What's happening
This bill requires all elementary and middle schools, including private schools, to provide instruction in state and local government.
Why it matters
Expands civic education requirements. By mandating state and local government instruction in all elementary and middle schools—including private schools—the bill aims to ensure that all students, regardless of school type, receive foundational knowledge about how government functions at multiple levels.
Impacts private school autonomy. Private schools must now adopt these courses or risk having their instruction deemed not "substantially equivalent" to public education, which could affect their legal standing and students' compliance with compulsory education laws.
Promotes early civic engagement. Requiring this instruction at a young age may foster greater civic awareness and participation among students, potentially addressing issues like low voter turnout and public disengagement from local governance later in life.
Sets a statewide standard. By directing the Board of Regents to prescribe the curriculum, the law seeks to create consistency in what students learn about government, potentially reducing disparities in civic education across different regions and school systems.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Teach Government in Schools
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1037
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring the instruction of state and local government in elementary and middle schools in the state
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 802-b to read as follows:
§ 802-b. Courses of instruction in state and local government. 1. The regents shall prescribe courses of instruction in state and local government to be maintained and followed in all of the elementary and middle schools of the state. The boards of education and trustees of the several cities and school districts of the state shall require instruction to be given in such courses, by the teachers employed in the schools therein. All pupils attending such schools, in elementary and middle school grades, shall attend upon such instruction.
2. Similar courses of instruction shall be prescribed and maintained in private schools in the state, and all pupils in such schools in grades or classes corresponding to the instruction in the elementary and middle school grades of the public schools shall attend upon such courses. If such courses are not so established and maintained in a private school, attendance upon instruction in such school shall not be deemed substantially equivalent to instruction given to pupils in the public schools of the city or district in which such pupils reside.
§ 2. This act shall take effect twenty-four months after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that any rules or regulations necessary for the timely implementation of this act on its effective date shall be promulgated on or before such date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03481-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.