Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1660
By Senator Thurston
33-00788-20 20201660__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to required instruction; creating s.
3 1003.4551, F.S.; requiring the Department of Education
4 to annually verify that school districts, charter
5 schools, and specified private schools implement
6 certain instruction relating to the history of the
7 Holocaust and the history of African Americans;
8 defining the term “private school”; providing
9 requirements for school districts, charter schools,
10 and specified private schools relating to such
11 instruction; providing district school board, charter
12 school governing board, and private school director
13 requirements relating to such instruction; requiring
14 district school superintendents, charter school
15 principals, and private school directors to annually
16 provide specified evidence to the department by a
17 certain date; requiring that a district school
18 superintendent’s salary be withheld under certain
19 circumstances; authorizing the State Board of
20 Education to adopt rules; amending s. 1008.22, F.S.;
21 requiring certain statewide, standardized assessments
22 to include, when appropriate, curricula content from
23 the history of the Holocaust and the history of
24 African Americans; providing an effective date.
25
26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28 Section 1. Section 1003.4551, Florida Statutes, is created
29 to read:
30 1003.4551 School district, charter school, and private
31 school implementation of the history of the Holocaust and the
32 history of African Americans.—
33 (1) Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, the Department
34 of Education shall annually verify that each school district,
35 charter school, and private school implements the instruction
36 required under s. 1003.42(2)(g) and (h), relating to the history
37 of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans,
38 efficiently and faithfully throughout the school district’s,
39 charter school’s, or private school’s entire curriculum, as
40 appropriate. For purposes of this section, the term “private
41 school” means a private school that accepts scholarship students
42 who participate in a state scholarship program under chapter
43 1002.
44 (2) Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, each school
45 district, charter school, and private school must:
46 (a) Develop, and each school board, charter school
47 governing board, and private school director or similar position
48 must adopt, a plan for the implementation of the history of the
49 Holocaust and the history of African Americans required
50 instruction and publicize such plan in the school district’s,
51 charter school’s, or private school’s curriculum guides and on
52 the school district’s, charter school’s, or private school’s
53 website.
54 (b) Develop and implement an ongoing professional
55 development plan for training instructional staff in strategies
56 for teaching the history of the Holocaust and the history of
57 African Americans. The school district, charter school, or
58 private school must allocate adequate resources to structured
59 professional development programs and for enhancing the
60 instruction of the history of the Holocaust and the history of
61 African Americans in an infused format.
62 (c) Integrate curricula for the history of the Holocaust
63 and the history of African Americans that meet the requirements
64 of s. 1003.42(2)(g) and (h) as part of the school district’s,
65 charter school’s, or private school’s curriculum. Such curricula
66 must be distributed to curriculum specialists, teachers, media
67 specialists, and other instructional staff. The school district,
68 charter school, or private school must ensure that adequate
69 instructional resources, including, but not limited to, books,
70 compact discs, digital media, and lesson plans, are available to
71 support such instruction.
72 (d) Include the history of the Holocaust and the history of
73 African Americans content in lesson plans for the entire school
74 year, as appropriate.
75 (e) Approve methods for teaching and assessing the history
76 of the Holocaust and the history of African Americans curricula.
77 (f) Include the history of the Holocaust and the history of
78 African Americans content in any preparations for statewide
79 assessments, when appropriate.
80 (g) Include the history of the Holocaust and the history of
81 African Americans content in all appropriate subject areas.
82 (h) Partner with a state university for the development and
83 implementation of professional development, curricula, and
84 instructional support, including jointly seeking external
85 funding and aiding in the preparation of teachers and other
86 instructional staff.
87 (i) Develop strategies to involve parents in the
88 implementation of the curricula for the history of the Holocaust
89 and the history of African Americans, including through
90 awareness information sessions.
91 (j) Partner with community members in the development and
92 ongoing implementation of the history of the Holocaust and the
93 history of African Americans curricula.
94 (3) By August 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, each
95 district school superintendent, charter school principal, and
96 private school director or similar position shall provide to the
97 department, in a format prescribed by the department, evidence
98 of school district, charter school, and private school
99 compliance with subsection (2). However, if a district school
100 superintendent fails to provide such evidence, his or her salary
101 must be withheld until he or she provides such evidence.
102 (4) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to
103 administer this section.
104 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section
105 1008.22, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
106 1008.22 Student assessment program for public schools.—
107 (3) STATEWIDE, STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.—The
108 Commissioner of Education shall design and implement a
109 statewide, standardized assessment program aligned to the core
110 curricular content established in the Next Generation Sunshine
111 State Standards. The commissioner also must develop or select
112 and implement a common battery of assessment tools that will be
113 used in all juvenile justice education programs in the state.
114 These tools must accurately measure the core curricular content
115 established in the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards.
116 Participation in the assessment program is mandatory for all
117 school districts and all students attending public schools,
118 including adult students seeking a standard high school diploma
119 under s. 1003.4282 and students in Department of Juvenile
120 Justice education programs, except as otherwise provided by law.
121 If a student does not participate in the assessment program, the
122 school district must notify the student’s parent and provide the
123 parent with information regarding the implications of such
124 nonparticipation. The statewide, standardized assessment program
125 shall be designed and implemented as follows:
126 (a) Statewide, standardized comprehensive assessments.—The
127 statewide, standardized Reading assessment shall be administered
128 annually in grades 3 through 10. The statewide, standardized
129 Writing assessment shall be administered annually at least once
130 at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. When the
131 Reading and Writing assessments are replaced by English Language
132 Arts (ELA) assessments, ELA assessments shall be administered to
133 students in grades 3 through 10. Retake opportunities for the
134 grade 10 Reading assessment or, upon implementation, the grade
135 10 ELA assessment must be provided. Students taking the ELA
136 assessments shall not take the statewide, standardized
137 assessments in Reading or Writing. Reading passages and writing
138 prompts for ELA assessments shall incorporate grade-level core
139 curricula content from social studies and, when appropriate,
140 curricula content from the history of the Holocaust and the
141 history of African Americans. The statewide, standardized
142 Mathematics assessments shall be administered annually in grades
143 3 through 8. Students taking a revised Mathematics assessment
144 shall not take the discontinued assessment. The statewide,
145 standardized Science assessment shall be administered annually
146 at least once at the elementary and middle grades levels. In
147 order to earn a standard high school diploma, a student who has
148 not earned a passing score on the grade 10 Reading assessment
149 or, upon implementation, the grade 10 ELA assessment must earn a
150 passing score on the assessment retake or earn a concordant
151 score as authorized under subsection (9).
152 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.