Pupil instruction: Holocaust and genocide education: notice, survey, and grant program.

Senator Stern, with bipartisan coauthors, advances a measure that would create a dedicated Holocaust and genocide education grant program and require the Department of Education to issue notices to local educational agencies serving grades seven through twelve about Holocaust and genocide instruction and available resources. The central change is the establishment of a state-supported funding pathway for Holocaust/genocide education alongside mandated departmental outreach to LEAs, anchored to existing state standards and frameworks.

The bill adds two main components. First, a department-issued notice to LEAs (grades 7–12) would clarify that social science instruction under current law is designed to support understanding of human rights issues, with emphasis on genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust, and would state that Holocaust and genocide education are part of the History-Social Science Content Standards and Framework adopted by the State Board of Education. The notice must also provide information about resources available to support instruction and may be followed by a survey to gauge the status of Holocaust and genocide instruction no more than two years after the notice. Second, the Superintendent would establish the Holocaust and Genocide Education Grant Program to provide direct allocations to LEAs for Holocaust/genocide education and related professional development. Grants may be used for instructional materials, school-site events, teacher attendance at professional development, substitute teacher costs to enable PD, time for faculty and staff to plan and facilitate programs, and transportation to related opportunities. The Superintendent would adopt regulations detailing program scope, application criteria and deadlines, and reporting on how funds are spent, and a dedicated Holocaust and Genocide Education Grant Program Fund would be established in the State Treasury, with funds available to the Superintendent only upon legislative appropriation. Definitions set forth Genocide according to the UN framework, Holocaust as described by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Local Educational Agency to include school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools.

Implementation would proceed through regulatory development, issuance of the mandated notice, and potential data collection via a survey, all contingent on future appropriations to fund the program. The bill situates these actions within the context of existing law that requires age-appropriate Holocaust and genocide materials in curriculum resources and encourages survivor testimony, and it supplements those provisions by creating a standalone grant program and a formal notice/survey mechanism. In terms of accountability, the bill requires detailed regulations and expenditure reporting for grants, but it does not specify penalties within the statute; enforcement would rely on the regulatory framework and grant terms once funds are appropriated.