Relating to the inclusion of an understanding of communist regimes and ideologies in the essential knowledge and skills for the social studies curriculum for certain public school students, the official text

S.B. No. 24

AN ACT

relating to the inclusion of an understanding of communist regimes

and ideologies in the essential knowledge and skills for the social

studies curriculum for certain public school students.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 28.002, Education Code, is amended by

adding Subsections (h-11) and (h-12) to read as follows:

(h-11) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills for

the social studies curriculum for each grade level from grade 4

through grade 12, the State Board of Education shall, as

appropriate, adopt essential knowledge and skills that develop each

student's understanding of communist regimes and ideologies and

include age appropriate and developmentally appropriate

instruction with information on:

(1) the history of and tactics used by communist

movements in the United States;

(2) historical events and atrocities attributable to

communist regimes, including:

(A) the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap

Forward;

(B) the Holodomor, otherwise known as the

Ukrainian Famine;

(C) the Soviet-era political purge known as the

Great Terror;

(D) the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot and the

Khmer Rouge;

(E) the origins and policies of the Communist

Party of Cuba;

(F) communist guerrilla movements in Latin

America; and

(G) the oppression and suffering experienced by

people living under communist regimes, including mass murder,

violent land seizures, show trials, concentration camps, forced

labor, poverty, and general economic deterioration;

(3) a comparative analysis of:

(A) the ideologies of communism and

totalitarianism contrasted with the United States' founding

principles of freedom and democracy; and

(B) collectivist ideologies contrasted with the

United States' founding principles of individual rights,

merit-based advancement, and free enterprise;

(4) modern threats to the United States and its allies

posed by communist regimes and ideologies;

(5) common economic, industrial, and political events

that historically precede communist revolutions;

(6) the evolution of communist ideologies from

economic, class-based theories into broader cultural movements

that divide societies and maintain collective control over

individual rights;

(7) common historical and modern methods used to

spread communist ideologies, including:

(A) propaganda;

(B) public shaming tactics;

(C) censorship; and

(D) forced conformity; and

(8) first-person accounts, in the form of in-person,

video-recorded, or written testimony, from the victims of communist

regimes.

(h-12) In adopting the essential knowledge and skills

required under Subsection (h-11), the State Board of Education:

(1) shall adopt and publish standards for the required

instruction;

(2) shall seek input from:

(A) victims of communism willing to share their

first-person accounts; and

(B) nationally recognized organizations

dedicated to commemorating victims of communism; and

(3) may incorporate material from existing

educational programs that provide instruction on the topic of

communist regimes and ideologies, if the material meets the

standards adopted by the State Board of Education under Subdivision

(1).

SECTION 2. This Act applies beginning with the 2026-2027

school year.

SECTION 3. Not later than July 31, 2026, the State Board of

Education shall review and revise, as needed, the essential

knowledge and skills of the social studies curriculum as required

by Section 28.002(h-11), Education Code, as added by this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

______________________________
______________________________

President of the Senate
Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 24 passed the Senate on

March 26, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays 3.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 24 passed the House on

May 22, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 119, Nays 13, five

present not voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________

Date

______________________________

Governor