House File 2510 - Reprinted HOUSE FILE 2510 BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 714) (As Amended and Passed by the House March 3, 2026 ) A BILL FOR An Act relating to education, including by modifying provisions 1 related to the social studies instruction provided to 2 students enrolled in grades one through twelve and the 3 educational programs provided by the institutions of higher 4 education under the control of the state board of regents. 5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 6 HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md

H.F. 2510 Section 1. Section 256.11, subsection 3, paragraph a, 1 subparagraph (2), Code 2026, is amended to read as follows: 2 (2) Social studies. The social studies curriculum shall 3 include instruction related to all of the following: 4 (a) The workings of the federal, state, and local levels of 5 government. 6 (b) The rights and responsibilities of citizens of the 7 United States and the state of Iowa. 8 (c) The history of the secular and religious ideals and 9 institutions of liberty, including political, religious, 10 economic, social, and cultural liberty, in western 11 civilization, the United States, and the state of Iowa, which 12 emphasizes the good, worthwhile, and best achievements of these 13 ideals and institutions of liberty. 14 (d) Exemplary figures in western civilization, the United 15 States, and the state of Iowa who have fought to secure 16 liberty. 17 (e) The cultural heritage of western civilization, the 18 United States, and the state of Iowa. 19 (f) The geography of the United States and the state of 20 Iowa. 21 (g) The history and meaning of the United States flag and 22 the national anthem. 23 (h) Admirable Americans, including Benjamin Franklin, 24 George Washington, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 25 and Abraham Lincoln. 26 Sec. 2. Section 256.11, subsection 3, Code 2026, is amended 27 by adding the following new paragraph: 28 NEW PARAGRAPH . 0c. During grades five and six, the 29 instruction provided as part of the social studies curriculum 30 shall incorporate the study of documents that are important 31 to the history of the United States, including all of the 32 following: 33 (1) The Mayflower compact. 34 (2) Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine. 35 -1- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 1/ 12

H.F. 2510 (3) The Declaration of Independence. 1 (4) The Articles of Confederation. 2 (5) The Pennsylvania Act for the gradual abolition of 3 slavery. 4 (6) The Virginia statute for religious freedom. 5 (7) The northwest ordinance. 6 (8) The Constitution of the United States. 7 (9) The federalist papers, including federalist number ten 8 and federalist number fifty-one. 9 (10) A transcript of George Washington’s farewell address. 10 (11) Relevant excerpts from Democracy in America written by 11 Alexis de Tocqueville. 12 (12) A transcript of the first debate between Abraham 13 Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. 14 (13) The Emancipation Proclamation. 15 (14) The writings of the founding fathers. 16 Sec. 3. Section 256.11, subsection 4, paragraph a, 17 subparagraph (2), Code 2026, is amended to read as follows: 18 (2) (a) Social studies , including instruction related 19 to civics . The social studies curriculum shall require at 20 least one semester of instruction, or the trimester or quarter 21 equivalent, in each of the following areas: 22 (i) Civics, which shall include instruction related to all 23 of the following: 24 (A) The intellectual sources of the United States’ founding 25 documents. 26 (B) The political and military narrative of the causes and 27 progress of the American Revolution. 28 (C) The United States’ founding documents and the original 29 intent of such documents. 30 (D) The Constitution of the United States, with emphasis on 31 the Bill of Rights, and the Constitution of the State of Iowa. 32 (E) The basic principles of the United States’ republican 33 form of government. 34 (F) The historical development of the United States’ 35 -2- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 2/ 12

H.F. 2510 republican form of government. 1 (G) The United States’ republican form of government 2 compared with different forms of government including 3 dictatorship, monarchy, oligarchy, theocracy, communism, and 4 autocracy. 5 (H) The structure, function, and processes of government 6 institutions at the federal, state, and local levels. 7 (I) The civic virtues exemplified in the lives of famous 8 Americans. 9 (ii) United States history, which shall include instruction 10 related to all of the following: 11 (A) The study of and devotion to the United States’ 12 exceptional and praiseworthy history. 13 (B) The basic political, diplomatic, and military history 14 of the United States, which shall include the period of 15 discovery, early colonies, the War of Independence, the 16 Civil War, the expansion of the United States to its present 17 boundaries, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the civil 18 rights movement, and the period of time from the September 11 19 attacks to the present day, which shall incorporate the study 20 of primary source documents. 21 (C) The basic history of business and technology in the 22 United States, which shall incorporate the study of primary 23 source documents. 24 (D) The basic history of the religious and secular aspects 25 of the United States’ common culture, which shall incorporate 26 the study of primary source documents. 27 (E) The concept that United States history shall be viewed 28 as factual, not as constructed, shall be viewed as knowable, 29 teachable, and testable, and shall be defined as the creation 30 of a new nation based largely on the universal principles 31 stated in the Declaration of Independence. 32 (iii) The history of western civilization, which shall 33 include instruction that constitutes an extended, coherent 34 account of western civilization, from Athens, Jerusalem, and 35 -3- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 3/ 12

