Requires instruction regarding symbols of hate, including the swastika and the noose, to be incorporated into the curricula for grades six through twelve.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2727
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 22, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sens. KAMINSKY, ADDABBO, BIAGGI, BROOKS, GAUGHRAN,
GOUNARDES, HOYLMAN, JACKSON, KAPLAN, KRUEGER, LIU, MAYER, MYRIE,
PERSAUD, SALAZAR, SANDERS, SKOUFIS, THOMAS -- read twice and ordered
printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Educa-
tion
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring instruction
regarding symbols of hate
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds the
2 recent spike in hate crimes across our state and nation as a whole to be
3 highly disturbing and a societal epidemic in need of remedy. As many of
4 our youth are not aware of the hateful connotations behind swastikas and
5 nooses, it is necessary for the legislature to mandate compulsory educa-
6 tion in all schools across our great state in regard to the meanings of
7 these two symbols of hate. Requiring students be educated in the signif-
8 icance of these displays of bigotry will go a long way toward fostering
9 a more inclusive and tolerant society for all.
10 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 801-b to
11 read as follows:
12 § 801-b. Instruction regarding symbols of hate. The regents shall
13 ensure that the course of instruction for grades six through twelve
14 includes a component on the meaning of the swastika as the emblem of
15 Nazi Germany, as well as the noose as a symbol of racism and intim-
16 idation. The regents shall determine how to incorporate such components
17 into existing curricula, and the commissioner shall promulgate any regu-
18 lations needed to carry out such determination of the regents.
19 § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of September next
20 succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01151-01-1