Genocide education now mandatory

Saturday, August 6, 2005
PJStar.com
By MAURA KELLY LANNAN
of The Associated Press

CHICAGO - 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.
[...]
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.
[...]
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.

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