Text of IL HB 1485 (2024)

103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 HB1485 Introduced , by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: See Index Creates the Inclusive American History Act. Establishes the Inclusive American History Commission to (i) address the deficiencies and inadequacies in both perspective and content in traditional history course material and instruction and (ii) develop multiperspective, inclusive, and comprehensive standards that a school may use as a guide in replacing or developing its curricula for history education. Sets forth the membership of the Commission. Contains provisions concerning meetings, duties, and reporting. Repeals these provisions on December 31, 2024. Amends the Courses of Study Article of the School Code. Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, requires schools to suspend all instruction in history education, with exceptions. Not later than June 30, 2024, requires the State Superintendent of Education to provide to schools instructional guidelines and standards based on the recommendations of the Commission so that schools may develop alternative curricula to replace traditional course material and instruction to ensure that students obtain a multiperspective, inclusive, and comprehensive understanding about history. Provides that beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, schools shall resume instruction in history, which shall require the use of age-appropriate discussion, textbooks, and other course material that reframe the study of history by presenting to students an examination of history through the inclusion of diverse perspectives, contrary interpretations, and the viewpoints of various groups of people whose voices have traditionally been excluded from the conventional teaching of history. Effective immediately. LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT MAY APPLY A BILL FOR HB1485LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1 AN ACT concerning education. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the 5Inclusive American History Act. 6 Section 5. Statement of findings; Inclusive American 7History Commission creation and purpose. 8 (a) In an effort to create a well-informed, tolerant, and 9equitable society, students in grades kindergarten through 12 10in this State should receive an unbiased, objective, and 11thorough education in history. Traditional course material and 12instruction have failed to provide to students a comprehensive 13education in history because the historical narrative has 14always been presented and interpreted from the perspective of 15one rather than from the perspective of many. To the detriment 16of our society, this limited narrative in history instruction 17and course material rarely teaches our students about the 18contributions made by or the marginalization of women, Black 19people, indigenous people, Latinx people, and people of color, 20faith-based minorities, ethnic minorities, immigrants, members 21of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, 22persons with disabilities, and many others. Traditional 23teaching materials so often fail to provide for any study HB1485- 2 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1about slavery, racism, and civil rights that teachers must 2often purchase their own supplementary materials in order to 3teach their students about these subjects. The objective in 4the reframing of history education in this State is not to 5exclude, prohibit, or deny the narrative, perspective, or 6accomplishments of any cultural group or people, but rather to 7recognize and include the narrative, perspective, and 8accomplishments of all. The reframing of history education 9must present to students a fair and accurate historical 10narrative that acknowledges both the triumphs and the failures 11of a society. Therefore, the teaching of history to students 12in this State must be reformed and reframed in order to provide 13our students with a multiperspective, inclusive, and 14comprehensive understanding of history. Rather than requiring 15each school to be responsible for the research, study, and 16investigation necessary to develop alternative or revised 17instructional standards for the teaching of history, 18instructional guidelines and standards should be provided to 19schools statewide so that each school may develop the 20alternative curricula it needs to replace traditional course 21material and instruction. 22 (b) The Inclusive American History Commission is created 23to (i) address the deficiencies and inadequacies in both 24perspective and content in traditional course material and 25instruction and (ii) develop multiperspective, inclusive, and 26comprehensive standards that a school may use as a guide in HB1485- 3 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1replacing or developing its curricula for history education. 2 Section 10. Membership. The Governor shall appoint all of 3the following members to the Commission: 4 (1) Two members who are history scholars. 5 (2) Two members who represent publishers of history 6 textbooks. 7 (3) Two full-time teachers of a public elementary 8 school in this State. 9 (4) Two full-time teachers who teach history courses 10 at a public secondary school in this State. 11 (5) Two full-time faculty members who teach history 12 courses at a public institution of higher education in 13 this State. 14 (6) Two students who are enrolled in a public 15 secondary school in this State. 16 (7) Four parents who have children enrolled in a 17 public elementary or secondary school in this State. 