Bill Description: Senate Bill 1336 (S1336) implements a number of instructional requirements for American history and government coursework in Idaho public schools and establishes new criteria for the selection of curricular materials.

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Does it promote the breakdown of the traditional family or the deconstruction of societal norms? Examples include promoting or incentivizing degeneracy, violating parental rights, and compromising the innocence of children. Conversely, does it protect or uphold the structure, tenets, and traditional values of Western society?

The first and primary purpose of education in a republic is to “instruct the mass of our citizens in…their rights, interests and duties, as men and citizens” (Thomas Jefferson, Rockfish Gap Report, 1818). Over the past several decades, however, this function of our public education system has been relegated to a secondary concern behind “workforce development.” Consequently, our nation is facing a crisis of civic illiteracy. A recent survey of over 3,000 college and university students conducted by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, found that less than one-third of students could correctly identify James Madison as the Father of the Constitution. 

Senate Bill 1336 helps to address this crisis by implementing a wide range of reforms to American History and Government coursework in Idaho’s public schools. These new instructional requirements, include, but are not limited to:

• The cardinal virtues and patriotism;
• The fundamental principles of the nation’s republican form of government, such as “the supremacy of the natural law over civil institutions” and “the self-evident truth that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with inalienable rights;”
• The content, history, meaning, and significance of key historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, The Federalist Papers, and George Washington’s Farewell Address;
• The political and military narrative of the causes and progress of the American revolution;
• The United States' founding documents and their original intent;
• The deeds and civics virtues exemplified in the lives of America’s founding fathers;
• How totalitarian ideologies, such as communism and fascism, are antithetical to the fundamental principles of America's republican form of government, including the failures and atrocities of Nazi Germany (e.g. Holocaust), the Soviet Union (e.g.Holodomor), and the People’s Republic of China (e.g. Mao’s Cultural Revolution).
• The influence of the Western intellectual tradition on the United States constitution, including the political philosophy of John Locke and Montesquieu, Greek democracy, Roman republicanism, and British constitutionalism.

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Currently, curricular selection is handled at the local level. S1336 establishes new criteria that school districts must consider when selecting history, government, or social studies curricular materials that will ensure said materials are patriotic and reaffirm Western values, including that they:

• Align with the provisions of section 33-1602, Idaho Code (the goals and themes outlined earlier in S1336)
• Align with state content standards established by the state board of education;
• Be academically rigorous;
• Be historically and factually accurate;
• Directly utilize or otherwise promote engagement with primary sources and documents;
• Encourage pupils to believe what is true, love what is good, and admire what is beautiful;
• Inspire patriotism;
• Contribute to the cultivation of good moral character and the  virtues necessary for self-government and human flourishing;
• Cultivate knowledge and appreciation for the nation's history and cultural heritage as derived from the tradition of Western civilization; and
• Foster an appreciation for and attachment to America's republican form of government, along with a proper understanding of the pupils' rights and duties as citizens of the state of Idaho and the United States.

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