HOUSE BILL No. 4776


     June 10, 1999, Introduced by Reps. Julian, Gilbert, LaSata, Toy, Bradstreet, Vear, Green,
Middaugh, Garcia, Richardville, Tabor, Allen, Pappageorge and Raczkowski and referred to the
Committee on Veterans Affairs.


        A bill to create a veterans speakers program within the

   department of military and veterans affairs; and to prescribe

   duties for certain state officials.

               THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 1         Sec. 1.  A veterans speakers program is created within the

 2    veterans' affairs directorate of the department of military and

 3    veterans affairs.  Under the program, the directorate shall do

 4    all of the following:

 5         (a) Contact veterans of military service and create a list

 6    of veterans who are willing to visit local schools and make pre-

 7    sentations of their military experiences.  The list shall include

 8    the length of service, geographical area of service, and the rank

 9    of each veteran.

10         (b) Encourage veterans' organizations to participate in the

11    program.


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 1         (c) Create a pamphlet that encourages schools to utilize the

 2    experiences of veterans in the course of their educational

 3    instruction.  The pamphlet shall include the names and means of

 4    contacting appropriate veterans from the list of veterans created

 5    under subdivision (a).

 6         (d) Distribute the pamphlet to all the school districts in

 7    this state.

 8         (e) Provide a system of receiving evaluations of the speak-

 9    ers and the program from teachers and students who utilized the

10    program.

11         (f) Update the list of available veteran speakers at least

12    annually.  The directorate shall make the list available on the

13    internet through the web site of the department of military and

14    veterans affairs.

15         Sec. 2.  The speakers program created in section 1 is not a

16    replacement for any instruction required by any other law.  This

17    act does not require a teacher to participate in the program cre-

18    ated in section 1.  A teacher who chooses to participate in the

19    program may tailor the subject matter and select the veteran that

20    he or she determines is most appropriate for the students.

21         Sec. 3.  The director of the veterans' affairs directorate

22    shall annually report to the committees of the house of represen-

23    tatives and the senate having jurisdiction over veterans affairs

24    on the merits and the use of the program.









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