HB5553 SFA Grady #1 3-6 as amended

Osgood  7820

 

Senator Grady moved to amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

article 2. required courses of instruction.

§18-2-7c. Program in personal finance.

(a) The Legislature finds and declares that persons with an understanding of personal finance are better prepared to manage their money and that providing a personal finance program in secondary schools in West Virginia will prepare students to handle their finances.

(b) To provide students a basic understanding of personal finance, the state board shall develop a program of instruction on personal finance which may be integrated into the curriculum of an appropriate existing course or courses for students in secondary schools.

(c) Beginning with the class of students entering 9th grade in the 2024-2025 school year and thereafter, each high school student shall complete one-half credit course of study in personal finance during their 11th or 12th grade year as a requirement for high school graduation. The State Board of Education state board shall develop and issue implementation guidance to local school boards and other education agencies as to curriculum, content matter standards, eligible teacher certification(s), and graduation requirements the course may fulfill before July 1, 2024.

(d) Every student shall complete a course in personal finance prior to high school graduation.

§18-2-9. Required courses of instruction.

(a) (1) In all public, private, parochial, and denominational schools located within this state there shall be given prior to the completion of the eighth grade at least one year of instruction in the history of the State of West Virginia. The schools shall require regular courses of instruction by the completion of the 12th grade in the history of the United States, in civics, in the Constitution of the United States, and in the government of the State of West Virginia for the purpose of teaching, fostering, and perpetuating the ideals, principles, and spirit of political and economic democracy in America, and increasing the knowledge of the organization and machinery of the government of the United States and of the State of West Virginia. The required courses shall include instruction on the institutions and structure of American government, such as the separation of powers, the Electoral College, and federalism. The required courses shall include instruction that provides students an understanding of American political philosophy and history, utilizing writings from prominent figures in Western civilization, such as Aristotle, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Thomas Jefferson. The courses of instruction shall offer an objective and critical analysis of ideologies throughout history including, but not limited to, capitalism, republicanism, democracy, socialism, communism, and fascism. The required courses shall emphasize the use of primary sources and interactive learning techniques, such as mock scenarios, debates, and open and impartial discussions.

(2) The state board shall, with the advice of the state superintendent, and after consultation with other entities, prescribe the courses of study, including the basic course requirements for middle school and high school, and the academic standards listed in subdivision (1) of this subsection for these courses of study covering these subjects for the public schools, and publish an approved list of instructional resources pursuant to §18-2A-1 et seq. of this code. The curriculum used in the delivery of instruction shall cover the standards adopted for such courses. The other entities for consultation may include such organizations as the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship, the College Board, the Bill of Rights Institute, Hillsdale College, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the Constitutional Sources Project, educators, school administrators, postsecondary education representatives, elected officials, business and industry leaders, parents, and the public.  Officials or boards having authority over the respective private, parochial, and denominational schools shall prescribe courses of study for the schools under their control and supervision similar to those required for the public schools.

(3) The state board shall provide testing or assessment instruments for the history and civics courses of instruction required by this section. These testing instruments shall:

(A) Be aligned with the academic standards required by this section;

(B) Be mandatory for students enrolled in those courses of instruction;

(C) Be cumulative by including questions about knowledge learned in prior history and civics courses; and

(D) Measure students' factual and conceptual knowledge including how the facts interrelate and the reasons behind historical documents and events.

(4) To further this study, every high school student eligible by age for voter registration shall be afforded the opportunity to register to vote pursuant to §3-2-22 of this code.

(b) The state board shall cause to be taught in all public schools of this state the subject of health education, including instruction in any of the grades six through 12 as considered appropriate by the county board, on: (1) The prevention, transmission, and spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome and other sexually transmitted diseases; (2) substance abuse, including the nature of alcoholic drinks and narcotics, tobacco products, and other potentially harmful drugs, with special instruction as to their effect upon the human system and upon society in general; (3) the importance of healthy eating and physical activity in maintaining healthy weight; and (4) education concerning cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid, including instruction in the care for conscious choking, and recognition of symptoms of drug or alcohol overdose. The course curriculum requirements and materials for the instruction shall be adopted by the state board by rule in consultation with the Department of Health. The state board shall prescribe a standardized health education assessment to be administered within health education classes to measure student health knowledge and program effectiveness.

(c) An opportunity shall be afforded to the parent or guardian of a child subject to instruction in the prevention, transmission, and spread of acquired immune deficiency syndrome and other sexually transmitted diseases to examine the course curriculum requirements and materials to be used in the instruction. The parent or guardian may exempt the child from participation in the instruction by giving notice to that effect in writing to the school principal.

