Text of MI HB 4829 (2025)

HOUSE BILL NO. 4829 A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled "The revised school code," by amending sections 1278a and 1531 (MCL 380.1278a and 380.1531), section 1278a as amended by 2022 PA 105 and section 1531 as amended by 2023 PA 110, and by adding sections 1166d, 1174, and 1531k. the people of the state of michigan enact: Sec. 1166d. (1) Beginning with pupils who enter high school in the 2026-2027 school year, the board of a school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of a public school academy shall require a 2-semester course of study of 5 periods per week in constitutional literacy. A high school shall not issue a diploma to a pupil described in this section who has not successfully completed this course. All of the following apply to the constitutional literacy course required under this section: (a) The constitutional literacy course must provide instruction on at least all of the following: (i) The intellectual sources of the United States' founding documents. (ii) The political and military narrative of the causes and progress of the American Revolution. (iii) The United States' founding documents and their original intent. (iv) The Constitution of the United States, including instruction on all components of the Bill of Rights, and the state constitution of 1963. (v) The basic principles of the United States' republican form of government. (vi) The historical development of the United States' republican form of government. (vii) How the United States' republican form of government compares to different forms of government including dictatorship, monarchy, oligarchy, theocracy, communism, and autocracy. (viii) The structure, function, and processes of government institutions at the federal, state, and local levels. (ix) Civic virtues exemplified in the lives of famous Americans. (x) What the oath of office entails for elected officials and the consequences of violating it. (xi) What separates the American flag from other flags. (xii) Instruction on what makes a veteran, understanding the difference between different types of veteran designations, and holidays pertaining to veterans. (xiii) The meaning behind the Pledge of Allegiance. (xiv) Why diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives were removed from the United States military and other branches of the federal government. (xv) The dangers of communist and socialist forms of government. The instruction provided under this subparagraph must include all of the following: (A) The foundational principles of communism developed by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and later theorists, including class struggle, the abolition of private property, central economic planning, and collectivized ownership of the means of production. (B) Historical examples of communist regimes including, but not limited to, the People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong, Cuba under Fidel Castro, North Korea under the Kim dynasty, and Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. Emphasis must be placed on authoritarian practices, suppression of dissent, and loss of individual freedoms. (C) Evidence of political purges, censorship, religious persecution, forced labor camps, mass starvation, and other violations of human rights. Estimated death tolls and demographic impacts must be presented using reputable historical sources. (D) An analysis of the difference between communist governance and the core principles of the United States Constitution, including individual liberty, the rule of law, private property rights, limited government, federalism, and separation of powers. (b) The constitutional literacy course may not require or award credit to student work for, affiliation with, practicums in, or service learning in association with any organization engaged in lobbying for legislation at the state or federal level or in social or public policy advocacy. (c) No public school may permit content-based censorship in the constitutional literacy course based on religious or cultural references in a writing, document, or record pertaining to the constitutional literacy course. (d) No public school may permit a student to be prevented from, or punished in any way for, using a religious or cultural reference from a writing, document, or record pertaining to the constitutional literacy course. (e) The constitutional literacy course must interpret the Constitution of the United States in its historical context. (f) The constitutional literacy course must not teach that Judeo-Christian thought had no influence on the creation of our founding documents. (g) No aspect of the 1619 Project may be taught in the constitutional literacy course. (2) The board of a school district or intermediate school district or board of directors of a public school academy shall ensure that no teacher instructs pupils in material contrary to what the Constitution of the United States stands for. A teacher that instructs pupils in material contrary to what the Constitution of the United States stands for is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $5,000.00 and subject to both of the following: (a) Immediate termination from employment at the public school in which the teacher is employed. (b) Suspension of the teacher's teaching certificate through the process described in section 1535a. (3) If the governing body of a public school determines that students were instructed in material contrary to what the Constitution of the United States stands for, the governing body shall ensure that a constitutional educator is provided to correct any misleading educational content. (4) As used in this section: (a) "Basic principles of the United States' republican form of government" means institutions and principles to preserve liberty and prevent misuse of government power, including balance of power, consent of the governed, the electoral college, federalism and the division of powers between the federal government and the states, individual liberties, rights of life, liberty, and property, popular sovereignty, religious freedom, an educated citizenry, representative government, civilian control of the military, rule of