House Legislators Pass School Curriculum Bill HB220

  Utah House voted  57-17 to pass a bill that modifies requirements for instruction in American history and government.
             Rep. Mike Morley, R, Spanish Fork’s HB220  “requires instruction in forms of government, including the United States' form of  government, a republic; and requires school curricula to include a thorough study of American historical documents.”   HB220 Text

Now the question is what grades will this be taught?  Will this be taught in every classroom K-12 or just in secondary schools grades 7-12?  Exactly which classes must cover this curriculum, i.e. all history classes, or just specifically American History classes?  Is the legislature also going to select textbooks that must be used as part of this curriculum?

Will the legislature prepare a video to be shown in every school at the same time (Like Barack Obama’s) that parents can opt out of if they don’t want their child to be taught this material?

SEQUENCE #163                    STATE OF UTAH                        HB 220  

                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                   BY Morley

                  2011 General Session of the 59th Legislature                 

                                 VOTE TABULATION                        

                           Civics Education Amendments  

FEBRUARY 14, 2011                                          Lockhart           

 11:52:31 AM                                                SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

      YEAS - 57

      Anderson          Eliason           Last              Richardson       

      Barrus            Fisher, Julie     Mathis            Sagers           

      Bird              Froerer           McIff             Sandstrom        

      Brown, D          Galvez            Menlove           Sanpei           

      Brown, M          Gibson            Morley            Sumsion          

      Butterfield       Greenwood         Newbold           Vickers           

      Christensen       Grover            Nielson           Webb             

      Clark             Handy             Noel              Wilcox           

      Cox               Harper            Oda               Wilson           

      Daw               Herrod            Painter           Wimmer           

      Dee               Hughes            Perry             Wright           

      Dougall           Hutchings         Peterson, V       Lockhart         

      Draxler           Ipson             Pitcher          

      Dunnigan          Ivory             Powell           

      Edwards           Kiser             Ray              

NAYS - 17

      Arent             Duckworth, S      Moss              Wheatley         

      Biskupski         Fisher, Janice    Peterson, J       Wiley            

      Briscoe           Hendrickson       Poulson          

      Chavez-Houck      King              Seelig           

      Cosgrove          Litvack           Watkins          

ABSENT OR NOT VOTING – 1

      Hemingway        

HB220 House vote

Salt Lake Tribune