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.


LRB103 36788 RJT 66898 b

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT
MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB3461LRB103 36788 RJT 66898 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 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section
527-21.5 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27-21.5 new)
7    Sec. 27-21.5. Study of recent history.
8    (a) Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, every public
9elementary school and high school social studies course
10pertaining to American history shall include in its curriculum
11a unit of instruction studying the events of the previous 30
12years and the causes that led up to those events. This unit of
13instruction may be included as part of the unit of instruction
14required under Section 27-21.
15    The unit of instruction shall include a full, unbiased,
16objective, and thorough recount of various significant
17nationwide and global phenomena that occurred either directly
18before or during students' lives. Some events that may be
19covered during the initial years of instruction include, but
20are not limited to, the events of September 11, 2001, the Iraq
21War, the release of the iPhone in 2007, and the 2008 financial
22crisis.
23    (b) The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and

 

 

SB3461- 2 -LRB103 36788 RJT 66898 b

1make available to all school boards instructional materials
2and professional development opportunities that may be used as
3guidelines for development of a unit of instruction under this
4Section. However, each school board shall itself determine the
5minimum amount of instructional time that qualifies as a unit
6of instruction satisfying the requirements of this Section.
7    (c) The regional superintendent of schools shall monitor a
8school district's compliance with this Section's curricular
9requirements during the regional superintendent's annual
10compliance visit and make recommendations for improvement,
11including professional development.
 
12    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect July 1,
132024.