law, control of faction, checks and balances, and separation of powers among the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. (b) "Civic virtues" means virtues including ambition, charity, cheerfulness, courage, curiosity, endurance, faith, forbearance, gratitude, hardiness, industry, initiative, patience, pluck, prudence, responsibility, self-control, self-reliance, temperance, and thrift. (c) "Famous Americans" means individuals including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Ely Parker, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, Walter Reed, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Curtis, Will Rogers, Jim Thorpe, Jackie Robinson, George Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Feynman, and Neil Armstrong. (d) "Historical development of the United States' republican form of government" means events including the federalist and antifederalist debates, the rise and role of political parties, the rise of Jacksonian democracy, the expansion of the ideals and institutions of liberty and republican self-government to include all Americans, regardless of sex or race, the causes and the constitutional consequences of the Civil War, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Nineteenth Amendments, the rise of the new deal administrative state, and Supreme Court cases including Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Dred Scott v. Sandford, Pembina Consolidated Silver Mining Co. v. Pennsylvania, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Brown v. Board of Education. (e) "Intellectual sources of the United States' founding documents" means historical sources including documents that illustrate the Greek, Hebrew, and Roman exemplars of liberty and republican government; the Christian synthesis of Greek, Hebrew, and Roman thought that emphasized the equal dignity of all individual humans in the eyes of God; the medieval English inheritance of common law, jury, local self-government, liberty, and representative government; the early modern English inheritance of Christian liberty, republicanism, militia, accountable government, mixed government, parliamentary sovereignty, freedom of the press, and the English Bill of Rights and Toleration Act; the colonial American inheritance of Christian liberty, self-government, and local government; and the Enlightenment theories of Locke, Montesquieu, Smith, and their contemporaries that universalized the European traditions of liberty. (f) "Political and military narrative of the causes and progress of the American Revolution" means events including the French and Indian War; colonial American debates about and resistance to increased British regulation and taxation; the Boston Massacre, including the roles of John Adams and Crispus Attucks; the Boston Tea Party; the military occupation of Boston; the Intolerable Acts; the preparation of the colonists for armed conflict; Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech; the proceedings of the First and Second Continental Congresses; the Battles of Lexington and Concord; the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and the Noble Train of Artillery; the Siege of Boston and the Battle of Bunker Hill; the drafting, signing, and publication of the Declaration of Independence; the loss of New York City; the victories at Trenton and Princeton; the victory at Saratoga; the training and reorganization of the army at Valley Forge; Benjamin Franklin's diplomacy and the French alliance; the Battle of Monmouth; Benedict Arnold's attempted treason; successful American resistance to British efforts to crush the Revolution in the south; the Yorktown campaign; the disbanding of the Continental Army; the Treaty of Peace; and Washington's resignation. (g) "United States' founding documents" means texts including the Mayflower Compact, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Pennsylvania Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, the Northwest Ordinance, the Constitution of the United States, the Federalist Papers, including, but not limited to, Essays 10 and 51, George Washington's farewell address, excerpts from Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," the first Lincoln-Douglas debate, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the writings of the founding fathers of the United States. Sec. 1174. All of the following apply to classroom instruction provided under this act: (a) No teacher shall be compelled by a policy of any state agency, school district, intermediate school district, public school academy, or school administration to affirm a belief in the so-called systemic nature of racism, or like ideas, or in the so-called multiplicity or fluidity of gender identities, or like ideas, against the teacher's sincerely held religious or philosophical convictions. (b) A state agency, school district, or school shall not teach, instruct, or train any administrator, teacher, staff member, or employee to adopt or believe, and no teacher, administrator, or other employee shall make use of, standards, curricula, lesson plans, textbooks, instructional materials, or instructional practices that serve to inculcate the following concepts: (i) One race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex. (ii) An individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously. (iii) An individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment solely or partly because of the individual's race. (iv) Members of one race cannot or should not attempt to treat others without respect to race. (v) An individual's moral standing or worth is necessarily determined by the individual's race or sex. (vi) An individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex. (vii) An individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's race or sex. (viii) Meritocracy or traits such as a hard work ethic are racist or sexist, or were created by members of a particular race to oppress members of another race. (ix) Fault, blame, or bias should be assigned to a race or sex, or to members of a race or sex because of their race or sex. (x) That the advent of slavery in the territory that is now the United States constituted the true founding of the United States. (xi) That, with respect to their relationship to American values, slavery and racism are anything other than deviations from, betrayals of, or failures to live up to, the authentic founding principles of the United States, which include liberty and equality. Sec. 1278a. