Bill Text: NY A10718 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: Requires school districts and charter schools to include instruction on the political, economic, and social contributions, and lifeways of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, in an appropriate place in the curriculum of middle school and high school students.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-07-01 - referred to education [A10718 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10718-Introduced.html



                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10718

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      July 1, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. O'Donnell)
          -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education

        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to inclusive  instruction
          and  instructional  materials; and providing for the repeal of certain
          provisions upon expiration thereof

          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. Inclusive curriculum or instruction. 1. School districts  and
     4  charter  schools  shall  include instruction on the political, economic,
     5  and social contributions, and lifeways of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-
     6  gender, and queer people, in an appropriate place in the  curriculum  of
     7  middle school and high school students.
     8    2. School districts and charter schools shall have policies and proce-
     9  dures in place pertaining to the selection of instructional materials to
    10  implement  the  requirements  of  subdivision  one of this section. When
    11  adopting instructional materials for use in the schools of the district,
    12  school districts and charter schools shall adopt inclusive instructional
    13  materials that portray the cultural and economic  diversity  of  society
    14  including  the  political, economic, and social contributions, and life-
    15  ways of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,  and  queer  people,  where
    16  appropriate.
    17    3. For the purposes of this section:
    18    a.  The  term  "gay"  means  a man or a male individual whose enduring
    19  physical, romantic, or emotional attraction is to another  man  or  male
    20  individual.
    21    b.  The term "lesbian" means a woman or female individual whose endur-
    22  ing physical, romantic, or emotional attraction is to another  woman  or
    23  female individual.
    24    c.  The  term  "bisexual"  means an individual who has the capacity to
    25  form enduring physical, romantic, or  emotional  attraction  to  another
    26  individual  of  the  same  sex  or  gender or to another individual of a
    27  different sex  or  gender.  Bisexual  individuals  may  experience  such

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD09929-04-0

        A. 10718                            2

     1  attraction  in  differing ways and degrees over their lifetime. Bisexual
     2  individuals do not need to have specific sexual experiences or have  had
     3  any sexual experience at all to have a sexual orientation of bisexual.
     4    d.  The  term "assigned gender" means the binary gender classification
     5  of male or female that corresponds to the sex of male or female.
     6    e. The term "transgender" means an individual whose identified  gender
     7  does not match their assigned gender.
     8    f.  The  term  "queer"  means  an  individual that does not conform to
     9  social gender norms or social sexuality norms including, but not limited
    10  to, gender expression and  identity,  and  gay,  lesbian,  bisexual,  or
    11  transgender sexual orientations.
    12    g.  The term "lifeways" means the customary manner of living or way of
    13  life.
    14    §  2.  Section  804-e of the education law, as added by section one of
    15  this act, is amended by adding a new subdivision 4 to read as follows:
    16    4. a. There is hereby created a task force to study and make recommen-
    17  dations on policies, procedures and best practices for the selection and
    18  adoption of inclusive instructional materials.
    19    b. The task force shall be composed of eleven members to be  appointed
    20  as follows:
    21    (i) two members shall be appointed by the governor;
    22    (ii)  two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the
    23  senate;
    24    (iii) two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;
    25    (iv) one member shall be appointed  by  the  minority  leader  of  the
    26  senate;
    27    (v) one member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assem-
    28  bly;
    29    (vi)  two members shall be appointed by the chancellor of the board of
    30  regents; and
    31    (vii) one member shall be the commissioner or appointed designee ther-
    32  eof who shall serve as chairperson of the task force.
    33    c. All appointments to the task force shall be submitted no later than
    34  one hundred twenty days after the effective date  of  this  subdivision.
    35  Vacancies  in  the  membership  of the task force shall be filled within
    36  thirty days in the  same  manner  provided  for  original  appointments.
    37  Appointed members shall be chosen with due regard to broad ethnic diver-
    38  sity and shall have a demonstrated educational background in the history
    39  of  the  political,  economic, and social contributions, and lifeways of
    40  lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.
    41    d. The members of the task force shall serve without compensation  but
    42  shall  be  reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the performance
    43  of their duties.
    44    e. The task force shall study and prepare a report on policies, proce-
    45  dures and best practices to provide an inclusive curriculum on the poli-
    46  tical, economic, and social contributions, and lifeways of lesbian, gay,
    47  bisexual, transgender, and queer people.   The report  prepared  by  the
    48  task  force  shall  be  used  by school districts and charter schools to
    49  create the policies and procedures required pursuant to subdivision  two
    50  of this section to select instructional materials to implement an inclu-
    51  sive  curriculum  on  the political, economic, and social contributions,
    52  and lifeways of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and  queer  people.
    53  The  report  shall be submitted to the governor, the temporary president
    54  of the senate, the speaker of  the  assembly,  the  chairperson  of  the
    55  senate  committee  on education, the chairperson of the senate committee
    56  on New York City education, the chairperson of the assembly committee on

        A. 10718                            3

     1  education, the board of regents, and the commissioner and shall be  made
     2  available  to all school districts and charter schools within the state,
     3  no later than one year after all initial appointments to the task  force
     4  have been made.
     5    § 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020 and shall apply to school
     6  years  commencing  on  or  after  such date, provided, however, that the
     7  amendments to section 804-e of the education law made by section two  of
     8  this  act  shall  expire and be deemed repealed 2 years after such date.
     9  Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule
    10  or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effec-
    11  tive date are authorized and directed to be made  and  completed  on  or
    12  before such effective date.
feedback