BILL NUMBER: S5405A
SPONSOR: HARCKHAM
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring hate crime
awareness curriculum or instruction for school districts
 
PURPOSE::
Requires creating model hate crime awareness materials which schools or
school districts may choose to adopt, in entirety or any component ther-
eof.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section 1 creates new section 804-e of the education law creating model
hate crime awareness materials. The commissioner in consultation with
the Division of Human Rights and any other appropriate agency shall
establish hate crime awareness materials for school districts, including
but not limited to instruction on what discrimination, religious intol-
erance including anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim bias might look like in a
school as well as the positive actions students can take to promote
acceptance, inclusion, and the diversity of their communities. Schools
may choose to adopt any portion of the model materials.
Section 2 states the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION::
Hate has no place in New York State. With a disturbing increase in the
number of anti-Semitic, and Islamophobic attacks and assaults occurring
in New York we must work on multiple fronts to combat the scourge of
hate, intolerance, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia. One of these crit-
ical ways is to ensure that our children are taught from an early age to
identify discrimination and religious intolerance including hate, anti-
Semitism, Islamophobia; and how to fight against this by promoting
acceptance and inclusion while embracing the diversity that is New York.
This legislation creates age appropriate model materials to engage our
students from an early age to be accepting and inclusive of all, and to
identify and fight back against those who practice hate, anti-Semitism,
Islamophobia, discrimination and religious intolerance.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
2023-2024: S6871A/A243 - Died in Education
2021-2022: S125/A2508- Died in Education
2019-2020: S7199A/A9532A - Died in Education
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS::
None to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE::
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date
upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addi-
tion, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for
the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to
be made and completed on or before such effective date.