Illinois
LEGISLATION
Legislation mandating genocide education:
UNFUNDED MANDATE
Bill number: HB 312 (Public Act 94-0478)
Title: Holocaust and Genocide Study
Date: 2005
Sponsored by: Rep. John Fritchey (D-11th) and Sen. Jacqueline Collins (D-16th)
Legislation:
Every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of the Nazi atrocities of 1933 to 1945. This period in world history is known as the Holocaust, during which 6,000,000 Jews and millions of non-Jews were exterminated. One of the universal lessons of the Holocaust is that national, ethnic, racial, or religious hatred can overtake any nation or society, leading to calamitous consequences. To reinforce that lesson, such curriculum shall include an additional unit of instruction studying other acts of genocide across the globe. This unit shall include, but not be limited to, the Armenian Genocide, the Famine-Genocide in Ukraine, and more recent atrocities in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan. Effective Date: 8/5/2005
Bill number: SB 660
Title: An Act to Add Section 27-20.3 to “The School Code”, Mandating Holocaust Education in the Public Schools
Date: January 1990
Sponsored by: Rep. Lee Preston and Sen. Arthur Berman
Legislation:
The state legislature enacted HB0003 requiring the teaching of the Holocaust. The act, taking effect in January 1990, states in Sec. 27-20.3. Holocaust Study that “Every public elementary school and high school shall include in its curriculum a unit of instruction studying the events of the Nazi atrocities of 1933 to 1945. This period in world history is known as the Holocaust, during which 6,000,000 Jews and millions of non-Jews were exterminated. The studying of this material is a reaffirmation of the commitment of free peoples from all nations to never again permit the occurrence of another Holocaust. The State Superintendent of Education may prepare and make available to all school boards instructional materials which may be used as guidelines for development of a unit of instruction under this Section; provided, however, that each school board shall itself determine the minimum amount of instruction time which shall qualify as a unit of instruction satisfying the requirement of this Section.”
ACADEMIC STANDARDS
There are no relevant academic standards.
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STATE RESOURCES
Holocaust Educational Foundation
64 Old Orchard Road, Suite 520
Skokie, IL 60077
Phone: 847.676.3700
Contact: Theodore Z. Weiss, President
E-mail: hef3@aol.com
URL: http://www.holocaustef.org/index.html
The Holocaust Educational Foundation is a private, non-profit organization established in 1980 by survivors, their children, and their friends in order to preserve and promote awareness of the reality of the Holocaust.
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center
Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois
4255 W. Main St.
Skokie, IL 60076
Phone: 847.677.4640
E-mail: info@hmfi.org
URL: http://www.hmfi.org/index.html
The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center is a project of the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois. Founded by Holocaust survivors more than 25 years ago, the organization is dedicated to teaching about the Holocaust and the dangers of unchallenged hate.
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Illinois Board of Education
100 N. 1st Street
Springfield, IL 62777
Phone: 217.782.4321
100 W. Randolph, Suite 14-300
Chicago, IL 60601
Phone: 312.814.2220
URL: http://www.isbe.state.il.us/
