Providing for the reduction of certain funding and budgets for public schools, community colleges, and regents institutions following the use of specified curriculum and including effective date and applicability provisions

This bill includes findings of the general assembly that the recently developed United States history curriculum derived from a project by the New York Times, known as the “1619 Project”, attempts to deny or obfuscate the fundamental principles upon which the United States was founded and that the general assembly has a strong interest in promoting an accurate account of this nation’s history through public schools and forming young people into knowledgeable and patriotic citizens. The bill amends provisions governing the educational program established by the state board of education to prohibit a school from utilizing any United States history curriculum that in whole or in part is derived from a project by the New York Times, known as the “1619 Project”, or any similarly developed curriculum. The bill requires reductions to the authorized budget of and state aid payments to a school district that violates the prohibition on the use of prohibited curriculum. The bill also provides that if a merged area (community college) has utilized any United States history curriculum during the previous fiscal year that in whole or in part is derived from a project by the New York Times, known as the “1619 Project”, or any similarly developed curriculum, the state board shall reduce the merged area’s final total budget by an amount proportionate to the number of days during that fiscal year that the curriculum was used. Under the bill, if an institution under the control of the board of regents has utilized any United States history curriculum during the previous fiscal year that in whole or in part is derived from a project by the New York Times, known as the “1619 Project”, or any similarly developed curriculum, the monthly appropriations paid to the institution shall be reduced by an amount proportionate to the number of days during that fiscal year that the curriculum was used. The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies to budgets, state aid payments, and appropriations for fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2021.