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AN ACT relating to civics education, making an appropriation therefor, and 1
declaring an emergency. 2
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 3
Section 1. KRS 158.196 is amended to read as follows: 4
(1) A public school or public charter school shall provide instruction and instructional 5
materials that are aligned with the social studies academic standards adopted in 6
accordance with KRS 158.6453 and consistent with the following concepts: 7
(a) All individuals are created equal; 8
(b) Americans are entitled to equal protection under the law; 9
(c) An individual deserves to be treated on the basis of the individual's character; 10
(d) An individual, by virtue of the individual's race or sex, does not bear 11
responsibility for actions committed by other members of the same race or 12
sex; 13
(e) The understanding that the institution of slavery and post -Civil War laws 14
enforcing racial segregatio n and discrimination were contrary to the 15
fundamental American promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, 16
as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, but that defining racial 17
disparities solely on the legacy of this institution is destruc tive to the 18
unification of our nation; 19
(f) The future of America's success is dependent upon cooperation among all its 20
citizens; 21
(g) Personal agency and the understanding that, regardless of one's circumstances, 22
an American has the ability to succeed when he or she is given sufficient 23
opportunity and is committed to seizing that opportunity through hard work, 24
pursuit of education, and good citizenship; and 25
(h) The significant value of the American principles of equality, freedom, 26
inalienable rights, respect for individual rights, liberty, and the consent of the 27
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governed. 1
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall be construed to restrict a public 2
school or public charter school from providing instruction or using instructional 3
materials that include: 4
(a) The history of an ethnic group, as described in textbooks and instructional 5
materials adopted by a school district; 6
(b) The discussion of controversial aspects of history; or 7
(c) The instruction and instructional materials on the historical oppressio n of a 8
particular group of people. 9
(3) [(a) Notwithstanding the every six (6) year schedule set forth in KRS 10
158.6453(2)(a), no later than July 1, 2023, ]The Kentucky Department of Education 11
shall: 12
(a) Incorporate fundamental American documents and speeche s into the grade -13
level appropriate middle and high school social studies academic standards 14
and align corresponding assessments, including but not limited to: 15
1. The Mayflower Compact; 16
2. The Declaration of Independence; 17
3. The Constitution of the United States; 18
4. The Federalist No. 1 (Alexander Hamilton); 19
5. The Federalist Nos. 10 and 51 (James Madison); 20
6. The June 8, 1789, speech on amendments to the Constitution of the 21
United States by James Madison; 22
7. The first ten (10) amendments to the Constituti on of the United States, 23
also known as the Bill of Rights; 24
8. The 1796 Farewell Address by George Washington; 25
9. The United States Supreme Court opinion in Marbury v. Madison, 5 26
U.S. 137 (1803); 27
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10. The Monroe Doctrine by James Monroe; 1
11. What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? speech by Frederick Douglass; 2
12. The United States Supreme Court opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 3
U.S. 393 (1857); 4
13. Final Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln; 5
14. The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln; 6
15. Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States by Susan B. 7
Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; 8
16. The September 18, 1895, Atlanta Exposition Address by Booker T. 9
Washington; 10
17. Of Booker T. Washington and Others by W.E.B. Du Bois; 11
18. The United States Supreme Court opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 12
U.S. 537 (1896); 13
19. The August 31, 1910, New Nationalism speech by Theodore Roosevelt; 14
20. The January 11, 1944, State of the Union Address by Franklin D. 15
Roosevelt; 16
21. The United States Supreme Court opinions in Brown v. Board of 17
Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) and Brown v. Board of 18
Education of Topeka, 349 U.S. 294 (1955); 19
22. Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.; 20
23. The August 28, 1963, I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King, 21
Jr.; and 22
24. A Time for Choosing by Ronald Reagan; and[.] 23
(b) Notwithstanding the every six (6 ) year schedule set forth in KRS 24
158.6453(2)(a), beginning in the 2027 -2028 school year, incorporate 25
instruction on the Civil Rights movement, as defined in 20 U.S.C. sec. 80s -26
1(e), into grade -level appropriate elementary through high school social 27
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studies academic standards and align corresponding assessments. The 1
instruction shall include but not be limited to: 2
1. The natural law and natural rights principles that informed the 3
leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr.; 4
2. The tactics and strategies of nonviol ent resistance that Martin Luther 5
King, Jr. championed in response to the Jim Crow laws of that era and 6
that Muhammad Ali championed, which led to him becoming a 7
symbol of antiwar and peaceful civil rights resistance; 8
3. The repeal of the Jim Crow laws of that era and the passage of civil 9
rights legislation in the United States; 10
4. The philosophy that hatred on the basis of immutable characteristics 11
leads to profound injustice; and 12
5. In addition to the requirements established in KRS 156.160(1)(a)3., 13
instruction on other acts of discriminatory injustice, such as genocide, 14
occurring elsewhere around the globe to reinforce the lesson that 15
hatred on the basis of immutable characteristics can overtake any 16
society. Instruction on other acts of discriminatory inj ustice shall 17
include but not be limited to the: 18
a. Armenian Genocide; 19
b. Chinese laborers in Cuba; 20
c. Holocaust; 21
d. Rohingya in Myanmar; and 22
e. Uyghurs in China [This revision shall not delay or otherwise 23
impact the existing schedule as set forth in KRS 158.6453(2)]. 24
Section 2. The academic standards revisions in Section 1 of this Act shall not 25
delay or otherwise impact the existing schedule as set forth in KRS 158.6453(2). 26
Section 3. There is hereby appropriated General Fund moneys in the amount of 27
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$250,000 in fiscal year 2026-2027 to the Learning and Results Services budget unit of the 1
Kentucky Department of Education for costs associated with implementing the 2
requirements of this Act. 3
Section 4. Whereas it is crucial for Kentucky's students to be informed on the 4
importance of the civil rights movement and its impact on society domestically and 5
abroad, an emergency is declared to exist, and this Act takes effect July 1, 2026. 6