18 (8) Additional persons who are members of 19 not–for–profit organizations that represent women, Black 20 people, indigenous people, Latinx people, and people of 21 color, ethnic minorities, faith-based minorities, 22 immigrants, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 23 community, and persons with disabilities. 24 (9) One member representing regional offices of 25 education, recommended by a statewide organization that HB1485- 4 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1 represents regional superintendents of schools. 2 (10) One member representing school boards, 3 recommended by a statewide organization that represents 4 school boards. 5 (11) One member representing school principals, 6 recommended by a statewide organization that represents 7 school principals. 8 (12) One member representing school administrators, 9 recommended by a statewide organization that represents 10 school administrators. 11 (13) One member representing teachers, recommended by 12 a statewide organization that represents teachers. 13 (14) One member representing teachers, recommended by 14 a different statewide organization that represents 15 teachers. 16 (15) One member representing teachers, recommended by 17 an organization representing teachers of a school 18 district. 19 (16) One member representing a school district 20 organized under Article 34 of the School Code. 21 (17) One member representing large unit school 22 districts. 23 (18) One member representing suburban Chicago school 24 districts. 25 (19) One member representing south suburban Chicago 26 school districts. HB1485- 5 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1 (20) Two members representing school districts located 2 in the central region of this State. 3 (21) Two members representing school districts located 4 in the southern region of this State. 5 Vacancies shall be filled in the same manner as the 6original appointments. 7 Section 15. Meetings; chairperson; support; expenses. 8 (a) The Commission shall meet initially at the call of the 9Governor within 30 days after the effective date of this Act, 10shall select one member as chairperson at its initial meeting, 11and shall thereafter meet at least monthly or more often as the 12chairperson of the Commission deems necessary at the times and 13places in this State that the chairperson designates. 14 (b) The State Board of Education shall provide 15administrative and other support to the Commission. 16 (c) Members of the Commission shall serve without 17compensation but shall be reimbursed for their reasonable and 18necessary expenses from funds appropriated to the State Board 19of Education for that purpose, including travel, subject to 20the rules of the appropriate travel control board. 21 Section 20. Duties. The duties of the Commission shall 22include, but are not limited to, all of the following: 23 (1) To evaluate history textbooks and other course 24 material for breadth and accuracy of content. HB1485- 6 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1 (2) To research, study, and determine the content and 2 material to present to students in the teaching of 3 history. 4 (3) To propose revisions to course standards and 5 instructional guidelines so that students may receive a 6 multiperspective, inclusive, and comprehensive 7 instruction in history. 8 (4) To provide opportunities for the public, 9 educators, students, parents, and other interested parties 10 to comment on proposed changes in history course standards 11 and instruction. 12 (5) To develop guidelines for age-appropriate 13 instructional standards, textbooks, and other course 14 material an elementary or secondary school may use in 15 replacing or developing its curricula for history 16 education. 17 Section 25. Reporting. 18 (a) The Commission shall file a report on its findings, 19research, proposals, and guidelines with the Governor, the 20General Assembly, and the State Board of Education on or 21before December 31, 2023. Upon filing its report, the 22Commission is dissolved. 23 (b) The State Board of Education shall make available to 24the State Superintendent of Education the report filed by the 25Commission under subsection (a). The State Superintendent HB1485- 7 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1shall incorporate the recommendations made by the Commission 2into the instructional guidelines and standards provided to 3schools for the development of alternative curricula under 4Section 27-23.17 of the School Code. 5 Section 50. Repealer. This Act is repealed on December 31, 62024. 7 Section 90. The School Code is amended by changing 8Sections 27-3.5, 27-20.4, 27-20.5, 27-21, and 27-22 and by 9adding Section 27-23.17 as follows: 10 (105 ILCS 5/27-3.5) 11 Sec. 27-3.5. Congressional Medal of Honor film. Subject to 12Section 27-23.17, each Each school district shall require that 13all students in grade 7 and all high school students enrolled 14in a course concerning history of the United States or a 15combination of history of the United States and American 16government view a Congressional Medal of Honor film made by 17the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. This requirement 18does not apply if the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation 19charges the school district a fee for a film. 20(Source: P.A. 96-99, eff. 7-27-09.) 