SB 5851 — Concerning Holocaust and genocide education in public schools.

S-4329.2S-3512.2 SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5851 State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session By Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education (originally sponsored by Senators Braun, Salomon, Billig, Gildon, Hasegawa, Holy, Liias, MacEwen, McCune, Schoesler, Short, Torres, Valdez, Van De Wege, Wagoner, Warnick, C.

Wilson)Wilson READPrefiled FIRST12/15/23. TIME 01/26/24.

Read first time 01/08/24.

Referred to Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education.

1 SSBSB 5851 (1) ((Every)) (a) In addition to the requirements in section 1 of this act, every public middle school, junior high school, and high school is strongly encouraged to include in its curriculum instruction on the events of the period in modern world history known as the Holocaust((,Holocaust, the systemic, German state-sponsored persecution and murder of Jews and other innocent victims by the Nazi regime and its collaborators between the years 1933 and 1945.

The instruction may also include))include and other examples of genocide and crimes against humanity.

(2) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in collaboration with an expert Washington nonprofit organization that teaches the lessons of the HolocaustHolocaust, and genocide, must:

(5) ForThis thesection purposesexpires ofJuly this1, section:2027.

(a) "Genocide" means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such:

p.

2 SSB 5851 (i) Killing members of the group;

(ii) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(iii) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(iv) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(v) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

(b) "Holocaust" means the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of 6,000,000 Jews, as well as millions of Roma, LGBTQ identified people, political opponents, and others by the Nazi regime and its allies and collaborators between the years 1933 and 1945.

(6) This section expires July 1, 2027.

(1)(a)p. Beginning with the 2027-28 school year, public middle schools, junior high schools, and high schools shall provide instruction on the following when the topics align with the social studies learning standards including United States history and contemporary world history:

(i)2 TheSB 5851 (1)(a) Beginning with the 2027-28 school year, public middle schools, junior high schools, and high schools shall provide instruction on the events of the period in modern world history known as the Holocaust;Holocaust, the systemic, German state-sponsored persecution and murder of Jews and other innocent victims by the Nazi regime and its collaborators between the years 1933 and 1945 when this topic aligns with the social studies learning standards including United States history and contemporary world history.

andThe (ii)instruction Othermust also include other examples of genocide and crimes against humanity.

(b) The studying of the material in (a) of this subsectionmaterial is intended to:

(c)(b) Public schools are strongly encouraged to offer at least one Holocaust and genocide education stand-alone elective that is available to students at least once during grades six through 12.

(2)(a) The office of the superintendent of public instruction, in collaboration with an expert Washington nonprofit organization that teaches the lessons of the HolocaustHolocaust, and genocide, shall:

p.(i) Develop and annually update and electronically publish best practices and guidelines for high quality instruction under this section;

3 SSB 5851 (i) Develop and annually update and electronically publish best practices and guidelines for high quality instruction under this section;

(b) The office of the superintendent of public instruction must electronically publish, and update as needed, guidance on vertical alignment, materials, and professional learning to support implementation of the stand-alone elective described in subsection (1)(c)(1)(b) of this section.

(3) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "Genocide" means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group, as such:

(i) Killing members of the group;

(ii) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(iii) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(iv) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(v) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

(b) "Holocaust" means the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of 6,000,000 Jews, as well as millions of Roma, LGBTQ identified people, political opponents, and others by the Nazi regime and its allies and collaborators between the years 1933 and 1945.

43 SSBSB 5851