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section or section 1278b, the board of a school district or board of directors of a public school academy shall not award a high school diploma to a pupil unless the pupil meets all of the following: (a) Has successfully completed all of the following credit requirements of the Michigan merit standard before graduating from high school: (i) At least 4 credits in mathematics that are aligned with subject area content expectations developed by the department and approved by the state board under section 1278b, including completion of at least algebra I, geometry, and algebra II, or an integrated sequence of this course content that consists of 3 credits, and an additional mathematics credit, such as trigonometry, statistics, precalculus, calculus, applied math, accounting, business math, a retake of algebra II, or, for only pupils entering grade 8 before 2023, a course in financial literacy as described in section 1165. A pupil may complete algebra II over 2 years with 2 credits awarded or over 1.5 years with 1.5 credits awarded for the purposes of this section and section 1278b. A pupil also may partially or fully fulfill the algebra II requirement by completing a department-approved formal career and technical education program or curriculum, such as a program or curriculum in electronics, machining, construction, welding, engineering, computer science, or renewable energy, and in that program or curriculum successfully completing the same content as the algebra II benchmarks assessed on the department-prescribed state high school assessment, as determined by the department. The department shall post on its website guidelines for implementation of the immediately preceding sentence. Each pupil must successfully complete at least 1 mathematics course during his or her the pupil's final year of high school enrollment. This subparagraph does not require completion of mathematics courses in any particular sequence. (ii) At least 3 credits in social science that are aligned with subject area content expectations developed by the department and approved by the state board under section 1278b, including completion of at least 1 credit in United States history and geography, 1 credit in world history and geography, 1/2 credit in economics, and the civics course described in section 1166(2). For only pupils entering grade 8 before 2023, the 1/2-credit economics requirement may be satisfied by completion of at least a 1/2-credit course in personal economics that includes a financial literacy component as described in section 1165, if that course covers the subject area content expectations for economics developed by the department and approved by the state board under section 1278b. The 1/2 credit in economics required under this subparagraph cannot be fulfilled by completion of the 1/2 credit course in personal finance described in subsection (3). (iii) At least 1 credit in subject matter that includes both health and physical education aligned with guidelines developed by the department and approved by the state board under section 1278b, or at least 1/2 credit in health aligned with guidelines developed by the department and approved by the state board under section 1278b and at least 1/2 credit awarded by the school district or public school academy for approved participation in extracurricular athletics or other extracurricular activities involving physical activity. (iv) At least 1 credit in visual arts, performing arts, or applied arts, as defined by the department, that is aligned with guidelines developed by the department and approved by the state board under section 1278b. A school district or public school academy is strongly encouraged to offer visual arts and performing arts courses. (v) The credit requirements specified in section 1278b(1). (b) Meets the online course or learning experience requirement of this subsection. A school district or public school academy shall provide the basic level of technology and internet access required by the state board to complete the online course or learning experience. For a pupil to meet this requirement, the pupil must meet either of the following, as determined by the school district or public school academy: (i) Has successfully completed at least 1 course or learning experience that is presented online, as defined by the department. (ii) The pupil's school district or public school academy has integrated an online experience throughout the high school curriculum by ensuring that each teacher of each course that provides the required credits of the Michigan merit curriculum has integrated an online experience into the course. (c) Beginning with pupils who enter high school in the 2026-2027 school year, has successfully completed the constitutional literacy course required under section 1166d. (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, and in addition to the requirements under subsection (1), the board of a school district or board of directors of a public school academy shall not award a high school diploma to a pupil unless the pupil has successfully completed during grades K to 12 at least 2 credits that are grade-appropriate in a language other than English or course work coursework or other learning experiences that are substantially equivalent to 2 credits in a language other than English, based on guidelines developed by the department. A pupil may partially or fully fulfill 1 credit of this requirement by completing a department-approved formal career and technical education program or curriculum or by completing visual or performing arts instruction that is in addition to the requirements under subsection (1)(a)(iv). The board of a school district or board of directors of a public school academy is strongly encouraged to ensure that all pupils complete at least 1 credit in a language other than English in grades K to 6. For the purposes of this subsection, both