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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2022

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION - CURRICULUM

     Introduced By: Representatives Fenton-Fung, Barros, Vella-Wilkinson, Shallcross
Smith, Casimiro, Azzinaro, Kennedy, and Tobon

     Date Introduced: February 02, 2022

     Referred To: House Education

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 16-22 of the General Laws entitled "Curriculum [See Title 16

Chapter 97 - the Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended by adding thereto the

following section:

     16-22-36. Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander history study.

     (a) Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, every public elementary school and

secondary school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of Asian

American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) history, including the history of

AA and NHPIs in Rhode Island and the Northeast, as well as the contributions of AA and NHPIs

toward advancing civil rights from the 19th century onward. These events shall include the

contributions made by individual AA and NHPIs in government and the arts, humanities, and

sciences, as well as the contributions of AA and NHPI communities to the economic, cultural,

social, and political development of the United States. The studying of this material shall constitute

an affirmation by students of their commitment to respect the dignity of all races and peoples and

to forever eschew every form of discrimination in their lives and careers.

     (b) The commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall make available to all

school districts instructional materials that may be used as guidelines for development of a unit of

instruction under this section. Provided, however, each school district shall itself determine the

minimum amount of instructional time that qualifies as a unit of instruction satisfying the

requirements of this section.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION - CURRICULUM

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     This act would require all public elementary and secondary schools in Rhode Island to

provide at least one unit of instruction on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander

History and culture.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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