NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A243
SPONSOR: Eichenstein TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring hate crime
awareness curriculum or instruction for school districts
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To create a hate crimes curriculum or instruction on discrimination and
religious intolerance including anti-Semitism.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 creates new section 804-e of the education law creating a hate
crime awareness curriculum or instruction. The commissioner in consulta-
tion with the Division of Human Rights and any other appropriate agency
shall establish hate crime awareness curriculum or instruction for
school districts, including but not limited to instruction on what
discrimination, religious intolerance including anti-Semitism might look
like in a school as well as the positive actions students can take to
promote acceptance, inclusion, and the diversity of their communities.
Allows for age-appropriate curriculum to be varied across the state to
meet the particular needs of students. Allows for inclusion in the
Social Studies curriculum or in any other manner a school deems appro-
priate.
Section 2 sets forth the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Hate has no place here. With a disturbing increase in the number of
anti-Semitic attacks and assaults occurring in New York we must work on
multiple fronts to combat the scourge of hate, intolerance and anti-Sem-
itism. One of these critical ways is to ensure that our children, the
most precious of all are taught from an early age to identify discrimi-
nation and religious intolerance including hate and anti-Semitism; and
how to fight back by promoting acceptance and inclusion while embracing
the diversity that is New York. This legislation creates age-appropriate
curriculum to engage our students from an early age to be accepting and
inclusive of all, and to identify and fight back against those who prac-
tice hate, anti-Semitism, discrimination and religious intolerance.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A2508 - Referred to education
2021: A2508 - Referred to education
2020: A9532A - Print number 9532a
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take on the July 1 next succeeding the date upon which it
shall have become law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
243
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 4, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. EICHENSTEIN -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring hate crime
awareness curriculum or instruction for school districts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 804-e
2 to read as follows:
3 § 804-e. Hate crime awareness curriculum or instruction. 1. The
4 commissioner, in consultation with the division of human rights and any
5 other appropriate agency, shall establish hate crime awareness curric-
6 ulum or instruction for school districts, including, but not limited to,
7 instruction on what discrimination and religious intolerance, including
8 anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, might look like as well as the positive
9 actions students can take to promote acceptance, inclusion, and the
10 diversity of their communities. The content of such curriculum or
11 instruction may be varied to meet the needs of particular school
12 districts, or portions thereof, and need not be uniform throughout the
13 state. The content of such curriculum or instruction shall be age
14 appropriate and shall be developed according to the needs and abilities
15 of pupils at successive grade levels in order to provide skills, infor-
16 mation, and guidance to aid in hate crime awareness.
17 2. Schools may include the curriculum or instruction required by this
18 section as a component of its social studies curriculum or in any other
19 manner the school deems appropriate.
20 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
21 the date upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately,
22 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
23 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
24 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00129-01-3
