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| | HB2997 Engrossed | | LRB104 08469 LNS 18521 b |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning education.
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| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, |
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | | Section 5. The School Code is amended by changing Section |
| 5 | | 27-20.8 as follows:
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| 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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| | HB2997 Engrossed | - 2 - | LRB104 08469 LNS 18521 b |
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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. |