of the following apply: (a) American Sign Language is considered to be a language other than English. (b) The pupil may meet all or part of this requirement with online course work.coursework. (3) Beginning with pupils entering grade 8 in 2023, the board of a school district or board of directors of a public school academy shall not award a high school diploma to a pupil unless the pupil completes a 1/2 credit course in personal finance that aligns with subject area content expectations developed by the department and approved by the state board under section 1278b. The 1/2 credit course in personal finance must fulfill 1/2 credit of mathematics required under subsection (1)(a)(i), 1/2 credit of visual arts, performing arts, or applied arts required under subsection (1)(a)(iv), or 1/2 credit of a language other than English required under subsection (2), as determined by the board of the school district or board of directors of the public school academy in which the pupil is enrolled. The 1/2 credit course in personal finance required under this subsection may be fulfilled through a department-approved formal career and technical education program or curriculum that aligns with the subject area content expectations developed by the department and approved by the state board for the credit under section 1278b. (4) The requirements under this section and section 1278b for a high school diploma are in addition to any local requirements imposed by the board of a school district or board of directors of a public school academy. The board of a school district or board of directors of a public school academy, as a local requirement for a high school diploma, may require a pupil to complete the Michigan merit examination under section 1279g or may require a pupil to participate in the MIAccess assessments if appropriate for the pupil. (5) For the purposes of this section and section 1278b, all of the following apply: (a) A pupil is considered to have completed a credit if the pupil successfully completes the subject area content expectations or guidelines developed by the department that apply to the credit. For a career and technical education credit, a school district or public school academy may supplement those content expectations and guidelines with additional guidelines developed by the school district or public school academy. (b) A school district or public school academy shall base its determination of whether a pupil has successfully completed the subject area content expectations or guidelines developed by the department that apply to a credit at least in part on the pupil's performance on assessments developed or selected by the department or on 1 or more assessments developed or selected by the school district or public school academy that measure a pupil's understanding of the subject area content expectations or guidelines that apply to the credit. (c) A school district or public school academy shall also grant a pupil a credit if the pupil earns a qualifying score, as determined by the department, on assessments developed or selected for the subject area by the department or the pupil earns a qualifying score, as determined by the school district or public school academy, on 1 or more assessments developed or selected by the school district or public school academy that measure a pupil's understanding of the subject area content expectations or guidelines that apply to the credit. (6) If a high school is designated by the superintendent of public instruction as a specialty school and the high school meets the requirements of subsection (7), the pupils of the high school are not required to successfully complete the 4 credits in English language arts required under section 1278b(1)(a) or the 3 credits in social science required under subsection (1)(a)(ii) and the school district or public school academy is not required to ensure that each pupil is offered the curriculum necessary for meeting those English language arts or social science credit requirements. The superintendent of public instruction may designate up to 15 high schools that meet the requirements of this subsection as specialty schools. Subject to this maximum number, the superintendent of public instruction shall designate a high school as a specialty school if the superintendent of public instruction finds that the high school meets all of the following criteria: (a) The high school incorporates a significant reading and writing component throughout its curriculum. (b) The high school uses a specialized, innovative, and rigorous curriculum in such areas as performing arts, foreign language, extensive use of internships, or other learning innovations that conform to pioneering innovations among other leading national or international high schools. (7) A high school that is designated by the superintendent of public instruction as a specialty school under subsection (6) is only exempt from requirements as described under subsection (6) as long as the superintendent of public instruction finds that the high school continues to meet all of the following requirements: (a) The high school clearly states to prospective pupils and their parents that it does not meet the requirements of the Michigan merit standard under this section and section 1278b but is a designated specialty school that is exempt from some of those requirements and that a pupil who enrolls in the high school and subsequently transfers to a high school that is not a specialty school meeting the requirements of this subsection will be required to comply with the requirements of the Michigan merit standard under this section and section 1278b. (b) For the most recent year for which the data are available, the mean scores on both the mathematics and science portions of the applicable state assessment for the pupils of the high school exceed by at least 10% the mean scores on the mathematics and science portions of the applicable state assessment for the pupils of the school district in which the greatest number of the pupils of the high school reside. (c) For the most recent year for which the data are available, the high school had a graduation rate of at least 85%, as determined by the department. (d) For the most recent year for which the data are available, at least 75% of the pupils who graduated from the high school the preceding year are enrolled in a postsecondary institution. (e) All pupils of the high school are required to meet the mathematics credit requirements of subsection (1)(a)(i), with no modification of these requirements under section 1278b(5), and each pupil is offered the curriculum necessary to meet this requirement. (f) All pupils of the high school are required to meet the science credit requirements of section 1278b(1)(b) and are also required to successfully complete at least 1 additional science credit, for a total of at least 4 science credits, with no modification of these requirements under section 1278b(5), and each pupil is offered the curriculum necessary to meet this requirement. Sec. 1531. