By: Campbell, et al. S.B. No. 24

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the inclusion of an understanding of communist regimes and ideologies in the essential knowledge and skills for the social studies curriculum for certain public school students.

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

SECTION 1. Section 28.002, Education Code, is amended by adding Subsections (h-11) and (h-12) to read as follows:

(h-11) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for the social studies curriculum for each grade level from grade 4 through grade 12, the State Board of Education shall, as appropriate, adopt essential knowledge and skills that develop each student's understanding of communist regimes and ideologies and include age appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction with information on:

(1) the history of and tactics used by communist movements in the United States;

(2) historical events and atrocities attributable to communist regimes, including:

(A) the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward;

(B) the Holodomor, otherwise known as the Ukrainian Famine;

(C) the Soviet-era political purge known as the Great Terror;

(D) the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge;

(E) the origins and policies of the Communist Party of Cuba;

(F) communist guerrilla movements in Latin America; and

(G) the oppression and suffering experienced by people living under communist regimes, including mass murder, violent land seizures, show trials, concentration camps, forced labor, poverty, and general economic deterioration;

(3) a comparative analysis of:

(A) the ideologies of communism and totalitarianism contrasted with the United States' founding principles of freedom and democracy; and

(B) collectivist ideologies contrasted with the United States' founding principles of individual rights, merit-based advancement, and free enterprise;

(4) modern threats to the United States and its allies posed by communist regimes and ideologies;

(5) common economic, industrial, and political events that historically precede communist revolutions;

(6) the evolution of communist ideologies from economic, class-based theories into broader cultural movements that divide societies and maintain collective control over individual rights;

(7) common historical and modern methods used to spread communist ideologies, including:

(A) propaganda;

(B) public shaming tactics;

(C) censorship; and

(D) forced conformity; and

(8) first-person accounts, in the form of in-person, video-recorded, or written testimony, from the victims of communist regimes.

(h-12) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills required under Subsection (h-11), the State Board of Education:

(1) shall adopt and publish standards for the required instruction;

(2) shall seek input from:

(A) victims of communism willing to share their first-person accounts; and

(B) nationally recognized organizations dedicated to commemorating victims of communism; and

(3) may incorporate material from existing educational programs that provide instruction on the topic of communist regimes and ideologies, if the material meets the standards adopted by the State Board of Education under Subdivision (1).

SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.

SECTION 3. Not later than July 31, 2026, the State Board of Education shall review and revise, as needed, the essential knowledge and skills of the social studies curriculum as required by Section 28.002(h-11), Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 4. 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, 2025.