HB 505

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to required instruction for public
3	schools; amending s. 1003.42, F.S.; requiring that the
4	character-development program for kindergarten through
5	grade 12 include conflict-resolution management; providing
6	an effective date.
7
8	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
9
10	Section 1.  Subsection (2) of section 1003.42, Florida
11	Statutes, is amended to read:
12	1003.42  Required instruction.--
13	(2)  Members of the instructional staff of the public
14	schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education
15	and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and
16	faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the
17	highest standards for professionalism and historic accuracy,
18	following the prescribed courses of study, and employing
19	approved methods of instruction, the following:
20	(a)  The history and content of the Declaration of
21	Independence, including national sovereignty, natural law, self-
22	evident truth, equality of all persons, limited government,
23	popular sovereignty, and inalienable rights of life, liberty,
24	and property, and how they form the philosophical foundation of
25	our government.
26	(b)  The history, meaning, significance, and effect of the
27	provisions of the Constitution of the United States and
28	amendments thereto, with emphasis on each of the 10 amendments
29	that make up the Bill of Rights and how the constitution
30	provides the structure of our government.
31	(c)  The arguments in support of adopting our republican
32	form of government, as they are embodied in the most important
33	of the Federalist Papers.
34	(d)  Flag education, including proper flag display and flag
35	salute.
36	(e)  The elements of civil government, including the
37	primary functions of and interrelationships between the Federal
38	Government, the state, and its counties, municipalities, school
39	districts, and special districts.
40	(f)  The history of the United States, including the period
41	of discovery, early colonies, the War for Independence, the
42	Civil War, the expansion of the United States to its present
43	boundaries, the world wars, and the civil rights movement to the
44	present. American history shall be viewed as factual, not as
45	constructed, shall be viewed as knowable, teachable, and
46	testable, and shall be defined as the creation of a new nation
47	based largely on the universal principles stated in the
48	Declaration of Independence.
49	(g)  The history of the Holocaust (1933-1945), the
50	systematic, planned annihilation of European Jews and other
51	groups by Nazi Germany, a watershed event in the history of
52	humanity, to be taught in a manner that leads to an
53	investigation of human behavior, an understanding of the
54	ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an
55	examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful
56	person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity
57	in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting
58	democratic values and institutions.
59	(h)  The history of African Americans, including the
60	history of African peoples before the political conflicts that
61	led to the development of slavery, the passage to America, the
62	enslavement experience, abolition, and the contributions of
63	African Americans to society.
64	(i)  The elementary principles of agriculture.
65	(j)  The true effects of all alcoholic and intoxicating
66	liquors and beverages and narcotics upon the human body and
67	mind.
68	(k)  Kindness to animals.
69	(l)  The history of the state.
70	(m)  The conservation of natural resources.
71	(n)  Comprehensive health education that addresses concepts
72	of community health; consumer health; environmental health;
73	family life, including an awareness of the benefits of sexual
74	abstinence as the expected standard and the consequences of
75	teenage pregnancy; mental and emotional health; injury
76	prevention and safety; nutrition; personal health; prevention
77	and control of disease; and substance use and abuse.
78	(o)  Such additional materials, subjects, courses, or
79	fields in such grades as are prescribed by law or by rules of
80	the State Board of Education and the district school board in
81	fulfilling the requirements of law.
82	(p)  The study of Hispanic contributions to the United
83	States.
84	(q)  The study of women's contributions to the United
85	States.
86	(r)  The nature and importance of free enterprise to the
87	United States economy.
88	(s)  A character-development program in the elementary
89	schools, similar to Character First or Character Counts, which
90	is secular in nature. Beginning in school year 2004-2005, the
91	character-development program shall be required in kindergarten
92	through grade 12. Each district school board shall develop or
93	adopt a curriculum for the character-development program that
94	shall be submitted to the department for approval. The
95	character-development curriculum shall emphasize stress the
96	qualities of patriotism; responsibility; citizenship; kindness;
97	respect for authority, life, liberty, and personal property;
98	honesty; charity; self-control; racial, ethnic, and religious
99	tolerance; and cooperation; and conflict-resolution management,
100	including peer mediation.
101	(t)  In order to encourage patriotism, the sacrifices that
102	veterans have made in serving our country and protecting
103	democratic values worldwide. Such instruction must occur on or
104	before Veterans' Day and Memorial Day. Members of the
105	instructional staff are encouraged to use the assistance of
106	local veterans when practicable.
107
108	The State Board of Education is encouraged to adopt standards
109	and pursue assessment of the requirements of this subsection.
110	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.