HB5333 EngrossedLRB098 17747 NHT 52867 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 changing Section
527-20.4 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27-20.4)  (from Ch. 122, par. 27-20.4)
7    Sec. 27-20.4. Black History Study. Every public elementary
8school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit
9of instruction studying the events of Black History, including
10the history of the African slave trade, slavery in America, and
11the vestiges of slavery in this country. These events shall
12include not only the contributions made by individual
13African-Americans in government and in the arts, humanities and
14sciences to the economic, cultural and political development of
15the United States and Africa, but also the socio-economic
16struggle which African-Americans experienced collectively in
17striving to achieve fair and equal treatment under the laws of
18this nation. The studying of this material shall constitute an
19affirmation by students of their commitment to respect the
20dignity of all races and peoples and to forever eschew every
21form of discrimination in their lives and careers.
22    The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and make
23available to all school boards instructional materials,

 

 

HB5333 Engrossed- 2 -LRB098 17747 NHT 52867 b

1including those established by the Amistad Commission, which
2may be used as guidelines for development of a unit of
3instruction under this Section; provided, however, that each
4school board shall itself determine the minimum amount of
5instruction time which shall qualify as a unit of instruction
6satisfying the requirements of this Section.
7    At the end of each school year, a school district must file
8a report with the State Board of Education that summarizes each
9school's instruction on Black History for that school year. On
10or before August 1 of each year, the State Board of Education
11shall compile these reports into a statewide report and file
12the statewide report with the General Assembly as provided in
13Section 3.1 of the General Assembly Organization Act.
14(Source: P.A. 94-285, eff. 7-21-05.)