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Blagojevich signs law requiring genocide education in public schools
August 5, 2005 - Illinois public schools are required to teach about
genocides around the world under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Rod
Blagojevich.
The measure, which took effect immediately, expanded the previous
requirement that elementary and high school students learn about the
Holocaust to include lessons on genocides in Armenia, Bosnia, Cambodia,
Rwanda, Sudan and Ukraine.
School districts have the entire academic year to meet the law's
requirement, State Board of Education spokeswoman Becky Watts said.
"As we teach our kids the important lessons of history, we have to be sure
that they understand that racial, national, ethnic and religious hatred can
lead to horrible tragedies," Blagojevich said in a statement.
Glenn "Max" McGee, superintendent of schools in the Chicago suburb of
Wilmette and a former state schools superintendent, said learning about
genocide and other tragedies should be part of the curriculum.
"I think it is important for boys and girls to learn about these tragic
events so that maybe they can make contributions that will truly change the
course of history in the future," he said.
But McGee worried the requirement could become an unfunded mandate from the
state.
"I hope and trust that the state Board of Education will provide resources
and some training in teaching these and it won't fall in the district's lap
to develop units," McGee said.
The law says the State Board of Education may give instructional materials
to districts to help them develop classes. Local school districts would set
specifics on the classes for each grade level.
The state board's curriculum and instruction division, which is responsible
for learning standards, was researching what curricula exists and which ones
would be most helpful to schools to teach about genocides, Watts said.
No decision has been made yet about whether the board will recommend a
curriculum or help schools access parts of one by providing online
resources, she said.
Schools will teach a unit on genocide and the lessons can last for different
lengths of times, she said.
The genocides students will learn about include Rwanda, where about 500,000
people, most of them from the country's Tutsi minority, were killed in 100
days by a regime of extremists from its Hutu majority in 1994. In July 1995,
as many as 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the U.N.-protected Bosnian
enclave of Srebrenica were killed in Europe's worst massacre since World War
II.
In the Darfur region of Sudan, war-induced hunger and disease have killed
more than 180,000 people and driven more than 2 million from their homes
since rebels from black African tribes took up arms in February 2003,
complaining of discrimination and oppression by Sudan's Arab-dominated
government.
Richard Hirschhaut, project and executive director of the Illinois Holocaust
Museum and Education Center, praised the bill.
"The new law affirms the continuing relevance of applying the universal
lessons of the Holocaust to the tragedies of genocide in our world today,"
he said in a statement.
The measure was sponsored by state Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, and state
Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Last Updated: Aug 5, 2005
August 5, 2005 - Illinois public schools are required to teach about
genocides around the world under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Rod
Blagojevich.
The measure, which took effect immediately, expanded the previous
requirement that elementary and high school students learn about the
Holocaust to include lessons on genocides in Armenia, Bosnia, Cambodia,
Rwanda, Sudan and Ukraine.
School districts have the entire academic year to meet the law's
requirement, State Board of Education spokeswoman Becky Watts said.
"As we teach our kids the important lessons of history, we have to be sure
that they understand that racial, national, ethnic and religious hatred can
lead to horrible tragedies," Blagojevich said in a statement.
Glenn "Max" McGee, superintendent of schools in the Chicago suburb of
Wilmette and a former state schools superintendent, said learning about
genocide and other tragedies should be part of the curriculum.
"I think it is important for boys and girls to learn about these tragic
events so that maybe they can make contributions that will truly change the
course of history in the future," he said.
But McGee worried the requirement could become an unfunded mandate from the
state.
"I hope and trust that the state Board of Education will provide resources
and some training in teaching these and it won't fall in the district's lap
to develop units," McGee said.
The law says the State Board of Education may give instructional materials
to districts to help them develop classes. Local school districts would set
specifics on the classes for each grade level.
The state board's curriculum and instruction division, which is responsible
for learning standards, was researching what curricula exists and which ones
would be most helpful to schools to teach about genocides, Watts said.
No decision has been made yet about whether the board will recommend a
curriculum or help schools access parts of one by providing online
resources, she said.
Schools will teach a unit on genocide and the lessons can last for different
lengths of times, she said.
The genocides students will learn about include Rwanda, where about 500,000
people, most of them from the country's Tutsi minority, were killed in 100
days by a regime of extremists from its Hutu majority in 1994. In July 1995,
as many as 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in the U.N.-protected Bosnian
enclave of Srebrenica were killed in Europe's worst massacre since World War
II.
In the Darfur region of Sudan, war-induced hunger and disease have killed
more than 180,000 people and driven more than 2 million from their homes
since rebels from black African tribes took up arms in February 2003,
complaining of discrimination and oppression by Sudan's Arab-dominated
government.
Richard Hirschhaut, project and executive director of the Illinois Holocaust
Museum and Education Center, praised the bill.
"The new law affirms the continuing relevance of applying the universal
lessons of the Holocaust to the tragedies of genocide in our world today,"
he said in a statement.
The measure was sponsored by state Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago, and state
Sen. Jacqueline Collins, D-Chicago.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Last Updated: Aug 5, 2005