Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PAUL KANITRA
District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
“Radical Regimes Education Act”; requires age-appropriate instruction on certain governmental regimes in grades nine through 12.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning public school instruction and supplementing chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Radical Regimes Education Act.”
2. a. Each school district shall incorporate instruction on the atrocities committed by the governments of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Nazi Germany as part of the district’s implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Social Studies for students in grades nine through 12.
b. The instruction shall meet the requirements established by the State Board of Education and shall:
(1) be appropriate to, and reflect the age and comprehension of, the students enrolled in the particular grade level; and
(2) include content on the history surrounding the establishment and expansion of the U.S.S.R., PRC, and Nazi Party; the human rights abuses and genocides committed by the U.S.S.R., PRC, and Nazi Party throughout the course of history; the use of gulags, forced labor, and concentration camps as a means to suppress free speech and punish political dissension; and any other information associated with the U.S.S.R., the PRC, and the Nazi Party as deemed appropriate by the State board.
c. The Commissioner of Education shall provide school districts with sample instructional materials and resources that may be used to support the implementation of the instructional requirements of this section.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the first full school year next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires a school district to incorporate instruction on the atrocities committed by the governments of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Nazi Germany as part of the district’s implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards in Social Studies for students in grades nine through 12.
The instruction required by the bill would meet the requirements established by the State Board of Education and be appropriate to, and reflect the age and comprehension of, the students enrolled in the particular grade level. The instruction is also required to include: content on the history surrounding the establishment and expansion of the U.S.S.R., PRC, and Nazi Party; the human rights abuses and genocides committed by the U.S.S.R., PRC, and Nazi Party throughout the course of history; the use of gulags, forced labor, and concentration camps as a means to suppress free speech and punish political dissension; and any other information associated with the U.S.S.R., the PRC, and the Nazi Party, as deemed appropriate by the State board.
The bill requires the Commissioner of Education to provide school districts with sample instructional materials and resources that may be used to support implementation of the bill’s requirements.