21 (105 ILCS 5/27-20.4) (from Ch. 122, par. 27-20.4) 22 Sec. 27-20.4. Black History study. Subject to Section HB1485- 8 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 127-23.17, every Every public elementary school and high school 2shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying 3the events of Black History, including the history of the 4pre-enslavement of Black people from 3,000 BCE to AD 1619, the 5African slave trade, slavery in America, the study of the 6reasons why Black people came to be enslaved, the vestiges of 7slavery in this country, and the study of the American civil 8rights renaissance. These events shall include not only the 9contributions made by individual African-Americans in 10government and in the arts, humanities and sciences to the 11economic, cultural and political development of the United 12States and Africa, but also the socio-economic struggle which 13African-Americans experienced collectively in striving to 14achieve fair and equal treatment under the laws of this 15nation. The studying of this material shall constitute an 16affirmation by students of their commitment to respect the 17dignity of all races and peoples and to forever eschew every 18form of discrimination in their lives and careers. 19 Subject to Section 27-23.17, the The State Superintendent 20of Education may prepare and make available to all school 21boards instructional materials, including those established by 22the Amistad Commission, which may be used as guidelines for 23development of a unit of instruction under this Section; 24provided, however, that each school board shall itself 25determine the minimum amount of instruction time which shall 26qualify as a unit of instruction satisfying the requirements HB1485- 9 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1of this Section. 2 A school may meet the requirements of this Section through 3an online program or course. 4(Source: P.A. 100-634, eff. 1-1-19; 101-654, eff. 3-8-21.) 5 (105 ILCS 5/27-20.5) (from Ch. 122, par. 27-20.5) 6 Sec. 27-20.5. Study of the History of Women. Every public 7elementary school and high school shall include in its 8curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of the 9history of women in America, subject to Section 27-23.17. 10These events shall include not only the contributions made by 11individual women in government, the arts, sciences, education, 12and in the economic, cultural, and political development of 13Illinois and of the United States, but shall also include a 14study of women's struggles to gain the right to vote and to be 15treated equally as they strive to earn and occupy positions of 16merit in our society. 17 Subject to Section 27-23.17, the The State Superintendent 18of Education may prepare and make available to all school 19boards instructional materials that may be used as guidelines 20for development of a unit of instruction under this Section. 21Each school board shall determine the minimum amount of 22instructional time that shall qualify as a unit of instruction 23satisfying the requirements of this Section. 24(Source: P.A. 86-1256.) HB1485- 10 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1 (105 ILCS 5/27-21) (from Ch. 122, par. 27-21) 2 Sec. 27-21. History of United States. History of the 3United States shall be taught in all public schools and in all 4other educational institutions in this State supported or 5maintained, in whole or in part, by public funds, subject to 6Section 27-23.17. The teaching of history shall have as one of 7its objectives the imparting to pupils of a comprehensive idea 8of our democratic form of government and the principles for 9which our government stands as regards other nations, 10including the studying of the place of our government in 11world-wide movements and the leaders thereof, with particular 12stress upon the basic principles and ideals of our 13representative form of government. The teaching of history 14shall include a study of the role and contributions of African 15Americans and other ethnic groups, including, but not 16restricted to, Polish, Lithuanian, German, Hungarian, Irish, 17Bohemian, Russian, Albanian, Italian, Czech, Slovak, French, 18Scots, Hispanics, Asian Americans, etc., in the history of 19this country and this State. To reinforce the study of the role 20and contributions of Hispanics, such curriculum shall include 21the study of the events related to the forceful removal and 22illegal deportation of Mexican-American U.S. citizens during 23the Great Depression. In public schools only, the teaching of 24history shall include a study of the roles and contributions 25of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the 26history of this country and this State. The teaching of HB1485- 11 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1history also shall include a study of the role of labor unions 2and their interaction with government in achieving the goals 3of a mixed free enterprise system. Beginning with the 42020-2021 school year, the teaching of history must also 5include instruction on the history of Illinois, subject to 6Section 27-23.17. The teaching of history shall include the 7contributions made to society by Americans of different faith 8practices, including, but not limited to, Muslim Americans, 9Jewish Americans, Christian Americans, Hindu Americans, Sikh 10Americans, Buddhist Americans, and any other collective 11community of faith that has shaped America. Subject to Section 1227-23.17, no No pupils shall be graduated from the eighth 13grade of any public school unless he or she has received such 14instruction in the history of the United States and gives 15evidence of having a comprehensive knowledge thereof, which 16may be administered remotely. 17(Source: P.A. 101-227, eff. 7-1-20; 101-341, eff. 1-1-20; 18101-643, eff. 6-18-20; 102-411, eff. 1-1-22.) 