SB 3, Hse 2nd Rdg, Amnd #1

Amend SB 3 (house committee report) as follows:

(1) On page 6, line 2, strike "particular current event or".

(2) On page 6, lines 5 through 7, strike ", to the best of the teacher's ability, strive to explore that topic from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective" and substitute "explore that topic objectively and in a manner free from political bias".

(3) On page 7, lines 14 and 15, strike "for actions committed in the past" and substitute ", blame, or guilt for actions committed".

(4) On page 7, strike lines 16 through 18 and renumber subsequent subparagraphs accordingly.

(5) On page 8, line 12, strike "or".

(6) On page 8, line 18, between "advocacy" and the underlined period, insert the following:

; or

(3) a program that prepares the student for participation and leadership in this country's democratic process at the federal, state, or local level through the simulation of a governmental process, including the development of public policy

(7) Strike page 8, line 24, through page 9, line 1, and substitute the following appropriately lettered subsection:

(____) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may not implement, interpret, or enforce any rule in a manner that would result in the punishment of a student for reasonably discussing the concepts described by Subsection (a)(4) in school or during a school-sponsored activity or have a chilling effect on reasonable student discussions involving those concepts in school or during a school-sponsored activity.

(8) On page 9, between lines 4 and 5, insert the following appropriately lettered subsection:

(____) This section does not create a private cause of action against a teacher, administrator, or other employee of a school district or open-enrollment charter school. A school district or open-enrollment charter school may take appropriate action involving the employment of any teacher, administrator, or other employee based on the individual's compliance with state and federal laws and district policies.

(9) Add the following appropriately numbered SECTION to the bill and renumber subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:

SECTION ____. During the revision of the essential knowledge and skills for the social studies curriculum beginning in 2021 and scheduled to conclude in or around 2023, the State Board of Education may not use the removal by this Act of documents, speeches, historical figures, and other knowledge and skills from specific statutory reference in Section 28.002(h-2), Education Code, as added by HB 3979, Acts of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, as a reason for the removal or noninclusion of those documents, speeches, historical figures, or other knowledge and skills from the essential knowledge and skills for the social studies curriculum, including any essential knowledge and skills that require an understanding of:

(1) the fundamental moral, political, and intellectual foundations of the American experiment in self-government;

(2) the history, qualities, traditions, and features of civic engagement in the United States;

(3) the history of Native Americans;

(4) the structure, function, and processes of government institutions at the federal, state, and local levels;

(5) the founding documents of the United States, including:

(A) the Declaration of Independence;

(B) the United States Constitution; and

(6) the contributions of Frederick Douglass;

(7) the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850;

(8) the Indian Removal Act;

(9) the political organizations that promoted the Chicano movement;

(10) the impact of the women's suffrage and equal rights movements;

(11) the history of white supremacy, including the institution of slavery, the eugenics movement, and the Ku Klux Klan, and the ways in which it is morally wrong;

(12) the history and importance of the civil rights movement, including the following documents:

(A) Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" and "I Have a Dream" speech;

(B) the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. Section 2000a et seq.);

(D) the Emancipation Proclamation;

(E) the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution;

(F) the life and work of Cesar Chavez; and

(G) the life and work of Dolores Huerta;

(13) the history and importance of the women's suffrage movement, including the following documents:

(A) the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. Section 10101 et seq.);

(B) the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution;

(D) the works of Susan B. Anthony;

(14) the life and works of Dr. Hector P. Garcia;

(15) the League of United Latin American Citizens; and

(16) the United States Supreme Court's decision in Hernandez v. Texas (1954).