First Substitute H.B. 417

Representative Stewart Barlow proposes the following substitute bill:

1 EDUCATION ON PROCESS FOR ELECTING PUBLIC
2 OFFICIALS
3 2012 GENERAL SESSION
4 STATE OF UTAH
5 Chief Sponsor: Stewart Barlow
6 Senate Sponsor: ____________
7
8 LONG TITLE
9 General Description:
10 This bill modifies a provision relating to public school curriculum.
11 Highlighted Provisions:
12 This bill:
13 . requires students to be taught about the system of electing public officials; and
14 . specifies that the instruction is not intended to be a separate program needing
15 additional funding and that the curriculum may be developed with other curriculum
16 generally.
17 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
18 None
19 Other Special Clauses:
20 None
21 Utah Code Sections Affected:
22 AMENDS:
23 53A-13-109, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2011, Chapters 404 and 405
24
25 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:

26 Section 1. Section 53A-13-109 is amended to read:
27 53A-13-109. Civic and character education -- Definitions -- Legislative finding --
28 Elements -- Reporting requirements.
29 (1) As used in this section:
30 (a) "Character education" means reaffirming values and qualities of character which
31 promote an upright and desirable citizenry.
32 (b) "Civic education" means the cultivation of informed, responsible participation in
33 political life by competent citizens committed to the fundamental values and principles of
34 representative democracy in Utah and the United States.
35 (c) "Values" means time-established principles or standards of worth.
36 (2) The Legislature recognizes that:
37 (a) Civic and character education are fundamental elements of the public education
38 system's core mission as originally intended and established under Article X of the Utah
39 Constitution;
40 (b) Civic and character education are fundamental elements of the constitutional
41 responsibility of public education and shall be a continuing emphasis and focus in public
42 schools;
43 (c) the cultivation of a continuing understanding and appreciation of a constitutional
44 republic and principles of representative democracy in Utah and the United States among
45 succeeding generations of educated and responsible citizens is important to the nation and
46 state;
47 (d) the primary responsibility for the education of children within the state resides with
48 their parents or guardians and that the role of state and local governments is to support and
49 assist parents in fulfilling that responsibility;
50 (e) public schools fulfill a vital purpose in the preparation of succeeding generations of
51 informed and responsible citizens who are deeply attached to essential democratic values and
52 institutions; and
53 (f) the happiness and security of American society relies upon the public virtue of its
54 citizens which requires a united commitment to a moral social order where self-interests are
55 willingly subordinated to the greater common good.
56 (3) Through an integrated curriculum, students shall be taught in connection with

57 regular school work:
58 (a) honesty, integrity, morality, civility, duty, honor, service, and obedience to law;
59 (b) respect for and an understanding of the Declaration of Independence and the
60 constitutions of the United States and of the state of Utah;
61 (c) Utah history, including territorial and preterritorial development to the present;
62 (d) the essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system;
63 (e) respect for parents, home, and family;
64 (f) the dignity and necessity of honest labor; and
65 (g) other skills, habits, and qualities of character which will promote an upright and
66 desirable citizenry and better prepare students to recognize and accept responsibility for
67 preserving and defending the blessings of liberty inherited from prior generations and secured
68 by the constitution.
69 (4) Local school boards and school administrators may provide training, direction, and
70 encouragement, as needed, to accomplish the intent and requirements of this section and to
71 effectively emphasize civic and character education in the course of regular instruction in the
72 public schools.
73 (5) Civic and character education in public schools are:
74 (a) not intended to be separate programs in need of special funding or added specialists
75 to be accomplished; and
76 (b) core principles which reflect the shared values of the citizens of Utah and the
77 founding principles upon which representative democracy in the United States and the state of
78 Utah are based.
79 (6) (a) Subject to Subsections (6)(b) and (c), students shall be taught, in connection
80 with regular school work, about the process of electing federal, state, and county public
81 officials, including:
82 (i) registered political party caucuses and the process of selecting delegates to party
83 conventions;
84 (ii) a registered political party's nomination of candidates for the ballot; and
85 (iii) the qualification of unaffiliated candidates for the ballot.
86 (b) The instruction described in Subsection (6)(a) is not intended to be a separate
87 program in need of special funding or additional specialists.

88 (c) Curriculum for the instruction described in Subsection (6)(a) may be developed in
89 the regular course of developing curriculum generally.
90 [(6)] (7) To assist the Commission on Civic and Character Education in fulfilling the
91 commission's duties under Section 67-1a-10 , by December 30 of each year, each school district
92 and the State Charter School Board shall submit to the lieutenant governor and the commission
93 a report summarizing how civic and character education are achieved in the school district or
94 charter schools through an integrated school curriculum and in the regular course of school
95 work as provided in this section.
96 [(7)] (8) Each year, the State Board of Education shall report to the Education Interim
97 Committee, on or before the October meeting, the methods used, and the results being
98 achieved, to instruct and prepare students to become informed and responsible citizens through
99 an integrated curriculum taught in connection with regular school work as required in this
100 section.