19 (105 ILCS 5/27-22) (from Ch. 122, par. 27-22) 20 Sec. 27-22. Required high school courses. 21 (a) (Blank). 22 (b) (Blank). 23 (c) (Blank). 24 (d) (Blank). 25 (e) Through the 2023-2024 school year, as a prerequisite HB1485- 12 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1to receiving a high school diploma, each pupil entering the 29th grade must, in addition to other course requirements, 3successfully complete all of the following courses: 4 (1) Four years of language arts. 5 (2) Two years of writing intensive courses, one of 6 which must be English and the other of which may be English 7 or any other subject. When applicable, writing-intensive 8 courses may be counted towards the fulfillment of other 9 graduation requirements. 10 (3) Three years of mathematics, one of which must be 11 Algebra I, one of which must include geometry content, and 12 one of which may be an Advanced Placement computer science 13 course. A mathematics course that includes geometry 14 content may be offered as an integrated, applied, 15 interdisciplinary, or career and technical education 16 course that prepares a student for a career readiness 17 path. 18 (3.5) For pupils entering the 9th grade in the 19 2022-2023 school year and 2023-2024 school year, one year 20 of a course that includes intensive instruction in 21 computer literacy, which may be English, social studies, 22 or any other subject and which may be counted toward the 23 fulfillment of other graduation requirements. 24 (4) Two years of science. 25 (5) Two years of social studies, of which at least one 26 year must be history of the United States or a combination HB1485- 13 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1 of history of the United States and American government, 2 subject to Section 27-23.17, and, beginning with pupils 3 entering the 9th grade in the 2016-2017 school year and 4 each school year thereafter, at least one semester must be 5 civics, which shall help young people acquire and learn to 6 use the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will prepare 7 them to be competent and responsible citizens throughout 8 their lives. Civics course content shall focus on 9 government institutions, the discussion of current and 10 controversial issues, service learning, and simulations of 11 the democratic process. School districts may utilize 12 private funding available for the purposes of offering 13 civics education. Beginning with pupils entering the 9th 14 grade in the 2021-2022 school year, one semester, or part 15 of one semester, may include a financial literacy course. 16 (6) One year chosen from (A) music, (B) art, (C) 17 foreign language, which shall be deemed to include 18 American Sign Language, (D) vocational education, or (E) 19 forensic speech (speech and debate). A forensic speech 20 course used to satisfy the course requirement under 21 subdivision (1) may not be used to satisfy the course 22 requirement under this subdivision (6). 23 (e-5) Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, as a 24prerequisite to receiving a high school diploma, each pupil 25entering the 9th grade must, in addition to other course 26requirements, successfully complete all of the following HB1485- 14 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1courses: 2 (1) Four years of language arts. 3 (2) Two years of writing intensive courses, one of 4 which must be English and the other of which may be English 5 or any other subject. If applicable, writing-intensive 6 courses may be counted toward the fulfillment of other 7 graduation requirements. 8 (3) Three years of mathematics, one of which must be 9 Algebra I, one of which must include geometry content, and 10 one of which may be an Advanced Placement computer science 11 course. A mathematics course that includes geometry 12 content may be offered as an integrated, applied, 13 interdisciplinary, or career and technical education 14 course that prepares a student for a career readiness 15 path. 16 (3.5) One year of a course that includes intensive 17 instruction in computer literacy, which may be English, 18 social studies, or any other subject and which may be 19 counted toward the fulfillment of other graduation 20 requirements. 21 (4) Two years of laboratory science. 22 (5) Two years of social studies, of which at least one 23 year must be history of the United States or a combination 24 of history of the United States and American government 25 and at least one semester must be civics, which shall help 26 young people acquire and learn to use the skills, HB1485- 15 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1 knowledge, and attitudes that will prepare them to be 2 competent and responsible citizens throughout their lives. 3 Civics course content shall focus on government 4 institutions, the discussion of current and controversial 5 issues, service learning, and simulations of the 6 democratic process. School districts may utilize private 7 funding available for the purposes of offering civics 8 education. One semester, or part of one semester, may 9 include a financial literacy course. 10 (6) One year chosen from (A) music, (B) art, (C) 11 foreign language, which shall be deemed to include 12 American Sign Language, (D) vocational education, or (E) 13 forensic speech (speech and debate). A forensic speech 14 course used to satisfy the course requirement under 15 subdivision (1) may not be used to satisfy the course 16 requirement under this subdivision (6). 