PRINTER'S NO. 220
No. 213 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY GREENLEAF, SCHWARTZ, MOWERY, MELLOW, COSTA, HOLL,
LEMMOND, TOMLINSON AND O'PAKE, JANUARY 31, 2001
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, JANUARY 31, 2001
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," providing for voter education
6 programs and for voter registration forms.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Section 1511 of the act of March 10, 1949
10 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949,
11 amended July 31, 1968 (P.L.1020, No.301), is amended to read:
12 Section 1511. Subjects of Instruction; Flag Code.--In every
13 elementary public and private school, established and maintained
14 in this Commonwealth, the following subjects shall be taught, in
15 the English language and from English texts: English, including
16 spelling, reading and writing, arithmetic, geography, the
17 history of the United States and of Pennsylvania, civics,
18 including loyalty to the State and National Government, safety
19 education, and the humane treatment of birds and animals,
1 health, including physical education, and physiology, music and
2 art. Each school district shall establish and maintain a voter
3 education program for pupils in public high school grades eleven
4 and twelve. Other subjects shall be taught in the public
5 elementary schools and also in the public high schools as may be
6 prescribed by the standards of the State Board of Education. All
7 such subjects, except foreign languages, shall be taught in the
8 English language and from English texts: Provided, however,
9 That, at the discretion of the Superintendent of Public
10 Instruction, the teaching of subjects in a language other than
11 English may be permitted as part of a sequence in foreign
12 language study or as part of a bilingual education program if
13 the teaching personnel are properly certified in the subject
14 fields. Each school district shall provide and distribute to
15 each pupil, enrolled in the eighth grade of the public schools,
16 one illustrated copy of the National Flag Code, and shall, from
17 time to time, make available such copies as are necessary for
18 replacements from year to year. It shall be the duty of each
19 teacher in the public schools to make such use of the code as
20 may, from time to time, seem proper.
21 Section 2. Section 1613 of the act, amended December 15,
22 1986 (P.L.1602, No.178), is amended to read:
23 Section 1613. High School Certificates.--(a) The board of
24 school directors, joint board of joint school committee
25 operating any high school shall issue a certificate to each
26 pupil satisfactorily completing the prescribed course of
27 instruction in the high school.
28 (b) For those pupils graduating at the close of the school
29 year 1989-1990, and each school year thereafter, the following
30 minimum courses in grades nine through twelve are established as
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1 a requirement for high school graduation in schools operated by
2 a bona fide church or other religious body:
3 (1) Four years of English.
4 (2) Three years of mathematics.
5 (3) Three years of science.
6 (4) Three years of social studies.
7 (5) Two years of arts and humanities.
8 (c) A child enrolled in a day or boarding school accredited
9 by an accrediting association which is approved by the State
10 Board of Education shall be deemed to have met the requirements
11 of subsection (b).
12 (d) Voter registration forms and information on the
13 procedure for obtaining an absentee ballot shall also be given
14 to pupils issued certificates under subsection (a) who will be
15 eligible to vote in the first election following their
16 graduation.
17 Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
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