Florida Senate - 2019                                    SB 1480
       
       
        
       By Senator Stargel
       
       
       
       
       
       22-01473A-19                                          20191480__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to civics education; amending s.
    3         1003.4156, F.S.; requiring that instructional
    4         materials for certain civics education courses include
    5         only materials reviewed by the Florida Joint Center
    6         for Citizenship and approved by the Commissioner of
    7         Education; requiring the commissioner to identify
    8         errors and inaccuracies in state-adopted materials;
    9         requiring such errors and inaccuracies to be
   10         corrected; deleting obsolete language; providing an
   11         effective date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
   16  1003.4156, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   17         1003.4156 General requirements for middle grades
   18  promotion.—
   19         (1) In order for a student to be promoted to high school
   20  from a school that includes middle grades 6, 7, and 8, the
   21  student must successfully complete the following courses:
   22         (c) Three middle grades or higher courses in social
   23  studies. Beginning with students entering grade 6 in the 2012
   24  2013 school year, One of these courses must be at least a one
   25  semester civics education course that includes the roles and
   26  responsibilities of federal, state, and local governments; the
   27  structures and functions of the legislative, executive, and
   28  judicial branches of government; and the meaning and
   29  significance of historic documents, such as the Articles of
   30  Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the
   31  Constitution of the United States. The instructional materials
   32  for the civics education course shall include only instructional
   33  materials reviewed by the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship
   34  and approved by the Commissioner of Education. Any errors and
   35  inaccuracies in state-adopted materials identified by the
   36  commissioner must be corrected pursuant to s. 1006.35. Beginning
   37  with the 2013-2014 school year, Each student’s performance on
   38  the statewide, standardized EOC assessment in civics education
   39  required under s. 1008.22 constitutes 30 percent of the
   40  student’s final course grade. A middle grades student who
   41  transfers into the state’s public school system from out of
   42  country, out of state, a private school, or a home education
   43  program after the beginning of the second term of grade 8 is not
   44  required to meet the civics education requirement for promotion
   45  from the middle grades if the student’s transcript documents
   46  passage of three courses in social studies or two year-long
   47  courses in social studies that include coverage of civics
   48  education.
   49         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.