| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to public school educational instruction; |
| 3 | amending s. 1003.44, F.S.; requiring district school |
| 4 | boards to designate one month of the school year to |
| 5 | celebrate the Founding Fathers of the United States of |
| 6 | America and the principles inherent in the country's |
| 7 | founding documents; specifying the focus of instruction |
| 8 | during the designated month; providing that instruction |
| 9 | may be integrated into the existing school curriculum; |
| 10 | providing an effective date. |
| 11 |
|
| 12 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 13 |
|
| 14 | Section 1. Subsection (3) is added to section 1003.44, |
| 15 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 16 | 1003.44 Patriotic programs; rules.- |
| 17 | (3)(a) Each district school board shall designate one |
| 18 | month of the school year to celebrate the Founding Fathers of |
| 19 | the United States of America and the principles inherent in the |
| 20 | country's founding documents. This month may be coordinated with |
| 21 | Celebrate Freedom Week which is observed pursuant to s. |
| 22 | 1003.421. |
| 23 | (b) During the designated month, students shall be |
| 24 | provided instruction that focuses on: |
| 25 | 1. The leading figures present at the country's founding |
| 26 | who were instrumental in crafting the founding documents and |
| 27 | setting democratic political precedent. |
| 28 | 2. The moral and civic virtue, self-sacrifice, |
| 29 | intellectual genius, and patriotism demonstrated by the |
| 30 | country's founding fathers. |
| 31 | 3. The founding documents, including, but not limited to, |
| 32 | the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United |
| 33 | States, the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers. |
| 34 | 4. The historical and philosophical importance of the |
| 35 | Declaration of Independence with its emphasis that all people |
| 36 | "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, |
| 37 | that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of |
| 38 | happiness." |
| 39 | 5. The principles inherent in the founding documents, |
| 40 | including, but not limited to, individual freedom, limited |
| 41 | representative democratic government, a free market economy and |
| 42 | system, civic virtue, national sovereignty, natural law, and |
| 43 | self-evident truth. |
| 44 | (c) The instruction may be integrated into the existing |
| 45 | school curriculum through methods including, but not limited to, |
| 46 | supplementing lesson plans, holding school assemblies, or |
| 47 | providing school-related activities. |
| 48 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011. |