SB 29: "An Act relating to civics education, civics assessments, and secondary school graduation requirements; establishing the Alaska Civics Education Commission; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 29 01 "An Act relating to civics education, civics assessments, and secondary school 02 graduation requirements; establishing the Alaska Civics Education Commission; and 03 providing for an effective date." 04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 * Section 1. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read: 06 Sec. 14.03.076. Civics curriculum and assessment requirement. (a) The 07 board shall develop and periodically review a statewide civics education curriculum 08 and assessment that are based on the civics portion of the naturalization examination 09 used by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services of the Department of 10 Homeland Security and primary source documents. The curriculum and assessment 11 must also include systems of government used by Alaska Natives. A district may use 12 the curriculum to educate students in civics. 13 (b) A school may not issue a secondary school diploma to a student unless the 14 student
01 (1) has completed one semester of a civics education course taught 02 using the curriculum developed under (a) of this section; 03 (2) has achieved a passing score on the civics assessment developed 04 under (a) of this section; or 05 (3) is a student with a disability and receives a waiver from the 06 governing body. 07 (c) If a student has achieved a passing score on the civics assessment 08 developed under (a) of this section, the school shall document on the student's 09 transcript that the student achieved a passing score. A student may retake the 10 assessment as needed to achieve a passing score. 11 (d) A district shall annually provide to the department a report that includes a 12 description of the civics courses offered in the district, average student performance on 13 the civics assessment, and other civics curriculum information as required by the 14 department in regulation. 15 (e) In this section, "passing score" means a student correctly answers 70 16 percent or more of the questions. 17 * Sec. 2. AS 14.07.168, as amended by sec. 22, ch. 40, SLA 2022, is amended to read: 18 Sec. 14.07.168. Report to the legislature. Not later than the 30th legislative 19 day of each regular session of the legislature, the board shall prepare and present [IN 20 PERSON] to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education an annual 21 report that describes the efforts of the board to develop, maintain, and continuously 22 improve a comprehensive quality public education system, as provided for under the 23 bylaws of the board. The report must include 24 (1) a summary of the resolves and rationales provided in support of 25 policy decisions made under AS 14.03.015; 26 (2) program and curriculum changes made, discussed, or 27 recommended in meetings held under AS 14.07.125; 28 (3) additional information relevant to efforts made to improve and 29 maintain the public education system; 30 (4) a summary of implementation and utilization of the consortium 31 established under AS 14.30.800, including a review of consortium effectiveness and
01 the participation rates of districts, teachers, and students; 02 (5) a description of the civics education curriculum in the state 03 public school system, civics courses offered in each district, student performance 04 by district on the civics assessment developed under AS 14.03.076, the number of 05 students who took a civics education course taught using the curriculum 06 developed under AS 14.03.076(a), and the number of students who completed the 07 civics education course; 08 (6) recommendations made by the Alaska Civics Education 09 Commission to the board under AS 14.07.215. 10 * Sec. 3. AS 14.07.168, as amended by sec. 23, ch. 40, SLA 2022, is amended to read: 11 Sec. 14.07.168. Report to the legislature. Not later than the 30th legislative 12 day of each regular session of the legislature, the board shall prepare and present [IN 13 PERSON] to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education an annual 14 report that describes the efforts of the board to develop, maintain, and continuously 15 improve a comprehensive quality public education system, as provided for under the 16 bylaws of the board. The report must include 17 (1) a summary of the resolves and rationales provided in support of 18 policy decisions made under AS 14.03.015; 19 (2) program and curriculum changes made, discussed, or 20 recommended in meetings held under AS 14.07.125; 21 (3) additional information relevant to efforts made to improve and 22 maintain the public education system; 23 (4) a description of the civics education curriculum in the state 24 public school system, civics courses offered in each district, student performance 25 by district on the civics assessment developed under AS 14.03.076, the number of 26 students who took a civics education course taught using the curriculum 27 developed under AS 14.03.076(a), and the number of students who completed the 28 civics education course; 29 (5) recommendations made by the Alaska Civics Education 30 Commission to the board under AS 14.07.215. 31 * Sec. 4. AS 14.07 is amended by adding new sections to read:
01 Article 3. Alaska Civics Education Commission. 02 Sec. 14.07.200. Alaska Civics Education Commission. The Alaska Civics 03 Education Commission is established in the department. The lieutenant governor shall 04 provide staff to the commission. 05 Sec. 14.07.205. Composition; chair. The commission consists of 12 members 06 as follows: 07 (1) the lieutenant governor, who shall serve as chair; 08 (2) the chief justice of the supreme court or another justice of the 09 supreme court appointed by the chief justice; 10 (3) the commissioner of education and early development or the 11 commissioner's designee; 12 (4) two members from the house of representatives, one of whom is 13 appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and one of whom is appointed 14 by the minority leader of the house of representatives; 15 (5) two members from the senate, one of whom is appointed by the 16 president of the senate and one of whom is appointed by the minority leader of the 17 senate; 18 (6) five members appointed by the governor as follows: 19 (A) two members who are teachers and have experience 20 teaching courses in civics education, United States government, or 21 social studies; one member must be a teacher for a correspondence 22 study program in the state and the other must be a member of the 23 National Education Association; 24 (B) one member who represents a nonprofit organization that 25 promotes civics education and engagement as its core mission; 26 (C) one member who is an active member in good standing of 27 the Association of Alaska School Boards; 28 (D) one member who is a student in good standing enrolled in 29 grade 11 or 12 and demonstrates an interest in promoting civics education. 30 Sec. 14.07.210. Terms of office. Members of the commission serve terms of 31 two years. A vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. A
01 person appointed to a vacancy serves for the unexpired portion of the term. 02 Sec. 14.07.215. Duties of the commission. The commission shall 03 (1) discuss and review the most current information regarding best 04 practices, pedagogies, and policies for civics education; 05 (2) make recommendations to the board regarding civics education and 06 provide guidance for statewide implementation of the recommendations established by 07 the commission. 08 Sec. 14.07.220. Meetings. The commission shall meet at least once every three 09 months at the call of the chair. The commission may meet and transact business 10 electronically. 11 Sec. 14.07.225. Compensation, per diem, and expenses. Members of the 12 commission serve without compensation, but are entitled to per diem and travel 13 expenses authorized for boards and commissions under AS 39.20.180. 14 Sec. 14.07.295. Definition. In AS 14.07.200 - 14.07.295, "commission" means 15 the Alaska Civics Education Commission established in AS 14.07.200. 16 * Sec. 5. Section 3 of this Act takes effect on the effective date of sec. 23, ch. 40, SLA 17 2022. 18 * Sec. 6. Except as provided in sec. 5 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 2023.