A06579 Summary:

BILL NOA06579A
 
SAME ASSAME AS S05963-A
 
SPONSORLee
 
COSPNSRRaga, Shimsky, Colton, Rozic, Sillitti, Hevesi, Burdick, Braunstein, Simon, Tague, McDonough, Glick, Kim, Ramos, Gonzalez-Rojas, Rajkumar, Reyes, Jean-Pierre, De Los Santos, Zaccaro, Epstein
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add 801-b, Ed L
 
Requires the commissioner to establish Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history and civic impact curriculum or instructions for school districts.
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A06579 Actions:

BILL NOA06579A
 
04/19/2023referred to education
06/05/2023amend and recommit to education
06/05/2023print number 6579a
01/03/2024referred to education
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A06579 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A6579A
 
SPONSOR: Lee
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring public elementary schools and high schools to provide instruction in Asian American history and civic impact   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: To require public schools to integrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history into history or social studies curriculum   SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: Section 1 directs the commissioner to establish Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history and civic impact curriculum or instruction for school districts.. Section2 provides the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: As Asian Americans continue to experience an unprecedented surge of scanegoating, discrimination, hatred, and racist violence, it is more imc,ortant than ever .to integrate Asian American history into New York State's public school curricula as a means to help dispel the ignorance and negative stereotypes that have remained prevalent in modern culture. Content related to Asian American history, heritage and culture on both the regional and national levels is often absent from curriculum in New York State schools. Combined with generations of intolerance, this absence has greatly contributed to the lack of .knowledge and under- standing of Asian Americans, particularly in light of the recent COVID- 19 pandemic, which was repeatedly miScharacterized as the "China Virus," and "Kung Flu," by leaders such as President Donald Trump. Asian Americans experienced a more than a 300% increase in hate crimes in the wake of such divisive rhetoric during the pandemic. Notable cases like Yao Pan Mao, Christina Yuna Lee, and the attacks of three Sikh men on one block in Queens were just some examples of the many anti-Asian hate crimes that dominated the headlines on a regular basis. As historian and author Erika Lee writes, "Stereotypes of Asian Ameri- cans as spies, terrorists, inassimilable foreigners, or model minorities dominate the ways in which entire communities_ are Viewed and under- stood.,. Similarly,. without a full and honest assessment of America's long history of anti-Asian racism, contemporary hate crimes are often characterized as random and isolated incidents rather than an expression of systemic racism targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders." "And as novelist Min Jin Len wrote in 2022, "Ever since Asians began arriving in the United States, they have been met with hostility and rejection, often sanctioned. by state and federal legislation. The sad part is that so little has changed. "Back in the '70s and '80s, the West feared the growth of Japan; as China became a superpower, Sinophobia rose, too. Since 9/11, IslamophO- bia and attacks against Sikhs and Hindus have been unrelenting. Now the Covid pandemic and demagogy have brought more waves of hatred. "Do I reasonably expect another person or a government body to keep me safe in some'perfect way? I can't say that I do. That has not often been my experience." Integrating the Asian American experience into the public school curric- ulum would not only allow Asian American children the chance to finally see themselves reflected accurately in American history, but it is a critical step in dismantling the endless barrage of anti-Asian stere- otypes that categorize Asian Americans as either the perpetual foreig- ners or the seemingly-benign but equally destructive model minorities.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: 2021-2022: Referred to Education   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: TBD.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date on which. it shall have become a law.
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A06579 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         6579--A
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     April 19, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  LEE, RAGA, SHIMSKY, COLTON, ROZIC, SILLITTI,
          HEVESI, BURDICK, BRAUNSTEIN,  SIMON,  TAGUE,  McDONOUGH,  GLICK,  KIM,
          RAMOS,  GONZALEZ-ROJAS,  RAJKUMAR, REYES, JEAN-PIERRE -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Education -- committee  discharged,  bill
          amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
          tee
 
        AN ACT to amend the education  law,  in  relation  to  requiring  public
          elementary  schools  and  high schools to provide instruction in Asian
          American history and civic impact
 
          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 801-b
     2  to read as follows:
     3    § 801-b.  Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander histo-
     4  ry and civic impact curriculum or instruction. 1. The commissioner shall
     5  establish  Asian American,  Native   Hawaiian,   and   Pacific  Islander
     6  history and civic impact curriculum or instruction for school districts.
     7  The  contents  shall be age appropriate and shall be developed according
     8  to the needs and abilities of students at  successive  grade  levels  to
     9  provide robust Asian American,  Native  Hawaiian,  and  Pacific Islander
    10  history  and  civic  impact instruction. The contents shall include, but
    11  shall not be limited to, instruction in the following:
    12    a. The history of diaspora of Asian Americans, Native  Hawaiians,  and
    13  Pacific Islanders in New York and the Northeast;
    14    b. The movements and policies that impacted the Asian American, Native
    15  Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community in the United States;
    16    c.  The contributions made by the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and
    17  Pacific  Islander  communities  in  government,  the  arts,  humanities,
    18  science  and the economic, cultural, social and political development of
    19  the United States;
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06038-04-3

        A. 6579--A                          2
 
     1    d. The structures and historical events that have  limited  or  harmed
     2  the  Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and other histor-
     3  ically marginalized communities especially as it pertains to  the  civil
     4  rights movement; and
     5    e.  The  solidarity  between  Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific
     6  Islander and other historically marginalized communities  especially  as
     7  it pertains to the civil rights movement.
     8    2.    Schools  may  include the above materials as  components  of its
     9  history or social studies curriculum, or any other way the school  deems
    10  appropriate.
    11    §  2.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
    12  the date on which it shall have become a law.
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A06579 LFIN:

 NO LFIN
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