17 (e-10) Beginning with the 2028-2029 school year, as a 18prerequisite to receiving a high school diploma, each pupil 19entering the 9th grade must, in addition to other course 20requirements, successfully complete 2 years of foreign 21language courses, which may include American Sign Language. A 22pupil may choose a third year of foreign language to satisfy 23the requirement under subdivision paragraph (6) of subsection 24(e-5). 25 (f) The State Board of Education shall develop and inform 26school districts of standards for writing-intensive HB1485- 16 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1coursework. 2 (f-5) If a school district offers an Advanced Placement 3computer science course to high school students, then the 4school board must designate that course as equivalent to a 5high school mathematics course and must denote on the 6student's transcript that the Advanced Placement computer 7science course qualifies as a mathematics-based, quantitative 8course for students in accordance with subdivision (3) of 9subsection (e) of this Section. 10 (g) Public Act 83-1082 This amendatory Act of 1983 does 11not apply to pupils entering the 9th grade in 1983-1984 school 12year and prior school years or to students with disabilities 13whose course of study is determined by an individualized 14education program. 15 Public Act 94-676 This amendatory Act of the 94th General 16Assembly does not apply to pupils entering the 9th grade in the 172004-2005 school year or a prior school year or to students 18with disabilities whose course of study is determined by an 19individualized education program. 20 Subdivision (3.5) of subsection (e) does not apply to 21pupils entering the 9th grade in the 2021-2022 school year or a 22prior school year or to students with disabilities whose 23course of study is determined by an individualized education 24program. 25 Subsection (e-5) does not apply to pupils entering the 9th 26grade in the 2023-2024 school year or a prior school year or to HB1485- 17 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1students with disabilities whose course of study is determined 2by an individualized education program. Subsection (e-10) does 3not apply to pupils entering the 9th grade in the 2027-2028 4school year or a prior school year or to students with 5disabilities whose course of study is determined by an 6individualized education program. 7 (h) The provisions of this Section are subject to the 8provisions of Section 27-22.05 of this Code and the 9Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act. 10 (i) The State Board of Education may adopt rules to modify 11the requirements of this Section for any students enrolled in 12grades 9 through 12 if the Governor has declared a disaster due 13to a public health emergency pursuant to Section 7 of the 14Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act. 15(Source: P.A. 101-464, eff. 1-1-20; 101-643, eff. 6-18-20; 16101-654, Article 50, Section 50-5, eff. 3-8-21; 101-654, 17Article 60, Section 60-5, eff. 3-8-21; 102-366, eff. 8-13-21; 18102-551, eff. 1-1-22; 102-864, eff. 5-13-22; revised 9-2-22.) 19 (105 ILCS 5/27-23.17 new) 20 Sec. 27-23.17. Instruction in history. Notwithstanding any 21other provision of this Article to the contrary, beginning 22with the 2023-2024 school year, schools must suspend all 23instruction in history education. This suspension does not 24apply to instruction during the 2023-2024 school year to 25students entering their final year of elementary or secondary HB1485- 18 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1school during the 2023-2024 school year who must receive 2history instruction in order to satisfy graduation, college 3admission, scholarship, or other academic requirements or to 4instruction under Section 27-3 or 27-3.10. Notwithstanding 5Section 27-21, instruction in civics education shall be taught 6in place of instruction in the history of the United States 7during the 2023-2024 school year. Not later than June 30, 82023, the State Superintendent of Education must prepare and 9make available to schools instructional guidelines for these 10courses in civics education. Not later than June 30, 2024, the 11State Superintendent of Education must provide to schools 12instructional guidelines and standards based on the 13recommendations of the Inclusive American History Commission 14that are contained in the report filed under Section 25 of the 15Inclusive American History Act so that schools may develop 16alternative curricula to replace traditional course material 17and instruction to ensure that students obtain a 18multiperspective, inclusive, and comprehensive understanding 19about history. Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, 20schools shall resume instruction in history under this 21Section, which shall require the use of age-appropriate 22discussion, textbooks, and other course material that reframe 23the study of history by presenting to students an examination 24of history through the inclusion of diverse perspectives, 25contrary interpretations, and the viewpoints of various groups 26of people, such as women, Black people, indigenous people, HB1485- 19 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1Latinx people, and people of color, ethnic minorities, 2faith-based minorities, immigrants, members of the lesbian, 3gay, bisexual, and transgender community, persons with 4disabilities, and the poor and working class, whose voices 5have traditionally been excluded from the conventional 6teaching of history. 7 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 8becoming law. HB1485- 20 -LRB103 03533 RJT 48539 b 1 INDEX 2 Statutes amended in order of appearance