Required instruction in civics in the elementary and high school grades, high school graduation requirements, and private school educational program criteria. (FE)

2. A sense of civic pride and desire to participate regularly with government at the local, state, and federal levels.

3. An understanding of the process for effectively advocating before governmental bodies and officials.

4. An understanding of the civic-minded expectations of an upright and desirable citizenry that recognizes and accepts responsibility for preserving and defending the benefits of liberty inherited from previous generations and secured by the U.S. Constitution.

5. Knowledge of other nations' governing philosophies, including communism, socialism, and totalitarianism, and an understanding of how those philosophies compare with the philosophy and principles of freedom and representative democracy essential to the founding principles of the United States.

Under the bill, the state superintendent must curate oral history resources to be used along with the model curriculum. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the bill requires school boards, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program to include in their respective curricula instruction in civics that includes the five components required to be included in the model curriculum. The bill also requires school boards, independent charter schools, and private schools participating in a parental choice program to annually report to the Department of Public Instruction regarding how they are meeting the civics instruction requirement created under the bill. DPI must then compile the information and submit it to the legislature.

Finally, under current law, a school board may grant a high school diploma to a pupil only if the pupil meets specific statutory requirements, including earning a certain number of credits in various subjects in the high school grades. Currently, a pupil must earn at least three credits of social studies, including state and local government. The bill specifies that the social studies credits also must include one-half credit of civics instruction. This graduation requirement first applies to pupils who graduate in the 2027-28 school year.