House Bill 596

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP A CIVICS CURRICULUM TO BE TAUGHT IN THE PUBLIC MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS; TO PRESCRIBE THE MINIMUM COMPONENTS OF THE CURRICULUM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The State Board of Education shall develop a civics curriculum to be incorporated into the existing curriculum mandated for all public middle and high schools. The civics curriculum must be designed to provide students with the knowledge and social skills that are critical to the responsibilities of citizenship in the constitutional democracy of the United States. The board shall require each school district to implement the civics curriculum in the 2024-2025 school year. At a minimum the curriculum shall focus on the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary for living as an individual citizen within the sovereign democracy of the United States, social awareness and personal life management skills. The objectives must require the teaching of those skills essential to the National Standards for Civics and Government and must include instruction in the following:

(a) Civic knowledge which embodies the form of five significant and enduring inquiries that engage the thoughts of every citizen, including:

(i) Civic life, politics and government;

(ii) The foundations of the American political system;

(iii) Government as established by the Constitution and purposes, values and principles of American democracy it embodies;

(iv) The relationship of the United States to other nations and to world affairs; and

(v) The roles of citizens in American democracy;

(b) Intellectual and participatory civic skills of citizenship to freely exercise one's rights and discharge of responsibilities as members of self-governing communities, in addition to the ability to think critically about a political issue, its history, its contemporary relevance, as well as command of a set of intellectual tools or considerations useful in dealing with such an issue; and

(c) Civic dispositions, which are traits of private and public character essential to the maintenance and improvement of constitutional democracy, which include:

(i) Becoming an independent member of society, adhering voluntarily to self-imposed standards of behavior rather than requiring the imposition of external controls, accepting responsibility for the consequences of one's actions and fulfilling the moral and legal obligations of membership in a democratic society;

(ii) Assuming the personal, political, and economic responsibilities of a citizen, including:

1. Taking care of one's self, supporting one's family by caring for, nurturing and educating one's children;

2. Being informed about public issues; 3. Voting;

4. Paying taxes;

5. Serving on juries;

6. Performing public service; and

7. Serving in leadership positions commensurate with one's talents;

(iii) Respecting individual worth and human dignity by acknowledging the opinions of others, behaving in a civil manner, considering the rights and interests of fellow citizens, and adhering to the principle of majority rule but recognizing the right of the minority to dissent;

(iv) Participating in civic affairs in a thoughtful and effective manner including:

1. Becoming informed prior to voting or participating in public debate;

2. Engaging in civil and reflective discourse;

3. Assuming leadership when appropriate;

4. Evaluating whether and when one's obligations as a citizen require that personal desires and interests be subordinated to the public good; and

5. Evaluating whether and when one's obligations or constitutional principles obligate one to reject certain civic expectations; and

(v) Promoting the healthy functioning of constitutional democracy, which entails:

1. Being informed and attentive to public affairs;

2. Learning about and deliberating on constitutional values and principles;

3. Monitoring the adherence of political leaders and public agencies to those values and principles; and 4. Taking appropriate action if adherence is lacking.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.