Bill Text: NY S06648 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

New York Senate Bill 6648 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requires instruction regarding symbols of hate, including the swastika and the noose, to be incorporated into the curricula for grades six through twelve.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 20-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-21 - referred to education [S06648 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S06648-Introduced.html




                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6648

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                     August 9, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by Sen. KAMINSKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules

        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.
                                                                   LBD13613-01-9