Requires schools to provide instruction on the history of the Ukrainian genocide-holodomor of 1932 through 1933

BILL NUMBER:S1016

Title of bill

An act to amend the education law, in relation to instruction on the subject of the history of the Ukrainian Genocide-Holodomor of 1932 to 1933

Purpose

Requires schools to provide instruction on the history of the Ukrainian genocide holodomor from 1932 through 1933.

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1 of the bill amends Subdivisions 1 and 3 of Section 801 of the education law as amended by Chapter 574 of the laws of 1997 to include the Ukranian Genocide-Holodomor of 1932 and 1933 as required courses of instruction.

Justification

The famine in the Ukraine was deliberately initiated and enforced by the Soviet regime through the seizure of grain and the blockade of food shipments into the affected areas, as well as by forcibly preventing the starving population from leaving the region for the purposes of eliminating resistance to the forced collectivization of agriculture and destroying Ukraine's national identity. This famine resulted in the deaths of millions of men, women and children in the Ukraine and in other regions.

Although the Ukraine was one of the greatest losses of human life in the 20th century, it remains insufficiently recognized in the united States and in the world. As such, the fight against racism begins with our children learning the History of Ukrainian Genocide Holodomor and teaching them solutions to keep our communities whole.

Legislative history

2009/2010 - S.3356-A (Died Education)

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

Shall take effect on the first July next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.