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall determine the requirements for and issue all licenses, certificates, and endorsements for teachers, including preprimary teachers and teachers as counselors, in the public schools of this state. (2) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall only issue a teaching certificate or additional endorsement to an individual who has passed appropriate available examinations. The superintendent of public instruction may accept passage of an equivalent examination approved by the superintendent of public instruction to meet this requirement for an individual holding a teaching certificate from another state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe. (3) Except as otherwise provided in this act, the superintendent of public instruction shall only issue a teaching certificate to an individual who has met the elementary or secondary, as applicable, reading credit requirements established under superintendent of public instruction rule. If an individual holds a teaching certificate, notwithstanding any rule to the contrary, the superintendent of public instruction shall not advance the individual's certification to professional certification unless the individual has successfully completed at least a 3-credit course of study with appropriate field experiences in the diagnosis and remediation of reading disabilities and differentiated instruction. To meet this requirement, the course of study should include the following elements, as determined by the department to be appropriate for the individual's certification level and endorsements: interest inventories, English language learning screening, visual and auditory discrimination tools, language expression and processing screening, phonemics, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, spelling and writing assessment tools, and instructional strategies. An individual may complete the course of study as part of his or her the individual's teacher preparation program. (4) Any revisions to existing reading standards must include the recognition of reading disorders and enable teachers to make referrals for instruction and support for pupils with reading disorders. (5) Subject to subsection (8), if an individual holding a teaching certificate from another state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe applies to the superintendent of public instruction for a Michigan teaching certificate and meets the requirements of this subsection, the superintendent of public instruction shall issue to the individual a Michigan teaching certificate and endorsements comparable to those the individual holds in the other state or country or with the federally recognized Indian tribe without requiring the individual to pass the appropriate examinations otherwise required under subsection (2) or to complete the reading credit requirement established under superintendent of public instruction rule as described in subsection (3). To be eligible to receive a Michigan teaching certificate under this subsection, an individual shall provide evidence satisfactory to the department that he or she the individual has taught successfully for at least 3 years in a position for which the individual's teaching certification from the other state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe was valid. (6) Subject to subsection (8), an individual holding a teaching certificate from another state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe is eligible for a Michigan professional education certificate if the individual meets both of the following: (a) The individual has taught successfully for at least 3 years in a position for which the individual's teaching certification from the other state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe was valid. (b) The individual meets the elementary or secondary, as applicable, reading credit requirement established under superintendent of public instruction rule as described in subsection (3). (7) Subject to subsection (8), if an individual holding a teaching certificate from another state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe applies to the superintendent of public instruction for an additional endorsement on a valid Michigan teaching certificate and meets the requirements of this subsection, the superintendent of public instruction shall issue the individual an endorsement comparable to that which the individual holds in the other state or country or with the federally recognized Indian tribe without requiring that the individual pass the appropriate available examinations otherwise required under subsection (2). To be eligible to receive an additional endorsement under this subsection, an individual shall provide evidence satisfactory to the department that he or she the individual has taught successfully for at least 3 years in a position for which the individual's teaching endorsement from the other state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe is valid. (8) The superintendent of public instruction shall deny a Michigan teaching certificate or endorsement to an individual described in subsection (5), (6), or (7) for fraud, material misrepresentation, or concealment in the individual's application for a certificate or for a conviction for which an individual's teaching certificate may be suspended or revoked under section 1535a. (9) For the purposes