96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2009 and 2010
HB2508


 
Introduced 2/20/2009, by Rep. Sandra M. Pihos
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 		







  



105 ILCS 5/27-20.3
  from Ch. 122, par. 27-20.3



30 ILCS 805/8.33 new











    Amends the School Code. Provides that the required unit of instruction on genocide shall include the Pontian Greek Genocide. Amends the State Mandates Act to require implementation without reimbursement. Effective immediately.















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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY


STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT
















 


 


A BILL FOR









 











HB2508

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    AN ACT concerning education.

 
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    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 
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represented in the General Assembly: 


 
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    Section 5. The School Code is amended  by changing Section 
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27-20.3 as follows:
 



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    (105 ILCS 5/27-20.3)  (from Ch. 122, par. 27-20.3)



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    Sec. 27-20.3. Holocaust and Genocide Study. Every public 
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elementary school and
high school shall include in its 
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curriculum a unit of instruction studying
the events of the 
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Nazi atrocities of 1933 to 1945.  This period in world
history 
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is known as the Holocaust, during which 6,000,000 Jews and 
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millions
of non-Jews were exterminated.  One of the universal 
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lessons of the Holocaust is that national, ethnic, racial, or 
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religious hatred can overtake any nation or society, leading to 
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calamitous consequences.  To reinforce that lesson, such 
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curriculum shall include an additional unit of instruction  
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studying other acts of genocide across the globe.  This unit 
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shall include, but not be limited to, the Armenian Genocide, 
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the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine, the Pontian Greek Genocide, and 
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more recent atrocities in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan. 
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The studying of this material is a
reaffirmation of the 
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commitment of free peoples from all nations to never
again 
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permit the occurrence of another Holocaust and a recognition 
 


 






HB2508
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that crimes of genocide continue to be perpetrated across the 
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globe as they have been in the past and to deter  indifference 
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to crimes against humanity and human suffering wherever they 
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may occur.

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    The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and make 
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available to
all school boards instructional materials which 
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may be used as guidelines
for development of a unit of 
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instruction under this Section; provided,
however, that each 
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school board shall itself determine the minimum amount
of 
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instruction time which shall qualify as a unit of instruction 
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satisfying
the requirements of this Section.

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(Source: P.A. 94-478, eff. 8-5-05.)

 
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    Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding 
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Section 8.33 as follows:
 
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    (30 ILCS 805/8.33 new)
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    Sec. 8.33. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 
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of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the 
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implementation of any mandate created by this amendatory Act of 
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the 96th General Assembly.
 

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    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
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becoming law.