 Instructional programming that incorporates the values of the
86 recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and that is
87 offered as part of a social studies, English Language Arts, or
88 other schoolwide character building and veteran awareness
89 initiative meets the requirements of paragraph (t).
90 Section 2. Section 1003.4551, Florida Statutes, is created
91 to read:
92 1003.4551 School district, charter school, and private
93 school implementation of the history of the Holocaust and the
94 history of African Americans.—
95 (1) Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, the department
96 shall annually verify that each school district, charter school,
97 and private school implements the instruction required under s.
98 1003.42(2)(g) and (h), relating to the history of the Holocaust
99 and the history of African Americans, efficiently and faithfully
100 throughout the school district's, charter school's, or private
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101 school's entire curriculum, as appropriate. For purposes of t his
102 section, the term "private school" means a private school that
103 accepts scholarship students who participate in a scholarship
104 program under chapter 1002.
105 (2) Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, each school
106 district, charter school, and private school must:
107 (a) Develop, and each district school board, charter
108 school governing board, and private school director or similar
109 administrator must adopt, a plan for the implementation of the
110 history of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans
111 required instruction and publicize such plan in the school
112 district's, charter school's, or private school's curriculum
113 guides and on the school district's, charter school's, or
114 private school's website.
115 (b) Develop and implement an ongoing professional
116 development plan for training instructional staff in strategies
117 for teaching the history of the Holocaust and the history of
118 African Americans. The school district, charter school, or
119 private school must allocate adequate resources to structured
120 professional development programs and for enhancing the
121 instruction of the history of the Holocaust and the history of
122 African Americans in an infused format.
123 (c) Integrate curricula for the history of the Holocaust
124 and the history of African Americans which meet the requirements
125 of s. 1003.42(2)(g) and (h) as part of the school district's,
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126 charter school's, or private school's curriculum. Such curricula
127 must be distributed to curriculum specialists, teachers, media
128 specialists, and other instructional staff. The school district,
129 charter school, or private school must ensure that adequate
130 instructional resources, including, but not limited to, books,
131 compact discs, digital media, and lesson plans, are available to
132 support such instruction.
133 (d) Include the history of the Holocaust and the history
134 of African Americans content in lesson plans for the entire
135 school year, as appropriate.
136 (e) Approve methods for teaching and assessing the history
137 of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans curricula.
138 (f) Include the history of the Holocaust and the history
139 of African Americans content in any preparations for statewide
140 assessments, as appropriate.
141 (g) Include the history of the Holocaust and the history
142 of African Americans content in all appropriate subject areas.
143 (h) Partner with a state university for the development
144 and implementation of professional development, curricula, and
145 instructional support, including jointly seeking external
146 funding and preparing teachers and other instructional staff to
147 teach the history of the Holocaust and the history of African
148 Americans.
149 (i) Develop strategies to involve parents in the
150 implementation of the curricula for the history of the Holocaust
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151 and the history of African Americans, including through
152 awareness information sessions.
153 (j) Partner with community members in the development and
154 ongoing implementation of the history of the Holocaust and the
155 history of African Americans curricula. To better connect
156 students to the study of African-American history and allow
157 students to experience places, artifacts, and activities that
158 authentically represent and are connected to our nation's
159 African-American history, members of the instructional staff are
160 encouraged to include the use of the United States National Park
161 Service's Teaching with Historic Places curriculum and tours of
162 locations listed on the National Register of Historic Places,
163 houses, parks, and cemeteries, in the study of the history of
164 African Americans when practicable.
165 (3) By August 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, each
166 district school superintendent, charter school principal, and
167 private school director or similar administrator shall provide
168 to the department, in a format prescribed by the department,
169 evidence of school district, charter school, and private school
170 compliance with subsection (2). If a district school
171 superintendent, charter school principal, or private school
172 director or similar administrator fails to provide such
173 evidence, he or she is subject to the following penalties:
174 (a) For a district school superintendent, he or she must
175 provide a written explanation to the district school board and
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176 the Commissioner of Education to explain the district school
177 superintendent's failure to provide such evidence.
178 (b) For a charter school principal, his or her charter
179 school is deemed in violation of its charter with the school
180 district until he or she provides such evidence.
181 (c) For a private school director or similar
182 administrator, his or her private school may not receive any
183 state funds from a scholarship program under chapter 1002 until
184 he or she provides such evidence.
185 (4) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to
186 administer this section.
187 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
188 1008.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
189 1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools. —
190 (3) STATEWIDE, STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.—The
191 Commissioner of Education shall design and implement a
192 statewide, standardized assessment program aligned to the core
193 curricular content established in the state academic standards.
194 The commissioner also must develop or select and implement a
195 common battery of assessment tools that will be used in all
196 juvenile justice education programs in the state. These tools
197 must accurately measure the core curricular content established
198 in the state academic standards. Participation in the assessment
199 program is mandatory for all school districts and all students
200 attending public schools, including adult students seeking a
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201 standard high school diploma under s. 1003.4282 and students in
202 Department of Juvenile Justice education programs, except as
203 otherwise provided by law. If a student does not participate in
204 the assessment program, the school district must notify the
205 student's parent and provide the parent with information
206 regarding the implications of such nonparticipation. The
207 statewide, standardized assessment program shall be designed and
208 implemented as follows:
209 (a) Statewide, standardized comprehensive assessments. —
210 1. The statewide,