SB3461 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB103 36788 RJT 66898 b

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024
SB3461

Introduced 2/8/2024, by Sen. Craig Wilcox

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

105 ILCS 5/27-21.5 new

Amends the Courses of Study Article of the School Code. Provides that, beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, every public elementary school and high school social studies course pertaining to American history shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of the previous 30 years and the causes that led up to those events. Provides for what the unit of instruction shall and may include. Provides that the State Superintendent of Education may prepare and make available to all school boards instructional materials and professional development opportunities that may be used as guidelines for development of the unit of instruction. Provides that each school board shall itself determine the minimum amount of instructional time that qualifies as a unit of instruction. Provides that the regional superintendent of schools shall monitor a school district's compliance with the curricular requirements during the regional superintendent's annual compliance visit and make recommendations for improvement, including professional development. Effective July 1, 2024.

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning education.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section 27-21.5 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/27-21.5 new)

Sec. 27-21.5. Study of recent history.

(a) Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, every public elementary school and high school social studies course pertaining to American history shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of the previous 30 years and the causes that led up to those events. This unit of instruction may be included as part of the unit of instruction required under Section 27-21.

The unit of instruction shall include a full, unbiased, objective, and thorough recount of various significant nationwide and global phenomena that occurred either directly before or during students' lives. Some events that may be covered during the initial years of instruction include, but are not limited to, the events of September 11, 2001, the Iraq War, the release of the iPhone in 2007, and the 2008 financial crisis.

(b) The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and make available to all school boards instructional materials and professional development opportunities that may be used as guidelines for development of a unit of instruction under this Section. However, each school board shall itself determine the minimum amount of instructional time that qualifies as a unit of instruction satisfying the requirements of this Section.

(c) The regional superintendent of schools shall monitor a school district's compliance with this Section's curricular requirements during the regional superintendent's annual compliance visit and make recommendations for improvement, including professional development.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1, 2024.