Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

       Florida Senate - 2023                                    SB 1008



       By Senator Thompson





       15-00084B-23                                          20231008__
                      A bill to be entitled                      
       An act relating to required instruction in the history
       of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans;
       amending s. 1003.42, F.S.; authorizing the Department
       of Education to seek input from certain entities for
       specified purposes relating to instruction in the
       history of African Americans; authorizing the
       department to seek input from or contract with
       specified entities to develop specified training and
       resources; creating s. 1003.4551, F.S.; requiring the
       department to annually verify that school districts,
       charter schools, and specified private schools
       implement certain instruction relating to the history
       of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans
       and providing requirements therefor; requiring
       district school superintendents, charter school
       principals, and private school directors or similar
       administrators to annually provide specified evidence
       to the department by a certain date; providing
       penalties for failure to provide such evidence;
       authorizing the State Board of Education to adopt
       rules; amending s. 1008.22, F.S.; requiring certain
       statewide, standardized assessments to include
       curricula content from the history of the Holocaust
       and the history of African Americans; providing an
       effective date.
        
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

       Section 1.âParagraph (h) of subsection (2) of section
1003.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
       1003.42âRequired instruction.â
       (2)âMembers of the instructional staff of the public
schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education
and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and
faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the
highest standards for professionalism and historical accuracy,
following the prescribed courses of study, and employing
approved methods of instruction, the following:
       (h)âThe history of African Americans, including the history
of African peoples before the political conflicts that led to
the development of slavery, the passage to America, the
enslavement experience, abolition, and the history and
contributions of Americans of the African diaspora to society.
Students shall develop an understanding of the ramifications of
prejudice, racism, and stereotyping on individual freedoms, and
examine what it means to be a responsible and respectful person,
for the purpose of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a
pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic
values and institutions. Instruction shall include the roles and
contributions of individuals from all walks of life and their
endeavors to learn and thrive throughout history as artists,
scientists, educators, businesspeople, influential thinkers,
members of the faith community, and political and governmental
leaders and the courageous steps they took to fulfill the
promise of democracy and unite the nation. Instructional
materials shall include the vital contributions of African
Americans to build and strengthen American society and celebrate
the inspirational stories of African Americans who prospered,
even in the most difficult circumstances. Instructional
personnel may facilitate discussions and use curricula to
address, in an age-appropriate manner, how the individual
freedoms of persons have been infringed by slavery, racial
oppression, racial segregation, and racial discrimination, as
well as topics relating to the enactment and enforcement of laws
resulting in racial oppression, racial segregation, and racial
discrimination and how recognition of these freedoms has
overturned these unjust laws. However, classroom instruction and
curriculum may not be used to indoctrinate or persuade students
to a particular point of view inconsistent with the principles
enumerated in subsection (3) or the state academic standards.
The department shall prepare and offer standards and curriculum
for the instruction required by this paragraph and may seek
input from the Commissioner of Educationâs African American
History Task Force or from any state or nationally recognized
African-American history educational organization during the
preparation of such standards and curriculum. The department may
also seek input from the Commissioner of Educationâs African
American History Task Force or contract with a recognized museum
of African-American history to develop training for
instructional staff and grade-appropriate classroom resources to
support the developed curriculum.

