Florida Senate - 2020              PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
       Bill No. CS for SB 1628
       
       
       
       
       
                               Ì231978WÎ231978                          
       
       576-03874-20                                                    
       Proposed Committee Substitute by the Committee on Appropriations
       (Appropriations Subcommittee on Education)
    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         requiring each school district to annually certify and
    6         provide evidence to the department that certain
    7         instructional requirements have been met; authorizing
    8         the department to work with a certain task force for
    9         specified purposes; designating the second week in
   10         November as Holocaust Education Week; requiring the
   11         Department of Education to rank school districts based
   12         on the efficacy of their Holocaust curriculum and
   13         instruction; requiring the department to publish those
   14         rankings; providing an effective date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Paragraph (g) of subsection (2) of section
   19  1003.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   20         1003.42 Required instruction.—
   21         (2) Members of the instructional staff of the public
   22  schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education
   23  and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and
   24  faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the
   25  highest standards for professionalism and historical accuracy,
   26  following the prescribed courses of study, and employing
   27  approved methods of instruction, the following:
   28         (g) The history of the Holocaust (1933-1945), the
   29  systematic, planned annihilation of European Jews and other
   30  groups by Nazi Germany, a watershed event in the history of
   31  humanity, to be taught in a manner that leads to an
   32  investigation of human behavior, an understanding of the
   33  ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an
   34  examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful
   35  person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity
   36  in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting
   37  democratic values and institutions, including the policy against
   38  anti-Semitism, as described in s. 1000.05(7). Each school
   39  district must annually certify and provide evidence to the
   40  department, in a manner prescribed by the department, that the
   41  requirements of this paragraph are met. The department may use
   42  the State of Florida Resource Manuals on Holocaust Education or
   43  may develop such alternative or additional curricula as deemed
   44  appropriate by the department. The department may work with the
   45  Commissioner of Education’s Task Force on Holocaust Education to
   46  develop grade-appropriate curricula, training for instructional
   47  personnel, and classroom resources for the instruction required
   48  by this paragraph. The second week in November shall be
   49  designated as Holocaust Education Week, in recognition that
   50  November is the anniversary of Kristallnacht, widely recognized
   51  as a precipitating event that led to the Holocaust. The
   52  Commissioner of Education’s Task Force on Holocaust Education
   53  shall rank yearly all school districts based on the efficacy of
   54  their Holocaust curriculum and instruction. The rankings shall
   55  be published yearly by the Department of Education and made
   56  available to the public.
   57  
   58  The State Board of Education is encouraged to adopt standards
   59  and pursue assessment of the requirements of this subsection. A
   60  character development program that incorporates the values of
   61  the recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and that is
   62  offered as part of a social studies, English Language Arts, or
   63  other schoolwide character building and veteran awareness
   64  initiative meets the requirements of paragraphs (s) and (t).
   65         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.