(1) A public school or public charter school shall provide instruction and instructional materials that are aligned with the social studies academic standards adopted in accordance with KRS § 158.6453 and consistent with the following concepts:
(a) All individuals are created equal;
(b) Americans are entitled to equal protection under the law;
(c) An individual deserves to be treated on the basis of the individual’s character; (d) An individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, does not bear
responsibility for actions committed by other members of the same race or
sex;
(e) The understanding that the institution of slavery and post-Civil War laws enforcing racial segregation and discrimination were contrary to the fundamental American promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, but that defining racial disparities solely on the legacy of this institution is destructive to the unification of our nation;
(f) The future of America’s success is dependent upon cooperation among all its citizens;
(g) Personal agency and the understanding that, regardless of one’s circumstances, an American has the ability to succeed when he or she is given sufficient opportunity and is committed to seizing that opportunity through hard work, pursuit of education, and good citizenship; and
(h) The significant value of the American principles of equality, freedom, inalienable rights, respect for individual rights, liberty, and the consent of the governed.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall be construed to restrict a public school or public charter school from providing instruction or using instructional materials that include:
(a) The history of an ethnic group, as described in textbooks and instructional materials adopted by a school district;
(b) The discussion of controversial aspects of history; or
(c) The instruction and instructional materials on the historical oppression of a particular group of people.
(3) (a) Notwithstanding the every six (6) year schedule set forth in KRS
158.6453(2)(a), no later than July 1, 2023, the Kentucky Department of Education shall incorporate fundamental American documents and speeches into the grade-level appropriate middle and high school social studies academic standards and align corresponding assessments, including but not limited to:
1. The Mayflower Compact;
2. The Declaration of Independence;
3. The Constitution of the United States;
4. The Federalist No. 1 (Alexander Hamilton);
5. The Federalist Nos. 10 and 51 (James Madison);
6. The June 8, 1789, speech on amendments to the Constitution of the
United States by James Madison;
7. The first ten (10) amendments to the Constitution of the United States, also known as the Bill of Rights;
8. The 1796 Farewell Address by George Washington;
9. The United States Supreme Court opinion in Marbury v. Madison, 5
U.S. 137 (1803);
10. The Monroe Doctrine by James Monroe;
11. What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? speech by Frederick Douglass;
12. The United States Supreme Court opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60
U.S. 393 (1857);
13. Final Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln;
14. The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln;
15. Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States by Susan B.
Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton;
16. The September 18, 1895, Atlanta Exposition Address by Booker T.
Washington;
17. Of Booker T. Washington and Others by W.E.B. Du Bois;
18. The United States Supreme Court opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163
U.S. 537 (1896);
19. The August 31, 1910, New Nationalism speech by Theodore Roosevelt;
20. The January 11, 1944, State of the Union Address by Franklin D.
Roosevelt;
21. The United States Supreme Court opinions in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954) and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 349 U.S. 294 (1955);
22. Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.;
23. The August 28, 1963, I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.; and
24. A Time for Choosing by Ronald Reagan.
(b) This revision shall not delay or otherwise impact the existing schedule as set forth in KRS § 158.6453(2).
Effective: July 14, 2022
History: Created 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 196, sec. 4, effective July 14, 2022.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/14/2022). 2022 Ky. Acts ch. 196, sec. 8, provides that Sections 4 and 5 of the Act, this statute and KRS § 161.164, may be cited as the Teaching American Principles Act.