A06579 Summary:

BILL NOA06579
 
SAME ASSAME AS S05963
 
SPONSORLee
 
COSPNSRRaga, Shimsky, Colton, Rozic, Sillitti, Hevesi, Burdick, Braunstein, Simon, Tague, McDonough, Glick, Kim, Ramos, Gonzalez-Rojas, Rajkumar, Reyes
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §801-b, Ed L
 
Requires the board of regents to identify and integrate into the history curriculum material that reflects Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history for all students in public elementary, middle and high school for all public school grades.
Go to top    

A06579 Actions:

BILL NOA06579
 
04/19/2023referred to education
Go to top

A06579 Committee Votes:

Go to top

A06579 Floor Votes:

There are no votes for this bill in this legislative session.
Go to top

A06579 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A6579
 
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 board of regents to identify and integrate curric- ular material that reflects Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history. Also directs the commissioner to provide technical assistance in the development of curricula on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history and civic impact and to provide suitable course materials. Section 2 provides the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: As Asian Americans continue to experience an unprecedented surge of scapegoating, discrimination, hatred, and racist violence, it is more important 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 understand- ing 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 understood. Similarly, without a full and honest assessment of America's long histo- ry of anti-Asian racism, contemporary hate crimes are often character- ized as random and isolated incidents rather than an expression of systemic racism targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders." "And as novelist Min Jin Lee 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.
Go to top

A06579 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          6579
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     April 19, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. LEE -- read once and referred to the Committee on
          Education
 
        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. Curricular materials of study in Asian American, Native Hawa-
     4  iian,  and  Pacific  Islander  history and civic impact. 1. The board of
     5  regents is authorized and directed to identify and integrate  curricular
     6  material  that  reflects  Asian  American,  Native Hawaiian, and Pacific
     7  Islander history. Such material of  study  shall  be  required  for  all
     8  students  in each grade of every public elementary school, public middle
     9  school and public high school and should be  included  as  part  of  the
    10  history  or social studies curriculum of such schools. Instruction shall
    11  be provided by the  teachers  employed  in  the  schools  therein.  Such
    12  instruction  shall  include, but shall not be limited to, instruction in
    13  the following:
    14    a. The history of diaspora of Asian Americans, Native  Hawaiians,  and
    15  Pacific Islanders in New York and the Northeast;
    16    b. The movements and policies that impacted the Asian American, Native
    17  Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community in the United States;
    18    c.  The contributions made by the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and
    19  Pacific  Islander  communities  in  government,  the  arts,  humanities,
    20  science  and the economic, cultural, social and political development of
    21  the United States;
    22    d. The structures and historical events that have  limited  or  harmed
    23  the  Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and other histor-
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06038-02-3

        A. 6579                             2
 
     1  ically marginalized communities especially as it pertains to  the  civil
     2  rights movement; and
     3    e.  The  solidarity  between  Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific
     4  Islander and other historically marginalized communities  especially  as
     5  it pertains to the civil rights movement.
     6    2.  The  commissioner, shall provide technical assistance to assist in
     7  the development and integration of curricular materials for such courses
     8  of study which shall be age appropriate and developed according  to  the
     9  needs  and  abilities of students at successive grade levels in order to
    10  provide understanding, awareness, skills, information and support to aid
    11  in the knowledge of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific  Islan-
    12  der history and civic impact.
    13    3.  The  commissioner  shall  make  available to all public elementary
    14  schools, middle schools and high schools in the state  suitable  curric-
    15  ulum  materials to aid in the instruction of students in Asian American,
    16  Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history and civic impact and shall
    17  promulgate rules and regulations governing such courses of study.
    18    4. Completion of a history or social studies  course  that  integrates
    19  Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander curricular materi-
    20  al  shall  constitute  an affirmation by students of their commitment to
    21  respect the dignity of all races and peoples and to forever eschew every
    22  form of discrimination in their lives and careers.
    23    § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
    24  the date on which it shall have become a law.
Go to top

A06579 LFIN:

 NO LFIN
Go to top

A06579 Chamber Video/Transcript:

Go to top