102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
HB0376

 

Introduced 1/29/2021, by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/27-20.8 new
105 ILCS 5/27-21  from Ch. 122, par. 27-21

    Amends the Courses of Study Article of the School Code. Requires every public elementary school and high school to include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Asian American history; contains provisions governing this instruction. Provides that the teaching of history of the United States shall include the study of the wrongful incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II and the heroic service of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army during World War II.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section
527-20.8 and by changing Section 27-21 as follows:
 
6    (105 ILCS 5/27-20.8 new)
7    Sec. 27-20.8. Asian American history study.
8    (a) Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, every public
9elementary school and high school shall include in its
10curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Asian
11American history, including the history of Asian Americans in
12Illinois and the Midwest, as well as the contributions of
13Asian Americans toward advancing civil rights from the 19th
14century onward. These events shall include the contributions
15made by individual Asian Americans in government and the arts,
16humanities, and sciences, as well as the contributions of
17Asian American communities to the economic, cultural, social,
18and political development of the United States. The studying
19of this material shall constitute an affirmation by students
20of their commitment to respect the dignity of all races and
21peoples and to forever eschew every form of discrimination in
22their lives and careers.
23    (b) The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and

 

 

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1make available to all school boards instructional materials,
2including those established by the Public Broadcasting
3Service, that may be used as guidelines for development of a
4unit of instruction under this Section. However, each school
5board shall itself determine the minimum amount of
6instructional time that qualifies as a unit of instruction
7satisfying the requirements of this Section.
8    (c) The regional superintendent of schools shall monitor a
9school district's compliance with this Section's curricular
10requirements during his or her annual compliance visit.
11    (d) A school may meet the requirements of this Section
12through an online program or course.
 
13    (105 ILCS 5/27-21)  (from Ch. 122, par. 27-21)
14    Sec. 27-21. History of United States. History of the
15United States shall be taught in all public schools and in all
16other educational institutions in this State supported or
17maintained, in whole or in part, by public funds. The teaching
18of history shall have as one of its objectives the imparting to
19pupils of a comprehensive idea of our democratic form of
20government and the principles for which our government stands
21as regards other nations, including the studying of the place
22of our government in world-wide movements and the leaders
23thereof, with particular stress upon the basic principles and
24ideals of our representative form of government. The teaching
25of history shall include a study of the role and contributions

 

 

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1of African Americans and other ethnic groups, including, but
2not restricted to, Polish, Lithuanian, German, Hungarian,
3Irish, Bohemian, Russian, Albanian, Italian, Czech, Slovak,
4French, Scots, Hispanics, Asian Americans, etc., in the
5history of this country and this State. To reinforce the study
6of the role and contributions of Hispanics, such curriculum
7shall include the study of the events related to the forceful
8removal and illegal deportation of Mexican-American U.S.
9citizens during the Great Depression. Beginning with the
102022-2023 school year, the teaching of history shall also
11include the study of the wrongful incarceration of Japanese
12Americans during World War II pursuant to United States
13President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's signed Executive Order
149066, the heroic service of the 100th Infantry Battalion and
15the 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army
16during World War II, the subsequent legal challenges by
17Japanese Americans to Executive Order 9066, the resettlement
18of Japanese Americans in Illinois following incarceration, and
19the formal apology and redress for the incarceration issued by
20the United States government in 1988. In public schools only,
21the teaching of history shall include a study of the roles and
22contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
23people in the history of this country and this State. The
24teaching of history also shall include a study of the role of
25labor unions and their interaction with government in
26achieving the goals of a mixed free enterprise system.

 

 

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1Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, the teaching of
2history must also include instruction on the history of
3Illinois. No pupils shall be graduated from the eighth grade
4of any public school unless he or she has received such
5instruction in the history of the United States and gives
6evidence of having a comprehensive knowledge thereof, which
7may be administered remotely.
8(Source: P.A. 101-227, eff. 7-1-20; 101-341, eff. 1-1-20;
9101-643, eff. 6-18-20.)