S0723B0857A02351 SFR:CDM 06/27/17 #90 A02351
AMENDMENTS TO SENATE BILL NO. 723
Sponsor: SENATOR EICHELBERGER
Printer's No. 857
Amend Bill, page 1, lines 5 and 6, by striking out "providing
for civics test graduation requirement" and inserting
further providing for courses of study
Amend Bill, page 1, lines 9 through 18; page 2, lines 1
through 30; page 3, lines 1 through 20; by striking out all of
said lines on said pages and inserting
Section 1. Section 1605 of the act of March 10, 1949
(P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, is
amended by adding a subsection to read:
Section 1605. Courses of Study.--* * *
(d) Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the curriculum
for social studies under subsection (a) and courses enumerated
in that subsection shall contain a unit of study that includes
civics-related subject matter of which naturalized citizens are
required to demonstrate a knowledge. The following shall apply:
(1) As a means to inform civics-related curricula and
instruction, under any of the enumerated courses of study under
subsection (b), a test shall be administered which is identical
to the civics portion of the naturalization test used by the
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to survey a
student's knowledge of the fundamentals of the history,
principles and form of the Government of the United States.
(2) The Department of Education shall promulgate rules and
regulations to implement the provisions of this subsection,
which shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(i) requiring that the aggregated results of the test for a
public, private or parochial school be reported to the
Department of Education on an annual basis to help inform the
overall State approach to the social studies curriculum;
(ii) providing a written report to the Education Committee
of the Senate and the Education Committee of the House of
Representatives within five years after the implementation of
this subsection to measure the impact of the test on the social
studies curriculum; and
(iii) developing a certificate of recognition for those
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students scoring one hundred percent (100%) on the test.
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