H.F. 2510 Rome to the present day, to understand the nature of the 1 nation’s ideals and institutions of liberty, how such ideals 2 and institutions of liberty came into existence, and what 3 actions the nation’s forefathers took to preserve them. 4 (iv) Iowa history, to be taught during grade eight, which 5 shall include instruction related to all of the following: 6 (A) The history of the founding of Iowa. 7 (B) The history of famous Iowans and their involvement in 8 important events in history. 9 (C) How Iowans have impacted government, policies, issues, 10 and procedures over the years. 11 (D) The history of the state motto, bird, tree, and rock. 12 (v) Economics, to be taught during grade eight. The 13 economics instruction shall focus on the free enterprise system 14 and its benefits. The economics curriculum shall include 15 instruction related to the failures of economic systems of 16 communist regimes and the difference between capitalist and 17 communist economic systems. 18 (b) The social studies curriculum shall include instruction 19 related to admirable Americans, including Benjamin Franklin, 20 George Washington, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 21 and Abraham Lincoln. 22 (c) The instruction provided as part of the social studies 23 curriculum shall incorporate the study of documents that are 24 important to the history of the United States, including all 25 of the following: 26 (i) The Mayflower compact. 27 (ii) Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine. 28 (iii) The Declaration of Independence. 29 (iv) The Articles of Confederation. 30 (v) The Pennsylvania Act for the gradual abolition of 31 slavery. 32 (vi) The Virginia statute for religious freedom. 33 (vii) The northwest ordinance. 34 (viii) The Constitution of the United States. 35 -4- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 4/ 12

H.F. 2510 (ix) The federalist papers, including federalist number ten 1 and federalist number fifty-one. 2 (x) A transcript of George Washington’s farewell address. 3 (xi) Relevant excerpts from Democracy in America written by 4 Alexis de Tocqueville. 5 (xii) A transcript of the first debate between Abraham 6 Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas. 7 (xiii) The Emancipation Proclamation. 8 (xiv) The writings of the founding fathers. 9 Sec. 4. Section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph b, Code 10 2026, is amended to read as follows: 11 b. Five units of the social studies including instruction 12 in voting statutes and procedures, voter registration 13 requirements, the use of paper ballots and voting systems in 14 the election process, and the method of acquiring and casting 15 an absentee ballot . All students shall complete a minimum of 16 one-half unit of United States government , and one unit of 17 civics, two units of United States history , and one unit of 18 western civilization . The social studies curriculum shall not 19 include any advanced placement course that requires action 20 civics. The social studies curriculum shall incorporate the 21 study of documents that are important to the history of the 22 United States, including the Mayflower compact; Common Sense, 23 written by Thomas Paine; the Declaration of Independence; the 24 Articles of Confederation; the Pennsylvania Act for the gradual 25 abolition of slavery; the Virginia statute for religious 26 freedom; the northwest ordinance; the Constitution of the 27 United States; the federalist papers, including federalist 28 number ten and federalist number fifty-one; a transcript of 29 George Washington’s farewell address; relevant excerpts from 30 Democracy in America written by Alexis de Tocqueville; a 31 transcript of the first debate between Abraham Lincoln and 32 Stephen A. Douglas; the Emancipation Proclamation; and the 33 writings of the founding fathers. 34 (1) The one-half unit of United States government shall 35 -5- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 5/ 12

H.F. 2510 include the voting procedure as described in this lettered 1 paragraph and section 280.9A and other instruction related 2 to voting statutes and procedures, voter registration 3 requirements, the use of paper ballots and voting systems in 4 the election process, and the method of acquiring and casting 5 an absentee ballot . The government instruction shall also 6 include a study of the Constitution of the United States 7 and the Bill of Rights contained in the Constitution and an 8 assessment of a student’s knowledge of the Constitution and the 9 Bill of Rights. 10 (2) The one unit of civics shall not include any 11 requirements related to political activism, service learning, 12 civic engagement, action civics, or any cognate activity. The 13 one unit of civics shall include instruction related to all of 14 the following: 15 (a) The intellectual sources of the United States’ 16 founding documents, including documents that illustrate the 17 Greek, Hebrew, and Roman exemplars of liberty and republican 18 government; the Christian synthesis of Greek, Hebrew, and Roman 19 thought that emphasized the equal dignity of all individual 20 humans in the eyes of God; the medieval English inheritance 21 of common law, jury, local self-government, liberty, and 22 representative government; the early modern English inheritance 23 of Christian liberty, republicanism, the militia, accountable 24 government, mixed government, parliamentary sovereignty, 25 freedom of the press, and the English bill of rights and 26 toleration Act; the colonial American inheritance of Christian 27 liberty, self-government, and local government; and the 28 enlightenment theories of John Locke, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, 29 and their contemporaries that universalized the European 30 traditions of liberty. 31 (b) The political and military narrative of the causes and 32 progress of the American revolution. 33 (c) The original intent of the documents described in 34 unnumbered paragraph 1. 35 -6- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 6/ 12

