CSSB 29(EDC): "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 CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 29(EDC) 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) In this section, "passing score" means a student correctly answers 70 12 percent or more of the questions. 13 * Sec. 2. AS 14.07.168, as amended by sec. 22, ch. 40, SLA 2022, is amended to read: 14 Sec. 14.07.168. Report to the legislature. Not later than the 30th legislative 15 day of each regular session of the legislature, the board shall prepare and present [IN 16 PERSON] to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education an annual 17 report that describes the efforts of the board to develop, maintain, and continuously 18 improve a comprehensive quality public education system, as provided for under the 19 bylaws of the board. The report must include 20 (1) a summary of the resolves and rationales provided in support of 21 policy decisions made under AS 14.03.015; 22 (2) program and curriculum changes made, discussed, or 23 recommended in meetings held under AS 14.07.125; 24 (3) additional information relevant to efforts made to improve and 25 maintain the public education system; 26 (4) a summary of implementation and utilization of the consortium 27 established under AS 14.30.800, including a review of consortium effectiveness and 28 the participation rates of districts, teachers, and students; 29 (5) recommendations made by the Alaska Civics Education 30 Commission to the board under AS 14.07.215. 31 * Sec. 3. AS 14.07.168, as amended by sec. 23, ch. 40, SLA 2022, is amended to read:
01 Sec. 14.07.168. Report to the legislature. Not later than the 30th legislative 02 day of each regular session of the legislature, the board shall prepare and present [IN 03 PERSON] to the legislative committees having jurisdiction over education an annual 04 report that describes the efforts of the board to develop, maintain, and continuously 05 improve a comprehensive quality public education system, as provided for under the 06 bylaws of the board. The report must include 07 (1) a summary of the resolves and rationales provided in support of 08 policy decisions made under AS 14.03.015; 09 (2) program and curriculum changes made, discussed, or 10 recommended in meetings held under AS 14.07.125; 11 (3) additional information relevant to efforts made to improve and 12 maintain the public education system; 13 (4) recommendations made by the Alaska Civics Education 14 Commission to the board under AS 14.07.215. 15 * Sec. 4. AS 14.07 is amended by adding new sections to read: 16 Article 3. Alaska Civics Education Commission. 17 Sec. 14.07.200. Alaska Civics Education Commission. The Alaska Civics 18 Education Commission is established in the department. The department shall provide 19 staff to the commission. 20 Sec. 14.07.205. Composition; chair. The commission consists of 12 members 21 as follows: 22 (1) the lieutenant governor, who shall serve as chair; 23 (2) a retired judicial officer, appointed by the chief justice; if no retired 24 judicial officers are available to be appointed under this paragraph, the administrative 25 director described in AS 22.20.300 shall appoint a member with judicial experience in 26 the state; in this paragraph, "judicial officer" has the meaning given in AS 22.20.010; 27 (3) the commissioner of education and early development or the 28 commissioner's designee; 29 (4) two members from the house of representatives, one of whom is 30 appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and one of whom is appointed 31 by the minority leader of the house of representatives;
01 (5) two members from the senate, one of whom is appointed by the 02 president of the senate and one of whom is appointed by the minority leader of the 03 senate; 04 (6) five members appointed by the governor as follows: 05 (A) two members who are teachers and have experience 06 teaching courses in civics education, United States government, or social 07 studies; one member must be a teacher for a correspondence study program in 08 the state and the other must be a member of the National Education 09 Association; 10 (B) one member who represents a nonprofit organization that 11 promotes civics education and engagement as its core mission; 12 (C) one member who is an active member in good standing of 13 the Association of Alaska School Boards; 14 (D) one member who is a student in good standing enrolled in 15 grade 11 or 12 and demonstrates an interest in promoting civics education. 16 Sec. 14.07.210. Terms of office. Members of the commission serve terms of 17 two years. A vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. A 18 person appointed to a vacancy serves for the unexpired portion of the term. 19 Sec. 14.07.215. Duties of the commission. The commission shall 20 (1) discuss and review the most current information regarding best 21 practices, pedagogies, and policies for civics education; 22 (2) make recommendations to the board regarding civics education and 23 provide guidance for statewide implementation of the recommendations established by 24 the commission. 25 Sec. 14.07.220. Meetings. The commission shall meet at least once every three 26 months at the call of the chair. The commission may meet and transact business 27 electronically. The legislative council may assist the commission in conducting 28 meetings under this section, including by providing office space, equipment, and 29 additional staff support for the commission. 30 Sec. 14.07.225. Compensation, per diem, and expenses. Members of the 31 commission serve without compensation, but are entitled to per diem and travel
01 expenses authorized for boards and commissions under AS 39.20.180. 02 Sec. 14.07.295. Definition. In AS 14.07.200 - 14.07.295, "commission" means 03 the Alaska Civics Education Commission established in AS 14.07.200. 04 * Sec. 5. Section 3 of this Act takes effect on the effective date of sec. 23, ch. 40, SLA 05 2022. 06 * Sec. 6. Except as provided in sec. 5 of this Act, this Act takes effect July 1, 2023.