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School board member urges mandatory July 4 civic instruction; committee advances bill
Summary
A state school board member testified in favor of House Bill 18-57 to set aside instructional time for July 4 civic lessons; the subcommittee voted 4–1 to send the bill to the full Education Committee.
Frances Rosales, a Rutherford County Schools board member, told the Education Instruction Subcommittee on March 3 that Independence Day is more than a summer holiday and asked lawmakers to adopt House Bill 18-57 to ensure students receive instruction on the Declaration of Independence and foundational civic principles.
"Independence Day is more than a summer holiday. It marks the birth of our nation and the principles of liberty, self government, and responsibility," Rosales said as she urged the committee to support a designated instructional day.
Representative Rudd introduced the bill, saying it was requested by a local school board to require that the Fourth of July be taught as part of the civics curriculum in systems that otherwise might not cover the topic because it occurs during summer break. Rudd defended the bill as minimally disruptive, noting many systems already cover the material.
Rosales told members the bill leaves scheduling discretion to the education director, and that instruction would be brief — about 45 to 60 minutes on a single day — rather than a recurring addition to teachers' workloads. "It's just 1 hour possibly, maybe 45 minutes 1 day out of the 100 days that we have in the school," she said.
The committee recorded a 4–1 vote to advance House Bill 18-57 to the full Education Committee. Representative Rudd closed the presentation by commending Rosales' testimony: "She is very knowledgeable and eloquent on what she's witnessed and seen."
