A bill for an act
relating to education; requiring Holocaust and genocide education in social studies
curriculum for middle and high school students; creating a Holocaust and Genocide
Education Task Force; requiring a report; appropriating money; proposing coding
for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 120B.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
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(a) "Holocaust and genocide education" means
interdisciplinary teaching and learning about the causes, impacts, and legacies of the
Holocaust, other genocides, and incidents of mass violence.
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(b) The "Holocaust" was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of
6,000,000 Jews by the Nazi regime and its allies and collaborators.
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(c) "Genocide" means an internationally recognized crime where acts are committed
with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
Acts of genocide, as defined by the United Nations and the Rome Statute, include the
following categories:
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(1) killing members of the group;
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(2) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
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(3) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part;
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(4) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; or
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(5) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
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Genocide also means a series of purposeful actions by a perpetrator or perpetrators to destroy
a collectivity through mass or selective murders of group members and suppressing the
biological and social reproduction of the collectivity. The perpetrator or perpetrators may
represent the state of the victim, another state, or another collectivity.
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(d) "Incidents of mass violence" means extreme violence deliberately inflicted on a large
scale on civilians or noncombatants by state or nonstate actors. Incidents of mass violence
encompass the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and
terrorism.
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(e) "Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies" means the Center for Holocaust and
Genocide Studies at the University of Minnesota.
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(a) A school district must, at a minimum, offer Holocaust and
genocide education as part of its social studies curriculum for middle and high school.
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(b) As part of the social studies curriculum, students in middle school must:
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(1) analyze connections between World War II, fascism, and the Holocaust, and identify
the relationship between individuals' experiences of these events and broader historical
contexts;
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(2) use primary and secondary sources to analyze how individuals, groups, and societies
around the world have been affected by genocide, such as the genocide in German Southwest
Africa; Armenian genocide; the genocide of the Ukranian people from 1932 to 1933, also
known as the Holodomor; the Holocaust, including non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution
and genocide; Cambodian genocide; Rwandan genocide; and genocide in Darfur; and mass
violence, including communities resettled in Minnesota; and
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(3) construct a narrative about why and how people have migrated to Minnesota as a
result of either warfare, genocide, or both, including the genocide in German Southwest
Africa; Armenian genocide; the genocide of the Ukranian people from 1932 to 1933, also
known as the Holodomor; the Holocaust, including non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution
and genocide; Cambodian genocide; Rwandan genocide; and genocide in Darfur; using
primary sources about immigrant experiences.
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(c) As part of the social studies curriculum, students in high school must:
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(1) analyze the connections between nationalism, fascism, World War II, and the
Holocaust on a global scale and in the United States; and
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(2) describe and evaluate different responses to human rights violations, including the
Holocaust and genocides.
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(d) School districts are strongly encouraged to include Holocaust and genocide education
in their English language arts curriculum and focus on other genocides and incidents of
mass violence not related to the Holocaust, including but not limited to the displacement
and genocide of Indigenous peoples; genocide in German Southwest Africa; Armenian
genocide; the genocide of the Ukranian people from 1932 to 1933, also known as the
Holodomor; non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution and genocide; Cambodian genocide;
Rwandan genocide; and genocide in Darfur.
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(e) Public schools are strongly encouraged to include context about the history, culture,
and traditions of the communities devastated by the Holocaust, other genocides, and incidents
of mass violence.
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(f) A school district must provide Holocaust and genocide education as part of its
curriculum in middle school and high school by the 2024-2025 school year in accordance
with Department of Education rulemaking on social studies standards and benchmarks.
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This section is effective July 1, 2023.
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(a) The Holocaust and Genocide Education Task
Force is established to advise the commissioner of education on Holocaust and genocide
education and develop resources necessary to implement Holocaust and genocide education
requirements under Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.25. The commissioner must appoint
members of the task force by April 1, 2024, based on the guidance and recommendations
from the cochairs of the task force.
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(b) The Holocaust and Genocide Education Task Force must have a minimum of 12
members, but no more than 21 members, consisting of the following members:
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(1) at least one representative, who shall cochair the task force, from the Center for
Holocaust and Genocide Studies;
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(2) at least one representative, who shall cochair the task force, from a Minnesota-based
nonprofit organization designated by Minnesota's Jewish community to provide Holocaust
education and honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust;
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(3) at least one additional representative from a Minnesota college or university other
than the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies with academic expertise in Holocaust
and genocide studies;
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(4) at least one representative from a Minnesota teacher licensure program with expertise
in Holocaust and genocide studies;
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(5) at least three representatives from Minnesota-based nonprofit organizations,
community groups, sovereign nations, or institutions of higher education whose missions
include educating about and honoring the victims and survivors of the displacement and
genocide of Indigenous peoples; genocide in German Southwest Africa; Armenian genocide;
the genocide of the Ukranian people from 1932 to 1933, also known as the Holodomor;
non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution and genocide; Cambodian genocide; Rwandan
genocide; and genocide in Darfur;
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(6) at least one public middle school social studies teacher with experience teaching the
Holocaust or other genocides in the classroom;
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(7) at least one public high school social studies teacher with experience teaching the
Holocaust or other genocides in the classroom;
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(8) at least one public middle school English language arts teacher with experience
teaching the Holocaust or other genocides in the classroom;
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(9) at least one public high school English language arts teacher with experience teaching
the Holocaust or other genocides in the classroom; and
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(10) at least one public middle school student or high school student with a demonstrated
interest in learning about the Holocaust or other genocides.
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(c) At the discretion of the task force cochairs, the task force may add additional experts
in the field of Holocaust and genocide studies, Minnesota history, social studies education,
English language arts education, and community members with a particular interest in
Holocaust and genoci