Civics and Civics-Related Instruction.
Stand-Alone Civics Course. Each school district that operates a high school must provide a mandatory one-half credit stand-alone course in civics for each high school student. Credit awarded to students who complete the civics course must be applied to course credit requirements in social studies that are required for high school graduation.
The minimum contents of the civics course are established in statute. Examples of the required contents include:
Compulsory Study of Constitutions. The study of the United States Constitution and the Washington Constitution are a prerequisite to graduation from public and private high schools in the state.
Temperance and Good Citizenship Day. On or about each January 16, public schools are required to observe "Temperance and Good Citizenship Day." The Superintendent of Public Instruction is required to prepare and distribute pertinent materials to teachers for the day.
Social studies teachers are required on Temperance and Good Citizenship Day to coordinate a voter registration event in history and social studies classes attended by high school seniors. The teachers must make voter sign-up and registration materials available to all students.
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
In addition to its constitutional charge of supervising all matters pertaining to public schools, the Superintendent of Public Instruction and its office has numerous and broad responsibilities prescribed in statute, including:
Statement of Student Rights.
The statement of student rights (statement) is established for public school students. The statement, which is not intended to be a comprehensive delineation of student rights or the manner in which they are derived, provides examples of student rights derived from the federal and state constitutions, and federal and state statutes. Examples of the delineated rights, by source, are described below.
Public school students are subject to the United States Constitution and its privileges and protections, including:
Public school students are subject to numerous privileges and protections derived from federal statutes, examples of which include:
Public school students are subject to the Washington Constitution and its privileges and protections, including:
Public school students are subject to numerous privileges and protections derived from Washington statutes, examples of which include:
Implementation Duties.
Each public school must develop student-focused educational and promotional materials that incorporate the statement of student rights. The materials must be made available on school and school district websites and on social media platforms and other communication channels used by students. The materials must also be incorporated into the education curricula provided to students in the mandatory one-half credit civics course.
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction must make the statement of student rights available on its website and is encouraged to include the statement in materials provided teachers for Temperance and Good Citizenship Day.