Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that limits topics of discussion in schools.

Highlights:

• Limits a public school or public charter school to provide instruction curriculum over only the following topics and concepts, including, but not limited to (Sec. 1):

• That all individuals are created equal;

• Americans are entitled to equal protection under the law;

• An individual deserves to be treated on the basis of their character;

• An individual, by virtue of their race or sex does not bear responsibility for actions committed by members of the same race or sex;

• The understanding that the institution of slavery and post-Civil War laws enforcng racial segregation and discrimination were contrary to the fundamental american promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but that defining racial disparities solely on the legacy of this institution is destructive to the unification of our nation; or

• Personal agency and the understanding that regardless of someone's circumstances, an American has the ability to succeed when they are given sufficient opportunity.

• Prohibits this act from restricting a public school or public charter school from providing instructional materials that include the following (Sec. 1):

• The history of ethnic groups, as described in textbooks and instructional materials adopted by a school district;

• The discussion of controversial aspects of history; or

• The instruction and instructional materials on the historical oppression of a particular group of people.

• Requires that every 6 years, the state Department of Education shall incorporate the following fundamental american documents and speeches into middle and high school social studies curriculum, including, but not limited to Sec. 1):

• The Mayflower Compact;

• The Declaration of Independence;

• The Constitution of the United States;

• The Bill of Rights;

• The Monroe Doctrine by James Monroe;

• What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? Speech by Fredrick Douglass;

• The U.S. Supreme Court Opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford:

• The Final Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln;

• The Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States by Susan B. Anthony;

• The August 31, 1910 New Nationalism speech by Theordore Roosevelt;

• The January 11, 1944 State of the Union Address by Franklin D. Roosevelt;

• The U.S. Supreme Court opinions in Brown v. Board of Education;

• Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr; and

• A Time for Choosing by Ronald Regan.

• Specifies that any instruction on current, controversial topics related to public policy of social affairs provided to public school or public charter school students shall be (Sec. 2)

• within the range of knowledge, understanding, age, and maturity of the students receiving the instruction; and

• Relevant, objective, nondiscriminatory, and respectful to the differing perspectives of students.

• Prohibits an employee of a public school district or public charter school from violating a student’s first amendment right by requiring or incentivizing a student or advocate in a civic space on behalf of a perspective with which the student or the parent or guardian of a minor student does not agree (Sec. 2).

• Specifies that an employee of a local school district or public charter school shall not be required to engage in training, orientation, or therapy that coerces the employee to stereotype any group (Sec. 2).

Full Bill Text