H.F. 2510 (d) The Constitution of the United States, with an emphasis 1 on the Bill of Rights contained in the Constitution, and the 2 Constitution of the State of Iowa. 3 (e) The basic principles of the United States’ republican 4 form of government and the institutions and principles to 5 preserve liberty and prevent misuse of government power, 6 including balance of power; consent of the governed; the 7 electoral college; federalism and the division of powers 8 between the federal government and the states; individual 9 liberties; rights of life, liberty, and property; popular 10 sovereignty; religious freedom; an educated citizenry; 11 representative government; civilian control of the military; 12 rule of law; control of faction; checks and balances; and 13 separation of powers among the executive, the legislature, and 14 the judiciary. 15 (f) The historical development of the United States’ 16 republican form of government, including the federalist and 17 antifederalist debates; the rise and role of political parties; 18 the rise of Jacksonian democracy; the expansion of the ideals 19 and institutions of liberty and republican self-government 20 to include all Americans, regardless of sex or race; the 21 causes and the constitutional consequences of the Civil War; 22 the thirteenth amendment, fourteenth amendment, fifteenth 23 amendment, and the nineteenth amendment; the rise of the new 24 deal administrative state; and United States Supreme Court 25 cases, including Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, 26 Dred Scott v. Sandford, Pembina consolidated silver mining co. 27 v. Pennsylvania, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Brown v. Board of 28 Education. 29 (g) The United States’ republican form of government 30 compared with different forms of government including 31 dictatorship, monarchy, oligarchy, theocracy, communism, and 32 autocracy. 33 (h) The structure, function, and processes of governmental 34 institutions at the federal, state, and local levels. 35 -7- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 7/ 12

H.F. 2510 (i) Civic virtues exemplified in the lives of famous 1 Americans, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, 2 Alexander Hamilton, Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew 3 Jackson, Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Abraham Lincoln, 4 Ulysses S. Grant, Ely Parker, Thomas Edison, Andrew Carnegie, 5 Walter Reed, Theodore Roosevelt, Charles Curtis, Will Rogers, 6 Jim Thorpe, Jackie Robinson, George Marshall, Martin Luther 7 King, Jr., Richard Feynman, Neil Armstrong, and Ronald Reagan. 8 (3) The two units of United States history shall include an 9 assessment of the student’s knowledge of important historical 10 documents, including the Declaration of Independence, 11 the Constitution of the United States, the Emancipation 12 Proclamation, and excerpts from the federalist papers. One 13 unit of United States history shall focus on the period 14 of time beginning when the Mayflower landed on Cape Cod to 15 the conclusion of the Civil War. The other unit of United 16 States history shall focus on the period of time beginning 17 at the conclusion of the Civil War to the present day, which 18 unit shall include instruction related to the Holocaust and 19 crimes against humanity that have occurred under communist 20 regimes. The two units of United States history shall include 21 significant material related to the War of Independence and 22 the creation of the Constitution of the United States. The 23 two units of United States history shall be designed to 24 include significant biographical material related to exemplary 25 Americans to provide both the nation’s shared constitutional 26 history and historical context. The two units of United 27 States history shall include instruction related to all of the 28 following: 29 (a) The United States’ exceptional and praiseworthy 30 history. 31 (b) The basic political, diplomatic, and military history 32 of the United States, which shall include the period of 33 discovery, early colonies, the War of Independence, the 34 Civil War, the expansion of the United States to its present 35 -8- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 8/ 12

