SB1557 Engrossed

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    AN ACT concerning education.

 
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    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
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represented in the General Assembly:



 
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    Section 5. The School Code is amended  by changing Section 
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27-21 as follows:
 



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    (105 ILCS 5/27-21)  (from Ch. 122, par. 27-21)



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    Sec. 27-21. History of United States. History of the United 
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States shall be taught in all public schools and
in all other 
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educational institutions in this State supported or

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maintained, in whole or in part, by public funds. The teaching 
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of history
shall have as one of its objectives the imparting to 
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pupils of a
comprehensive idea of our democratic form of 
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government and the principles
for which our government stands 
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as regards other nations, including the
studying of the place 
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of our government in world-wide movements and the
leaders 
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thereof, with particular stress upon the basic principles and

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ideals of our representative form of government. The teaching 
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of history
shall include a study of the role and contributions 
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of African Americans and
other ethnic groups including but not 
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restricted to Polish, Lithuanian, German,
Hungarian, Irish, 
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Bohemian, Russian, Albanian, Italian, Czech, Slovak,
French, 
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Scots, Hispanics, Asian Americans, etc., in the history of this

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country and this
State. The teaching of history shall include a 
 


 






SB1557 Engrossed
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LRB096 08639 NHT 19197 b




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study of the events related to the forceful removal and illegal 
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deportation of almost 2,000,000 Mexican-American U.S. citizens 
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during the Great Depression, beginning in 1929 and ending in 
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the mid-1940's. The teaching of history also shall include a 
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study of the
role of labor unions and their interaction with 
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government in achieving the
goals of a mixed free enterprise 
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system.  No pupils shall be graduated
from the eighth grade of 
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any
public school unless he has received such instruction in 
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the history of the
United States and gives evidence of having a 
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comprehensive knowledge
thereof. The State Superintendent of 
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Education may prepare and make available to all school boards 
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instructional materials that may be used to supplement 
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instruction in any of the subject areas listed in this Section. 

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(Source: P.A. 92-27, eff. 7-1-01; 93-406, eff. 1-1-04.)