Summary — HB 6231 (adds MCL 380.1164)
Status: Introduced (electronically reproduced 12/04/2024); referred to Committee on Education. (Legislative activity through April–May 2025 included committee hearings and a joint favorable substitute.)
Purpose
- Establish a temporary state commission to recommend age‑ and grade‑appropriate K–12 instruction on African‑American history, require schools to provide that instruction, and require state assessments to include related items.
What the bill would do (key provisions)
- Adds section 1164 to the Revised School Code (1976 PA 451; MCL 380.1 et seq.).
- Creates the “commission to update African‑American history in K to 12 instruction” as a temporary constitutional commission; the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) must provide staffing/support.
- Appointment timeline and membership:
- Governor (in consultation with MDE) to appoint commission members not later than 90 days after the bill’s effective date.
- Commission membership specified (six seats): representatives from University of Michigan (Afroamerican & African Studies), Michigan State University (African American & African Studies), Wayne State University (African American Studies), NAACP Michigan conference, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University.
- Organizational rules:
- Superintendent of Public Instruction calls first meeting within 120 days after the bill’s effective date.
- Meetings subject to the Open Meetings Act; commission records subject to FOIA.
- Members serve without compensation and receive no expense reimbursement.
- Mandated deliverable:
- Within 365 days after its first meeting, the commission must review current recommended model core academic content standards (section 1278) and send the state board of education and relevant K–12 legislative committees recommendations for age‑ and grade‑appropriate instruction on African‑American history. Required content includes study of Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Era, other relevant eras, and African‑American contributions to the U.S. and other countries.
- Implementation timelines:
- After the state board receives the commission’s recommendations, it must update the recommended model core standards within two school years to incorporate them.
- Beginning with the 2025–2026 school year, the Michigan Merit Examination social studies component, M‑STEP (and successor state social studies assessments), must include questions tied to the learning objectives in the updated standards.
- Beginning with the 2025–2026 school year, each school operated by a school district or public school academy must provide instruction at all grade levels on African‑American history as described.
Affected parties
- Michigan Department of Education and State Board of Education (duties to staff, receive recommendations, and update standards).
- Public school districts and public school academies (must provide required instruction at all grade levels).
- State assessment programs (Michigan Merit Exam and M‑STEP) — required to incorporate related items.
- Institutions and organizations designated for commission membership.
Timing / Effective date
- The bill specifies it takes effect 90 days after enactment. Other specified deadlines: appointments within 90 days of the effective date; first meeting called within 120 days; commission report within 365 days of first meeting; state board must adopt updates within two school years of receipt. The bill also sets 2025–2026 as the start year for assessment inclusion and school instruction requirements.
Fiscal and operational notes
- Commission members unpaid; MDE provides staffing (no appropriation included in bill text). Implementation could require curriculum development, assessment revisions, teacher supports, and possible resource/material costs at the state and local levels, but the bill does not specify funding.
