SECTION 1:  Section 2 of Chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is amended, in line 7, by inserting after “ … for the duties of citizenship.” The following:

Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Executive Office of Education, in collaboration with a youth advisory committee, shall develop a new curriculum for a High School Civics course which shall include but not be limited to: Function and composition of the branches of local, state, and federal government, the history of social movements, current events, and community-based action and service-learning projects. The curriculum shall be developed no later than May 1, 2012. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Executive Office of Education, in collaboration with a youth advisory committee, shall also develop a pilot program for the implementation of this course which shall begin no later than the beginning of the 2012-2013 academic school year. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Executive Office of Education, in collaboration with a youth advisory committee, shall also develop a plan for full implementation of this civics course as a high school graduation requirement to begin no later than the first day of the 2014-2015 academic school year.

SECTION 2:  There shall be a youth advisory committee consisting of 2 members of the Governor’s Youth Council, 2 members of the State Student Advisory Council, 1 member of the Special Commission on Civic Engagement and Learning, 5 members of Teens Leading The Way, and 2 youth designated by the Board of Education.

SECTION 3: The youth advisory committee, representatives from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Executive Office of Education shall convene their first meeting not later than 60 days after the effective date of this act.