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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.


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