1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education; extending the dates by when the 
  1.3             education commissioner must submit proposed social 
  1.4             studies standards and when students must complete 
  1.5             social studies course credit requirements for 
  1.6             graduation; amending Minnesota Statutes 2003 
  1.7             Supplement, sections 120B.021, subdivision 1; 120B.024.
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 
  1.10  120B.021, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [REQUIRED ACADEMIC STANDARDS.] The 
  1.12  following subject areas are required for statewide 
  1.13  accountability: 
  1.14     (1) language arts; 
  1.15     (2) mathematics; 
  1.16     (3) science; 
  1.17     (4) social studies, including history, geography, 
  1.18  economics, and government and citizenship; and 
  1.19     (5) the arts, for which statewide or locally developed 
  1.20  academic standards apply, as determined by the school district.  
  1.21  Public elementary and middle schools must offer at least three 
  1.22  and require at least two of the following four arts areas:  
  1.23  dance; music; theater; and visual arts.  Public high schools 
  1.24  must offer at least three and require at least one of the 
  1.25  following five arts areas:  media arts; dance; music; theater; 
  1.26  and visual arts.  
  2.1      The commissioner must submit proposed standards in science 
  2.2   and social studies to the legislature by February 1, 2004.  The 
  2.3   commissioner, after completing the same hearing process the 
  2.4   commissioner used in September and October of 2003 to obtain 
  2.5   citizen input on drafts of the science and social studies 
  2.6   standards, must use the citizen input to further modify the most 
  2.7   recent social studies standards the commissioner presented to 
  2.8   the legislature during the 2004 regular session and propose 
  2.9   further modified social studies standards to the legislature by 
  2.10  February 1, 2005. 
  2.11  For purposes of applicable federal law, the academic standards 
  2.12  for language arts, mathematics, and science apply to all public 
  2.13  school students, except the very few students with extreme 
  2.14  cognitive or physical impairments for whom an individualized 
  2.15  education plan team has determined that the required academic 
  2.16  standards are inappropriate.  An individualized education plan 
  2.17  team that makes this determination must establish alternative 
  2.18  standards. 
  2.19     A school district, no later than the 2007-2008 school year, 
  2.20  must adopt graduation requirements that meet or exceed state 
  2.21  graduation requirements established in law or rule.  A school 
  2.22  district that incorporates these state graduation requirements 
  2.23  before the 2007-2008 school year must provide students who enter 
  2.24  the 9th grade in or before the 2003-2004 school year the 
  2.25  opportunity to earn a diploma based on existing locally 
  2.26  established graduation requirements in effect when the students 
  2.27  entered the 9th grade.  District efforts to develop, implement, 
  2.28  or improve instruction or curriculum as a result of the 
  2.29  provisions of this section must be consistent with sections 
  2.30  120B.10, 120B.11, and 120B.20.  
  2.31     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective the day 
  2.32  following final enactment.  
  2.33     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2003 Supplement, section 
  2.34  120B.024, is amended to read: 
  2.35     120B.024 [GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS; COURSE CREDITS.] 
  2.36     (a) Students beginning 9th grade in the 2004-2005 school 
  3.1   year and later must successfully complete the following high 
  3.2   school level course credits for graduation: 
  3.3      (1) four credits of language arts; 
  3.4      (2) three credits of mathematics, encompassing at least 
  3.5   algebra, geometry, statistics, and probability sufficient to 
  3.6   satisfy the academic standard; 
  3.7      (3) three credits of science, including at least one credit 
  3.8   in biology; and 
  3.9      (4) three and one-half credits of social studies, including 
  3.10  at least one credit of United States history, one credit of 
  3.11  geography, 0.5 credits of government and citizenship, 0.5 
  3.12  credits of world history, and 0.5 credits of economics; and 
  3.13     (5) a minimum of eight elective course credits, including 
  3.14  at least one credit in the arts. 
  3.15     A course credit is equivalent to a student's successful 
  3.16  completion of an academic year of study or a student's mastery 
  3.17  of the applicable subject matter, as determined by the local 
  3.18  school district. 
  3.19     (b) In addition to completing the course credit 
  3.20  requirements in paragraph (a), students beginning the ninth 
  3.21  grade in the 2005-2006 school year and later must successfully 
  3.22  complete three and one-half credits of social studies, including 
  3.23  at least one credit of United States history, one credit of 
  3.24  geography, 0.5 credits of government and citizenship, 0.5 
  3.25  credits of world history, and 0.5 credits of economics.  
  3.26     <b>[EFFECTIVE DATE.]</b> This section is effective the day 
  3.27  following final enactment.