81R291 CAE-D

By: Raymond H.B. No. 315

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the instruction of American Sign Language in public high schools.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 28.002(a) and (e), Education Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) Each school district that offers kindergarten through grade 12 shall offer, as a required curriculum:

(1) a foundation curriculum that includes:

(A) English language arts;

(B) mathematics;

(C) science; and

(D) social studies, consisting of Texas, United States, and world history, government, and geography; and

(2) an enrichment curriculum that includes:

(A) to the extent possible, subject to Subsection (e), languages other than English;

(B) health, with emphasis on the importance of proper nutrition and exercise;

(C) physical education;

(D) fine arts;

(E) economics, with emphasis on the free enterprise system and its benefits;

(F) career and technology education;

(G) technology applications; and

(H) religious literature, including the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and New Testament, and its impact on history and literature.

(e) American Sign Language is a language for purposes of Subsection (a)(2)(A). A public high school shall [may] offer an elective course in the language, and another public school may offer an elective course in the language. The required elective high school course may not be offered through teleconferencing or another electronic means, but must be offered through in-person instruction by a teacher in the classroom.

SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2010-2011 school year.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.