Florida Senate - 2020                             CS for SB 1628
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Education; and Senators Book, Hooper, Rader,
       Berman, and Cruz
       
       
       
       
       581-03382-20                                          20201628c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to Holocaust education; amending s.
    3         1003.42, F.S.; including the study of a specified
    4         policy against anti-Semitism in specified instruction;
    5         providing school district, charter school, and
    6         Department of Education requirements relating to such
    7         instruction; authorizing the department to work with
    8         certain Holocaust educational organizations for
    9         specified purposes relating to the required
   10         instruction; providing an effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Paragraph (g) of subsection (2) of section
   15  1003.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   16         1003.42 Required instruction.—
   17         (2) Members of the instructional staff of the public
   18  schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education
   19  and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and
   20  faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the
   21  highest standards for professionalism and historical accuracy,
   22  following the prescribed courses of study, and employing
   23  approved methods of instruction, the following:
   24         (g) The history of the Holocaust (1933-1945), the
   25  systematic, planned annihilation of European Jews and other
   26  groups by Nazi Germany, a watershed event in the history of
   27  humanity, to be taught in a manner that leads to an
   28  investigation of human behavior, an understanding of the
   29  ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an
   30  examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful
   31  person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity
   32  in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting
   33  democratic values and institutions, including the policy against
   34  anti-Semitism, as described in s. 1000.05(7). Each school
   35  district and charter school must annually certify and provide
   36  evidence to the department, in a manner prescribed by the
   37  department, that the requirements of this paragraph are met. The
   38  department shall prepare and offer curriculum standards for the
   39  instruction required by this paragraph and may work with the
   40  Florida Holocaust Museum and other state or nationally
   41  recognized Holocaust educational organizations to develop grade
   42  appropriate curricula, training for instructional personnel, and
   43  classroom resources for the instruction required by this
   44  paragraph.
   45  
   46  The State Board of Education is encouraged to adopt standards
   47  and pursue assessment of the requirements of this subsection. A
   48  character development program that incorporates the values of
   49  the recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and that is
   50  offered as part of a social studies, English Language Arts, or
   51  other schoolwide character building and veteran awareness
   52  initiative meets the requirements of paragraphs (s) and (t).
   53         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.