Kansas House Bill HB2412

Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/12/26
• Refer: 1/12/26
• Report Pass: 2/2/26
• Engrossed: 2/18/26
• Refer: 2/19/26
• Report Pass: 3/5/26
• Enrolled: 4/10/26
• Vetoed: 4/10/26

Caption

Requiring instruction to provide students with an understanding of communist, fascist and socialist regimes and ideologies and that students pass an American civics examination in order to graduate with a high school diploma.

Summary

HB2412 would direct the Kansas State Board of Education to develop age-appropriate curriculum, materials, and guidelines for social studies instruction on the negative impacts of communist, fascist, and socialist regimes and ideologies. School districts would be required to provide that instruction in non-elementary grades, though they could use the state board’s materials if they choose. The bill also amends Kansas law governing required high school civics instruction. Beginning with students entering grade 9 on or after July 1, 2026, all accredited public, private, and parochial high schools would have to require students to pass an American civics examination as a condition of graduation. The exam must be drawn from the U.S. citizenship and immigration services naturalization test, consist of 20 randomly selected questions, and be passed with at least 70% correct. Students may retake the exam, and accommodations for students with IEPs are governed by the IEP. The state board may adopt rules and a model exam to implement the requirement.

Impact

HB2412 would expand state-mandated social studies content and add a new graduation requirement for high school students in Kansas. It would affect accredited public, private, and parochial schools by requiring instruction on communist, fascist, and socialist ideologies and by making passage of an American civics exam part of the graduation certification process for students entering ninth grade in 2026 or later. The bill amends and repeals K.S.A. 72-3217, replacing prior civics instruction language with a more specific testing requirement and authorizing the State Board of Education to issue implementation rules.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have received strong overall support, passing the House 124-0 and the Senate 40-0 on final action. However, later conference committee adoption votes were more divided, suggesting some disagreement over the final negotiated language even though the measure ultimately advanced with bipartisan approval. The absence of recorded committee testimony in the provided materials limits insight into detailed public arguments, but the final votes indicate broad agreement on the bill’s general goals.

Contention

The main points of contention likely centered on the scope and framing of the required instruction on communist, fascist, and socialist regimes, as well as the new graduation test requirement. Potential concerns include whether the curriculum mandate is politically charged, how the material should be taught across grade levels, and whether a standardized civics exam could create barriers for some students. The bill addresses one equity-related issue by tying accommodations for students with IEPs to their individualized plans, but no additional accommodation framework is specified. The more divided conference votes suggest that the final wording or implementation details were the most contested aspects.