S-0029.1

SENATE BILL 5028


State of Washington	65th Legislature	2017 Regular Session

By Senators McCoy, Billig, Carlyle, Hasegawa, Chase, Rolfes, Saldaña, Pedersen, and Keiser

Read first time 01/10/17. Referred to Committee on Higher Education.

AN ACT Relating to requiring teacher preparation programs to integrate Native American curriculum developed by the office of the superintendent of public instruction into existing Pacific Northwest history and government requirements; amending RCW 28B.10.710; and creating a new section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the 2015 legislature mandated common schools to use the Since Time Immemorial curriculum, developed by the office of the superintendent of public instruction and available free of charge. The legislature recognizes the need to extend the state's commitment to educate students about tribal sovereignty, history, culture, and treaty rights by requiring educator preparation programs to also use the Since Time Immemorial curriculum. The legislature intends the use of the curriculum to improve the understanding of students and educators about the past contributions of Indian nations to the state of Washington and the contemporary and ongoing tribal and state government relations.

(1)(a) There shall be a one quarter or semester course in either Washington state history and government, or Pacific Northwest history and government in the curriculum of all ((teachers' colleges and teachers' courses in all institutions of higher education)) teacher preparation programs.

(b) No person shall be graduated from any of said ((schools)) programs without completing said course of study, unless otherwise determined by the Washington professional educator standards board.

(2) Any course in Washington state or Pacific Northwest history and government used to fulfill ((this)) the requirement in subsection (1) of this section shall include information on the culture, history, and government of the American Indian peoples who were the first human inhabitants of the state and the region.

(3) Teacher preparation programs shall meet the requirements of this section by integrating the curriculum developed and made available free of charge by the office of the superintendent of public instruction into existing programs or courses and may modify that curriculum in order to incorporate elements that have a regionally specific focus.