STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2842 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 25, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. LANZA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to courses of instruction on the constitution of the United States and the federalist papers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivisions 2 and 3 of section 801 of the education law, 2 subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 481 of the laws of 1949 and subdivi- 3 sion 3 as amended by section 27 of part A of chapter 56 of the laws of 4 2020, are amended and a new subdivision 6 is added to read as follows: 5 2. The regents shall prescribe courses of instruction in the history, 6 meaning, significance and effect of the provisions of the constitution 7 of the United States, the amendments thereto, the federalist papers, the 8 declaration of independence, the constitution of the state of New York 9 and the amendments thereto, to be maintained and followed in all of the 10 schools of the state. The boards of education and trustees of the 11 several cities and school districts of the state shall require instruc- 12 tion to be given in such courses, by the teachers employed in the 13 schools therein. All pupils attending such schools, in the eighth and 14 higher grades, shall attend upon such instruction. 15 Similar courses of instruction shall be prescribed and maintained in 16 private schools in the state, and all pupils in such schools in grades 17 or classes corresponding to the instruction in the eighth and higher 18 grades of the public schools shall attend upon such courses. If such 19 courses are not so established and maintained in a private school, 20 attendance upon instruction in such school shall not be deemed substan- 21 tially equivalent to instruction given to pupils in the public schools 22 of the city or district in which such pupils reside. 23 3. The regents shall determine the subjects to be included in such 24 courses of instruction in patriotism, citizenship, civic education and 25 values, our shared history of diversity, the role of history of diversi- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02282-01-3S. 2842 2 1 ty, the role of religious tolerance in this country, and human rights 2 issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of 3 genocide, slavery (including the freedom trail and underground rail- 4 road), the Holocaust, and the mass starvation in Ireland from 1845 to 5 1850, and in the history, meaning, significance and effect of the 6 provisions of the constitution of the United States, the amendments 7 thereto, the federalist papers, the declaration of independence, the 8 constitution of the state of New York and the amendments thereto, and 9 the period of instruction in each of the grades in such subjects. They 10 shall adopt rules providing for attendance upon such instruction and for 11 such other matters as are required for carrying into effect the objects 12 and purposes of this section. The commissioner shall be responsible for 13 the enforcement of such section and shall cause to be inspected and 14 supervise the instruction to be given in such subjects. The commissioner 15 may, in his discretion, cause all or a portion of the public school 16 money to be apportioned to a district or city to be withheld for failure 17 of the school authorities of such district or city to provide instruc- 18 tion in such courses and to compel attendance upon such instruction, as 19 herein prescribed, and for a non-compliance with the rules of the 20 regents adopted as herein provided. 21 6. The regents shall establish and implement a course of instruction 22 on the history, meaning, significance and effect of the federalist 23 papers and the provisions of the constitution of the United States and 24 all amendments thereto. Such course of instruction established pursuant 25 to this subdivision shall be provided to all pupils in grades nine 26 through twelve. 27 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding 28 the date on which it shall have become a law.