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HB2997 - 104th General Assembly
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| 1 | AN ACT concerning education. | ||||||
| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
| 3 | represented in the General Assembly: | ||||||
| 4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section | ||||||
| 5 | 27-20.8 as follows: | ||||||
| 6 | (105 ILCS 5/27-20.8) | ||||||
| 7 | Sec. 27-20.8. Asian American and Arab American history | ||||||
| 8 | study. | ||||||
| 9 | (a) Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, every public | ||||||
| 10 | elementary school and high school shall include in its | ||||||
| 11 | curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Asian | ||||||
| 12 | American history, including the history of Asian Americans in | ||||||
| 13 | Illinois and the Midwest, as well as the contributions of | ||||||
| 14 | Asian Americans toward advancing civil rights from the 19th | ||||||
| 15 | century onward. These events shall include the contributions | ||||||
| 16 | made by individual Asian Americans in government and the arts, | ||||||
| 17 | humanities, and sciences, as well as the contributions of | ||||||
| 18 | Asian American communities to the economic, cultural, social, | ||||||
| 19 | and political development of the United States. The studying | ||||||
| 20 | of this material shall constitute an affirmation by students | ||||||
| 21 | of their commitment to respect the dignity of all races and | ||||||
| 22 | peoples and to forever eschew every form of discrimination in | ||||||
| 23 | their lives and careers. | ||||||
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| 1 | (a-5) Beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, every | ||||||
| 2 | public elementary school and high school shall include in its | ||||||
| 3 | curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Arab | ||||||
| 4 | American history, including the history of Arab Americans in | ||||||
| 5 | this State and the Midwest, as well as the contributions of | ||||||
| 6 | Arab Americans from the 19th century onward. These events | ||||||
| 7 | shall include the contributions made by individual Arab | ||||||
| 8 | Americans in government and the arts, humanities, and | ||||||
| 9 | sciences, as well as the contributions of Arab American | ||||||
| 10 | communities to the economic, cultural, social, and political | ||||||
| 11 | development of the United States. The studying of this | ||||||
| 12 | material shall constitute an affirmation by students of their | ||||||
| 13 | commitment to respect the dignity of all races and peoples and | ||||||
| 14 | to forever eschew every form of discrimination in their lives | ||||||
| 15 | and careers. | ||||||
| 16 | (b) The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and | ||||||
| 17 | make available to all school boards instructional materials, | ||||||
| 18 | including those established by the Public Broadcasting | ||||||
| 19 | Service, that may be used as guidelines for development of a | ||||||
| 20 | unit of instruction under this Section. However, each school | ||||||
| 21 | board shall itself determine the minimum amount of | ||||||
| 22 | instructional time that qualifies as a unit of instruction | ||||||
| 23 | satisfying the requirements of this Section. | ||||||
| 24 | (c) The regional superintendent of schools shall monitor a | ||||||
| 25 | school district's compliance with this Section's curricular | ||||||
| 26 | requirements during his or her annual compliance visit. | ||||||
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| 1 | (d) A school may meet the requirements of this Section | ||||||
| 2 | through an online program or course. | ||||||
| 3 | (Source: P.A. 102-44, eff. 1-1-22.) | ||||||
| 4 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
| 5 | becoming law. | ||||||