HB 689

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to American Founders' Month; providing
3	a short title; creating s. 683.147, F.S.; designating
4	the month of September as "American Founders' Month";
5	authorizing the Governor to annually issue a
6	proclamation designating the month and urging
7	participation; amending s. 1003.44, F.S.; requiring
8	district school boards to celebrate the American
9	Founders and the principles inherent in the country's
10	founding documents by observing American Founders'
11	Month; specifying the focus of instruction during the
12	month; providing that instruction may be integrated
13	into the existing school curriculum; requiring
14	distribution to school personnel of certain
15	information; providing an effective date.
16
17	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19	Section 1.  This act may be cited as the "American
20	Founders' Month Act."
21	Section 2.  Section 683.147, Florida Statutes, is created
22	to read:
23	683.147  American Founders' Month.-
24	(1)  The month of September of each year is designated as
25	"American Founders' Month."
26	(2)  The Governor may annually issue a proclamation
27	designating the month of September as "American Founders' Month"
28	and urging all civic, fraternal, and religious organizations and
29	public and private educational institutions to recognize and
30	observe this occasion through appropriate programs, meetings,
31	services, or celebrations in which state, county, and local
32	governmental officials are invited to participate.
33	Section 3.  Subsection (2) of section 1003.44, Florida
34	Statutes, is amended, and subsections (3) and (4) are added to
35	that section, to read:
36	1003.44  Patriotic programs; rules.-
37	(2)  Each district school board may allow any teacher or
38	administrator to read, or to post in a public school building or
39	classroom or at any school-related event, any excerpt or portion
40	of the following historic material: the national motto; the
41	national anthem; the pledge of allegiance; the Constitution of
42	the State of Florida, including the Preamble; the Constitution
43	of the United States, including the Preamble; the Bill of
44	Rights; the Declaration of Independence; the Mayflower Compact;
45	the Emancipation Proclamation; the writings, speeches,
46	documents, and proclamations of the presidents of the United
47	States, the signers of the Constitution of the United States and
48	the Declaration of Independence, and civil rights leaders; and
49	decisions of the United States Supreme Court. However, any
50	material that is read, posted, or taught pursuant to this
51	provision may be presented only from a historical perspective
52	and in a nonproselytizing manner. When less than an entire
53	document is used, the excerpt or portion must include as much
54	material as is reasonably necessary to reflect the sentiment of
55	the entire document and avoid expressing statements out of the
56	context in which they were originally made. If the material
57	refers to laws or judicial decisions that have been superseded,
58	the material must be accompanied by a statement indicating that
59	such law or decision is no longer the law of the land. No
60	material shall be selected to advance a particular religious,
61	political, or sectarian purpose. The department shall distribute
62	a copy of this section to each district school board, whereupon
63	each district school superintendent shall distribute a copy to
64	all teachers and administrators.
65	(3)(a)  Each district school board shall celebrate the
66	American Founders and the principles inherent in the country's
67	founding documents by observing American Founders' Month in
68	September of each year as provided in s. 683.147. This month may
69	be coordinated with Celebrate Freedom Week, which is observed
70	pursuant to s. 1003.421.
71	(b)  During American Founders' Month, students may be
72	provided instruction that focuses on:
73	1.  The leading figures present at the country's founding
74	who were instrumental in crafting the founding documents that
75	institutionalized individual liberty and limited government that
76	derives its power from the consent of the governed.
77	2.  The moral and civic virtue, self-sacrifice,
78	intellectual genius, and patriotism demonstrated by the
79	country's founding fathers.
80	3.  The founding documents, including, but not limited to,
81	the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United
82	States, the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers.
83	4.  The historical and philosophical importance of the
84	Declaration of Independence with its emphasis that all people
85	"are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights,
86	that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of
87	happiness."
88	5.  The principles inherent in the founding documents,
89	including, but not limited to, individual freedom, equality,
90	limited representative government, a free market system, civic
91	virtue, natural law, and self-evident truth.
92	(c)  The instruction may be integrated into the existing
93	school curriculum through methods including, but not limited to,
94	supplementing lesson plans, holding school assemblies, or
95	providing school-related activities.
96	(4)  The department shall distribute a copy of this section
97	to each district school board, whereupon each district school
98	superintendent shall distribute a copy to all school
99	administrators and instructional personnel at the beginning of
100	each school year.
101	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.