Instructional materials: social content reviews.

Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt basic instructional materials for use in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive. Existing law requires the state board, in reviewing and adopting instructional materials, to use specified criteria, and ensure that, in its judgment, the submitted basic instructional materials meet all of the specified criteria, including, but not limited to, compliance with the specified requirements and guidelines for social content. This bill would require the state board to adopt regulations to govern the social content reviews conducted at the request of a publisher or manufacturer of instructional materials outside the primary instructional material adoption process. The bill would authorize the State Department of Education to contract with agents to conduct the specified social content reviews and require the department to assess a fee for the review that meets specified requirements, including notice to publishers and manufacturers. The bill would also require the state board to inform the Chairperson of the Assembly Committee on Education, the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Education, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction of content that it interprets to be the result of certain changes made to the Texas Administrative Code. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2017. This bill would require the state board, upon the next adoption of the history-social science curriculum framework, to ensure that the framework is consistent with specified provisions governing instructional materials. This bill would also make specified findings and declarations.