HB 1632-FN - AS INTRODUCED

2022 SESSION

22-2344

10/04

HOUSE BILL 1632-FN

AN ACT relative to civil rights education in public elementary and secondary schools.

SPONSORS: Rep. Ulery, Hills. 37; Rep. A. Lekas, Hills. 37; Rep. Wuelper, Straf. 3; Rep. Bernardy, Rock. 16; Rep. T. Lekas, Hills. 37; Rep. Stapleton, Sull. 5

COMMITTEE: Education

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ANALYSIS

This bill adds instructional requirements for civil rights and acts of discriminatory injustice to the course of instruction in schools concerning national and state history and government.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

22-2344

10/04

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two

AN ACT relative to civil rights education in public elementary and secondary schools.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1  New Paragraph; Instruction in National and State History and Government; Civil Rights Study.  Amend RSA 189:11, I by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:

III.  The course of instruction required under subparagraph I(j) shall include studying the events of the civil rights movement from 1954 to 1968. This period in American history is known as the civil rights era because during this period reform-minded Americans organized to press for a rejection of the doctrine of “separate but equal” and to reform Jim Crow-era laws in the United States. One of the universal lessons of the civil rights era is that hatred on the basis of immutable characteristics, not just race or ethnicity, but also such characteristics such as nationality, religious belief, disability, or sex, can overtake any nation or society, leading to profound injustice. To reinforce that lesson, such curriculum shall include an additional unit of instruction studying other acts of discriminatory injustice, such as genocide, elsewhere around the globe. This unit shall include, but not be limited to, the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, Chinese coolie labor in Cuba, the Uighurs in China, the Rohingya of Burma, and others. The studying of this material is a reaffirmation of the commitment of the free peoples of this state to reject bigotry, to champion equal protection under the law as a foundational principle of our republic, and to act in opposition to injustice wherever it may occur. The state board shall make available to all school boards instructional materials that may be used as guidelines for development of a unit of instruction under this paragraph.  The instructional materials shall be subject to public disclosure under RSA 91-A.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

LBA

22-2344

Revised 12/27/21

HB 1632-FN- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

AN ACT relative to civil rights education in public elementary and secondary schools.

FISCAL IMPACT:      [ X ] State              [    ] County               [ X ] Local              [    ] None

METHODOLOGY:

This bill adds specific content be included in the instruction in national and state history and government requirements in schools, requires the State Board of Education make available to all school boards instructional materials that may be used to develop such unit of instruction, and requires all instructional materials be subject to public disclosure under RSA 91-A. The Department of Education would be charged with supporting the State Board of Education in disseminating instructional materials and potentially developing such materials. The Department estimates executing these new responsibilities would require 25% of the time of an education consultant position (labor grade 27), with a total estimated salary, benefit, and other costs of $27,250 in FY 2023, $27,250 in FY 2024, and $28,250 in FY 2025, assuming a start date of July 1, 2022.  Additionally, local school districts may need to purchase curriculum and materials, and hire additional administrative and instructional staff to train educators and teach required material, which would likely increase expenditures in FY 2023 and each year thereafter by an indeterminable amount.

This bill does not provide an appropriation or authorization for a position.

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Education