of this section, the superintendent of public instruction, based upon criteria recommended by a committee of teachers, representatives of approved teacher education institutions, Michigan education organizations and associations, and experts in measurement and assessment, shall develop, select, or develop and select 1 or more subject area examinations. In addition, the superintendent of public instruction, based upon criteria recommended by the committee described in this subsection, shall approve a reading subtest to be taken and passed by individuals seeking pre-K to grade 3 or grade 3 to grade 6-level endorsement. If the department develops for use under this subsection an examination that had previously been contracted for using a competitive bid process, then the department shall not expend on the development of that examination an amount that exceeds the amount that the department expended on procurement of the most recent competitively-bid version of that examination. The competitive bid process must address validity, reliability, and other technical standards of the examinations and of the appropriate administration and use of those examinations. (10) Not later than November 30 of each year, the superintendent of public instruction shall submit in writing a report on the development or selection and use of the subject area examinations to the house and senate education committees. The report must also contain a financial statement regarding revenue received from the assessment of fees levied under subsection (12) and the amount of and any purposes for which that revenue was expended. (11) The examinations required by this section may be taken at different times during an approved teacher preparation program, but the examinations, as applicable, must be passed before an individual is recommended for certification. (12) The department, or if approved by the superintendent of public instruction, a private testing service, may assess fees for taking the appropriate available examinations described in subsection (2). The fees, which must be set by the superintendent of public instruction, must not exceed the actual cost of the examination and of administering the examination. Fees received by the department must be expended solely for administrative expenses that it incurs in implementing this section. If the superintendent of public instruction increases a fee charged for an examination under this subsection, at least 1 year before implementing the fee increase, the department shall notify each approved teacher education institution of the amount of the fee increase. An approved teacher education institution shall notify each of its affected students of the timing and amount of such a fee increase. (13) If an individual holding a teaching certificate from another state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe applies for a Michigan teaching certificate and meets all requirements for the Michigan teaching certificate except passage of the appropriate available examinations under subsection (2) or the reading credit requirement under subsection (3), the superintendent of public instruction shall issue a nonrenewable temporary teaching certificate, good for 1 year, to the individual. The superintendent of public instruction shall not issue a Michigan teaching certificate to the individual after expiration of the temporary teaching certificate unless the individual has met the requirements of this section. (14) Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, the superintendent of public instruction shall issue a teaching certificate only to an individual who meets both of the following: (a) Has demonstrated proficiency and understanding of the Constitution of the United States and the state constitution of 1963. (b) Has signed a document informing the individual of the consequences of instructing material contrary to what the Constitution of the United States stands for as described in section 1166d. (15) (14) As used in this section: (a) "Additional endorsement" means an endorsement added to a Michigan teaching certificate after initial issuance of the certificate. (b) "An individual holding a teaching certificate from another state, country, or federally recognized Indian tribe" means an individual with a valid teaching certificate or an individual who is eligible for a teaching certificate in the state or country or with the federally recognized Indian tribe in which or with which the individual is certificated or eligible for certification. (c) "Subject area examination" means an examination related to an endorsement area for the purpose of demonstrating the applicant's knowledge and understanding of the subject matter and determining whether or not an applicant is eligible for a Michigan teaching certificate or endorsement. (16) (15) The superintendent of public instruction shall promulgate rules for the implementation of this section. (17) (16) Not later than January 1, 2019, the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with the department of labor and economic opportunity and groups or individuals representing employers, economic development agencies, trade unions, secondary school principals, middle and elementary school principals, teachers, school district and intermediate school district superintendents, and others as determined appropriate by the department, shall promulgate rules to allow an individual to use time spent engaging with local employers or technical centers toward the renewal of a teaching certificate in the same manner as state continuing education or professional development. Sec. 1531k. In addition to the requirements under sections 1538a and 1531i, as applicable, the department shall not, beginning September 30, 2026, approve a teacher preparation program or an alternative teaching program and, by September 30, 2026, shall revoke the approval of a teacher preparation program or an alternative teaching program unless the teacher preparation program or alternative teaching program offers instruction regarding constitutional literacy. The instruction in constitutional literacy required under this section must include at least all of the information required to be taught under section 1166d.