H.F. 2510 boundaries, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the civil 1 rights movement, and the period of time from the September 11 2 attacks to the present day, which shall incorporate the study 3 of primary source documents. 4 (c) The basic history of business and technology in the 5 United States, which shall incorporate the study of primary 6 source documents. 7 (d) The basic history of the religious and secular aspects 8 of the United States’ common culture, which shall incorporate 9 the study of primary source documents. 10 (e) The concept that United States history shall be viewed 11 as factual, not as constructed, shall be viewed as knowable, 12 teachable, and testable, and shall be defined as the creation 13 of a new nation based largely on the universal principles 14 stated in the Declaration of Independence. 15 (4) The one unit of western civilization shall include 16 instruction related to all of the following: 17 (a) Western civilization’s exceptional and praiseworthy 18 history. 19 (b) The basic political outline of western civilization, 20 which shall include the history of ancient Israel, the free 21 Greek city states, the Roman republic, the Roman empire, the 22 Carolingian empire, the medieval Papacy, medieval England, 23 absolutist France, parliamentary England, the Napoleonic 24 wars, World War I, World War II, the communist and fascist 25 challenges to the European order, and the survival and triumph 26 of political and economic liberty, which shall incorporate the 27 study of primary source documents. 28 (c) The basic intellectual history of western civilization, 29 which shall include its Greek, Hebrew, and Roman sources; 30 the Christian synthesis of those Greek, Hebrew, and Roman 31 sources that emphasized the equal dignity of all individual 32 humans in the eyes of God; the renaissance rediscovery of 33 republican liberty; the reformation; the medieval and early 34 modern English ideals and institutions of common law, jury, 35 -9- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 9/ 12

H.F. 2510 the militia, local self-government, political and religious 1 liberty, representative government, accountable government, 2 and parliamentary sovereignty; the scientific revolution; 3 the enlightenment ideals of political and economic liberty; 4 the nineteenth-century formulation of the scientific and 5 humanist disciplines; the emergence of modern conservatism and 6 liberalism; and the challenges to liberty of socialism and 7 fascism, which shall incorporate the study of primary source 8 documents. 9 (d) The basic history of science and technology in western 10 civilization, which shall emphasize Europe’s unique role as the 11 matrix of the modern scientific and industrial world, which 12 shall incorporate the study of primary source documents. 13 (e) The basic economic history of western civilization, 14 which shall emphasize Europe’s unique role as the matrix of 15 modern mass prosperity, which emerged from the interplay 16 of the ideals and institutions of economic liberty, secure 17 property rights, entrepreneurial innovation, and the industrial 18 revolution, which shall incorporate the study of primary source 19 documents. 20 (f) The basic history of the religious and secular aspects 21 of western civilization’s cultures, which shall emphasize the 22 protective aspects of liberty and incorporate the study of 23 primary source documents. 24 (g) The basic history of the fruitful and enduring 25 attachment of western civilization’s free peoples to their 26 nations and faiths, which shall incorporate the study of 27 primary source documents. 28 (h) The concept that western civilization’s history shall 29 be viewed as factual, not as constructed, shall be viewed as 30 knowable, teachable, and testable, and shall be defined as the 31 creation of a civilization based largely on the ideals and 32 institutions of liberty. 33 Sec. 5. Section 256E.7, subsection 2, paragraph h, Code 34 2026, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph: 35 -10- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 10/ 12

H.F. 2510 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (02) The educational standards of 1 section 256.11 relating to social studies instruction for 2 grades one through twelve. 3 Sec. 6. Section 256F.4, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended 4 by adding the following new paragraph: 5 NEW PARAGRAPH . 0q. Be subject to and comply with the 6 requirements of section 256.11, subsections 3 and 4, and 7 section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph “b” , relating to social 8 studies instruction in the same manner as a school district. 9 Sec. 7. Section 262.9, Code 2026, is amended by adding the 10 following new subsection: 11 NEW SUBSECTION . 43. Prohibit the institutions of higher 12 education under its control from awarding students any semester 13 hours of credit for courses that require action civics or 14 political activism. 15 Sec. 8. STATE MANDATE FUNDING SPECIFIED. In accordance 16 with section 25B.2, subsection 3, the state cost of requiring 17 compliance with any state mandate included in this Act shall 18 be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid 19 received by the school district under section 257.16. This 20 specification of the payment of the state cost shall be deemed 21 to meet all of the state funding-related requirements of 22 section 25B.2, subsection 3, and no additional state funding 23 shall be necessary for the full implementation of this Act 24 by and enforcement of this Act against all affected school 25 districts. 26 Sec. 9. NO IMPACT ON GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS. The section 27 of this Act amending section 256.11, subsection 5, paragraph 28 “b”, shall not affect the graduation requirements applicable 29 to a student enrolled in grades nine through twelve as of the 30 effective date of this Act. 31 Sec. 10. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION —— DRAFT SOCIAL STUDIES 32 STANDARDS. The department of education shall not use the 33 draft social studies standards that the department adopted 34 in 2025 pursuant to 2024 Iowa Acts, chapter 1159, for any 35 -11- HF 2510 (2) 91 jda/jh/md 11/ 12