The State Board of Education is encouraged to adopt standards
and pursue assessment of the requirements of this subsection.
Instructional programming that incorporates the values of the
recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and that is
offered as part of a social studies, English Language Arts, or
other schoolwide character building and veteran awareness
initiative meets the requirements of paragraph (t).
       Section 2.âSection 1003.4551, Florida Statutes, is created
to read:
       1003.4551âSchool district, charter school, and private
school implementation of the history of the Holocaust and the
history of African Americans.â
       (1)âBeginning in the 2024-2025 school year, the department
shall annually verify that each school district, charter school,
and private school implements the instruction required under s.
1003.42(2)(g) and (h), relating to the history of the Holocaust
and the history of African Americans, efficiently and faithfully
throughout the school districtâs, charter schoolâs, or private
schoolâs entire curriculum, as appropriate. For purposes of this
section, the term âprivate schoolâ means a private school that
accepts scholarship students who participate in a scholarship
program under chapter 1002.
       (2)âBeginning in the 2024-2025 school year, each school
district, charter school, and private school must:
       (a)âDevelop, and each district school board, charter school
governing board, and private school director or similar
administrator must adopt, a plan for the implementation of the
history of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans
required instruction and publicize such plan in the school
districtâs, charter schoolâs, or private schoolâs curriculum
guides and on the school districtâs, charter schoolâs, or
private schoolâs website.
       (b)âDevelop and implement an ongoing professional
development plan for training instructional staff in strategies
for teaching the history of the Holocaust and the history of
African Americans. The school district, charter school, or
private school must allocate adequate resources to structured
professional development programs and for enhancing the
instruction of the history of the Holocaust and the history of
African Americans in an infused format.
       (c)âIntegrate curricula for the history of the Holocaust
and the history of African Americans which meet the requirements
of s. 1003.42(2)(g) and (h) as part of the school districtâs,
charter schoolâs, or private schoolâs curriculum. Such curricula
must be distributed to curriculum specialists, teachers, media
specialists, and other instructional staff. The school district,
charter school, or private school must ensure that adequate
instructional resources, including, but not limited to, books,
compact discs, digital media, and lesson plans, are available to
support such instruction.
       (d)âInclude the history of the Holocaust and the history of
African Americans content in lesson plans for the entire school
year, as appropriate.
       (e)âApprove methods for teaching and assessing the history
of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans curricula.
       (f)âInclude the history of the Holocaust and the history of
African Americans content in any preparations for statewide
assessments, as appropriate.
       (g)âInclude the history of the Holocaust and the history of
African Americans content in all appropriate subject areas.
       (h)âPartner with a state university for the development and
implementation of professional development, curricula, and
instructional support, including jointly seeking external
funding and preparing teachers and other instructional staff to
teach the history of the Holocaust and the history of African
Americans.
       (i)âDevelop strategies to involve parents in the
implementation of the curricula for the history of the Holocaust
and the history of African Americans, including through
awareness information sessions.
       (j)âPartner with community members in the development and
ongoing implementation of the history of the Holocaust and the
history of African Americans curricula. To better connect
students to the study of African-American history and allow
students to experience places, artifacts, and activities that
authentically represent and are connected to our nationâs
African-American history, members of the instructional staff are
encouraged to include the use of the United States National Park
Serviceâs Teaching with Historic Places curriculum and tours of
locations listed on the National Register of Historic Places,
houses, parks, and cemeteries, in the study of the history of
African Americans when practicable.
       (3)âBy August 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, each
district school superintendent, charter school principal, and
private school director or similar administrator shall provide
to the department, in a format prescribed by the department,
evidence of school district, charter school, and private school
compliance with subsection (2). If a district school
superintendent, charter school principal, or private school
director or similar administrator fails to provide such
evidence, he or she is subject to the following penalties:
       (a)âFor a district school superintendent, he or she must
provide a written explanation to the district school board and
the Commissioner of Education to explain the district school
superintendentâs failure to provide such evidence.
       (b)âFor a charter school principal, his or her charter
school is deemed in violation of its charter with the school
district until he or she provides such evidence.
       (c)âFor a private school director or similar administrator,
his or her private school may not receive any state funds from a
scholarship program under chapter 1002 until he or she provides
such evidence.
       (4)âThe State Board of Education may adopt rules to
administer this section.
       Section 3.âParagraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
1008.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
       1008.22âStudent assessment program for public schools.â
       (3)âSTATEWIDE, STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.âThe
Commissioner of Education shall design and implement a
statewide, standardized assessment program aligned to the core
curricular content established in the state academic standards.
The commissioner also must develop or select and implement a
common battery of assessment tools that will be used in all
juvenile justice education programs in the state. These tools
must accurately measure the core curricular content established
in the state academic standards. Participation in the assessment
program is mandatory for all school districts and all students
attending public schools, including adult students seeking a
standard high school diploma under s. 1003.4282 and students in
Department of Juvenile Justice education programs, except as
otherwise provided by law. If a student does not participate in
the assessment program, the school district must notify the
studentâs parent and provide the parent with information
regarding the implications of such nonparticipation. The
statewide, standardized assessment program shall be designed and
implemented as follows:
       (a)âStatewide, standardized comprehensive assessments.â
       1.âThe statewide, standardized English Language Arts (ELA)
assessments shall be administered to students in grades 3
through 10. Retake opportunities for the grade 10 ELA assessment
must be provided. Reading passages and writing prompts for ELA
assessments shall incorporate grade-level core curricula content
from social studies and, when appropriate, curricula content
from the history of the Holocaust and the history of African
Americans. The statewide, standardized Mathematics assessments
shall be administered annually in grades 3 through 8. The
statewide, standardized Science assessment shall be administered
annually at least once at the elementary and middle grades
levels. In order to earn a standard high school diploma, a
student who has not earned a passing score on the grade 10 ELA
assessment must earn a passing score on the assessment retake or
earn a concordant score as authorized under subsection (9).
       2.âBeginning with the 2022-2023 school year, the end-of
year comprehensive progress monitoring assessment administered
pursuant to s. 1008.25(8)(b)2. is the statewide, standardized
ELA assessment for students in grades 3 through 10 and the
statewide, standardized Mathematics assessment for students in
grades 3 through 8.
       Section 4.âThis act shall take effect July 1, 2023.
Statutes affected: 
S 1008 Filed: 1003.42, 1008.22