Florida Senate - 2022                                     SB 188
       
       
        
       By Senator Brandes
       
       
       
       
       
       24-00294B-22                                           2022188__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to civic literacy education; amending
    3         s. 1003.44, F.S.; requiring the Commissioner of
    4         Education to develop criteria for a civic literacy
    5         practicum that meets certain goals; authorizing the
    6         practicum to be incorporated into a school’s
    7         curriculum beginning in a specified school year;
    8         providing purposes and requirements for the practicum;
    9         authorizing time spent on specified civic engagement
   10         activities to count toward requirements for certain
   11         scholarships and academic awards; creating s.
   12         1004.342, F.S.; establishing the Citizen Scholar
   13         Program within the University of South Florida;
   14         providing that the program will be headquartered at a
   15         specified location; requiring the program to contract
   16         with a specified entity to serve certain students,
   17         subject to appropriation; providing program
   18         requirements; providing undergraduate credit for
   19         program completion; prohibiting engaging in protest
   20         civics from counting toward credit under the Citizen
   21         Scholar Program; providing an effective date.
   22          
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Present subsection (6) of section 1003.44,
   26  Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (7), and a new
   27  subsection (6) is added to that section, to read:
   28         1003.44 Patriotic programs; rules.—
   29         (6)(a)The commissioner shall develop minimum criteria for
   30  a civic literacy practicum that helps students to evaluate the
   31  roles, rights, and responsibilities of United States citizens
   32  and to identify effective methods of active participation in
   33  society, government, and the political system. The practicum may
   34  be incorporated into a school’s curriculum for the high school
   35  United States Government course under s. 1003.4282(3)(d)
   36  beginning in the 2023-2024 school year.
   37         (b)The purpose of the practicum is to inspire meaningful
   38  civic engagement and to help students learn how governmental
   39  entities at the local, state, or federal level interact with the
   40  public that they represent and serve. The practicum must provide
   41  students with an opportunity to be civically engaged through any
   42  of the following activities:
   43         1.Participating in an unpaid internship at a governmental
   44  entity.
   45         2.Participating in a series of simulations or observations
   46  of one or more governmental entities performing their core
   47  functions in relation to the public. Such functions may include,
   48  but are not limited to, administrative, legislative, or judicial
   49  functions and other official business conducted by a
   50  governmental entity.
   51         3.Learning about the United States citizenship
   52  naturalization process and attending a United States citizenship
   53  naturalization oath ceremony.
   54         (c)The practicum must require each student to complete a
   55  research paper that includes all of the following:
   56         1.A reflection on the student’s experience participating
   57  in the civic engagement activity.
   58         2.An explanation of the significance of the governmental
   59  entity’s role in the student’s community, the state, or the
   60  nation.
   61         3.An explanation of how the governmental entity is
   62  responsive to the public.
   63         (d)The hours outside of classroom instruction which a
   64  student devotes to an unpaid civic engagement activity under
   65  paragraph (b) may count toward the community service
   66  requirements for participation in the Florida Bright Futures
   67  Scholarship Program. School districts are encouraged to include
   68  and accept civic literacy practicum activities and hours toward
   69  requirements for academic awards, especially those awards that
   70  include community service as a criterion or selection factor.
   71         Section 2. Section 1004.342, Florida Statutes, is created
   72  to read:
   73         1004.342The Center for Civic Engagement Citizen Scholar
   74  Program.—
   75         (1)The Citizen Scholar Program is created within the
   76  University of South Florida and shall be headquartered at the
   77  Center for Civic Engagement at the University of South Florida
   78  St. Petersburg due to the center’s commitment to enhancing civic
   79  literacy and community engagement in the next generation of
   80  leaders.
   81         (2)Subject to appropriation, the University of South
   82  Florida St. Petersburg shall contract with the YMCA, a nonprofit
   83  organization exempt from taxation under s. 501(c)(3) of the
   84  United States Internal Revenue Code, to provide students
   85  participating in the YMCA Youth in Government program the
   86  opportunity to be designated Citizen Scholars and earn
   87  undergraduate credit.
   88         (3)The Citizen Scholar Program must:
   89         (a)Implement concepts learned in the classroom in the
   90  local community, including, but not limited to, business,
   91  educational and social services, and laboratory research, to
   92  improve civic literacy and expand educational experiences for
   93  students.
   94         (b)Provide students with opportunities to deepen their
   95  knowledge of American democracy and improve civil discourse.
   96         (4)High school students completing the program shall
   97  receive up to 6 undergraduate credit hours and be known as
   98  Citizen Scholars.
   99         (5)Engaging in protest civics may not count toward credit
  100  under the Citizen Scholar Program.
  101         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.