(d) After July 1, 2015, the required instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation in subsection (b) of this section shall include at least 30 minutes of instruction for each student prior to graduation on the proper administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the psychomotor skills necessary to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The term "psychomotor skills" means the use of hands-on practicing to support cognitive learning. Cognitive-only training does not qualify as "psychomotor skills". The CPR instruction shall be based on an instructional program established by the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross, or another program which is nationally recognized and uses the most current national evidence-based emergency cardiovascular care guidelines and incorporates psychomotor skills development into the instruction. A licensed teacher is not required to be a certified trainer of cardiopulmonary resuscitation to facilitate, provide, or oversee such instruction. The instruction may be given by community members, such as emergency medical technicians, paramedics, police officers, firefighters, licensed nurses, and representatives of the American Heart Association or the American Red Cross. These community members are encouraged to provide necessary training and instructional resources such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation kits and other material at no cost to the schools. The requirements of this subsection are minimum requirements. A local school district may offer CPR instruction for longer periods of time and may enhance the curriculum and training components, including, but not limited to, incorporating into the instruction the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED): Provided, That any instruction that results in a certification being earned shall be taught by an authorized CPR/AED instructor.

(e) A full week of classes during the week selected by the county board of education shall be recognized as Celebrate Freedom Week. The purpose of Celebrate Freedom Week is to educate students about the sacrifices made for freedom in the founding of this country and the values on which this country was founded.

Celebrate Freedom Week shall include appropriate instruction in each social studies class which:

(1) Includes an in-depth study of the intent, meaning, and importance of the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Constitution of the United States with an emphasis on the amendments that are crucial to the survival of democracy and freedom, such as the Bill of Rights and the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th amendments;

(2) Uses the historical, political, and social environments surrounding each document at the time of its initial passage or ratification; and

(3) Includes the study of historical documents to firmly establish the historical background leading to the establishment of the provisions of the constitution and Bill of Rights by the founding fathers for the purposes of safeguarding our constitutional republic.

The requirements of this subsection are applicable to all public, private, parochial, and denominational schools located within this state. Nothing in this subsection creates a standard or requirement subject to state accountability measures.

(f) Beginning the 2018-2019 school year, students in public schools shall be administered a test the same as or substantially similar to the civics portion of the naturalization test used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services between their ninth and 12th grade years as an indicator of student achievement in the area of civics education. The test results may be reported in the aggregate to the county board for evaluation by the board's curriculum director and reported to the board members. Nothing in this subsection creates a standard or requirement subject to state accountability measures.

(g) Beginning with the class of students entering ninth grade in the 2024-2025 school year, and thereafter, each high school student shall have the option of completing a one-half credit course of study in personal finance during their ninth through 12th grade year as a requirement for high school graduation; or

(h) Beginning with the ninth-grade class entering in the 2026-2027 school year, a one-half credit course of study in a high school computer science course as a requirement for high school graduation.

(3) “Computer science” means the study of computers, algorithmic processes, coding, and logical thinking, including computer principles, their hardware and software designs, their implementation, and their impact on society.  Content should focus on teaching students how to create new technologies, not simply how to use technology.   Computer science does not include the study of everyday uses of computers and computer applications, such as keyboarding, word processing, digital literacy, or accessing the internet.

(4) The one-half high school credit for computer science required in this subsection may be earned in grades eight through twelve.

(5) A computer science course offered for high school credit shall:

(A) Be of high quality; and

(B) Meet or exceed the standards established by the state board; and

(6) The state board shall update computer science standards to include a high school introductory computer science course including foundational computer science concepts.

(7) Beginning in August of 2025, the state board shall make available to all public schools a list of foundational computer science courses that meet the requirements for this course.  The list shall include both half credit and full credit courses.

(A) Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, a public school district may employ a computer science teacher at each high school in the public school district.

(B) A computer science teacher employed in accordance with this subsection shall hold      a teaching certificate approved by the state board.

(8) The state board may adopt rules to administer the provisions of this subsection, including rules for flexible options to license computer science teachers including, but not limited to, an authorization or endorsement.

(9) The computer science course may be used to fulfill existing graduation requirements, as determined by the state board.

(i) All public schools located within this state shall give age-appropriate instruction on the Holocaust, the systematic, planned annihilation on European Jews and other groups by Nazi Germany, a watershed event in the history of humanity, to be taught in a manner that leads to an investigation of human behavior and an examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions: Provided, That beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, each public school, including each public charter school, shall incorporate age-appropriate reading and discussion into its Holocaust education curriculum, in grades 10 or 11. The Holocaust discussion must include a reading of The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank.

 

 

 

 

Adopted

Rejected