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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5282
February Session, 2022
AN ACT CONCERNING THE INCLUSION OF ASIAN AMERICAN AND
PACIFIC ISLANDER STUDIES IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL
CURRICULUM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-16b of the 2022 supplement to the general 1
statutes, as amended by section 376 of public act 21-2 of the June special 2
session, is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 3
(Effective July 1, 2025): 4
(a) In the public schools the program of instruction offered shall 5
include at least the following subject matter, as taught by legally 6
qualified teachers, the arts; career education; consumer education; 7
health and safety, including, but not limited to, human growth and 8
development, nutrition, first aid, including cardiopulmonary 9
resuscitation training in accordance with the provisions of section 10-10
16qq, disease prevention and cancer awareness, including, but not 11
limited to, age and developmentally appropriate instruction in 12
performing self-examinations for the purposes of screening for breast 13
cancer and testicular cancer, community and consumer health, physical, 14
mental and emotional health, including youth suicide prevention, 15
substance abuse prevention, including instruction relating to opioid use 16
and related disorders, safety, which shall include the safe use of social 17 Substitute Bill No. 5282
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media, as defined in section 9-601, and may include the dangers of gang 18
membership, and accident prevention; language arts, including reading, 19
writing, grammar, speaking and spelling; mathematics; physical 20
education; science, which may include the climate change curriculum 21
described in subsection (d) of this section; social studies, including, but 22
not limited to, citizenship, economics, geography, government, history 23
and Holocaust and genocide education and awareness in accordance 24
with the provisions of section 10-18f; African-American and black 25
studies in accordance with the provisions of section 10-16ss; Puerto 26
Rican and Latino studies in accordance with the provisions of section 27
10-16ss; Native American studies, in accordance with the provisions of 28
section 10-16vv; Asian American and Pacific Islander studies, in 29
accordance with the provisions of section 2 of this act; computer 30
programming instruction; and in addition, on at least the secondary 31
level, one or more world languages; vocational education; and the black 32
and Latino studies course in accordance with the provisions of sections 33
10-16tt and 10-16uu. For purposes of this subsection, world languages 34
shall include American Sign Language, provided such subject matter is 35
taught by a qualified instructor under the supervision of a teacher who 36
holds a certificate issued by the State Board of Education. For purposes 37
of this subsection, the "arts" means any form of visual or performing 38
arts, which may include, but not be limited to, dance, music, art and 39
theatre. 40
(b) If a local or regional board of education requires its pupils to take 41
a course in a world language, the parent or guardian of a pupil 42
identified as deaf or hard of hearing may request in writing that such 43
pupil be exempted from such requirement and, if such a request is 44
made, such pupil shall be exempt from such requirement. 45
(c) Each local and regional board of education shall on September 1, 46
1982, and annually thereafter at such time and in such manner as the 47
Commissioner of Education shall request, attest to the State Board of 48
Education that such local or regional board of education offers at least 49
the program of instruction required pursuant to this section, and that 50 Substitute Bill No. 5282
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such program of instruction is planned, ongoing and systematic. 51
(d) The State Board of Education shall make available curriculum 52
materials and such other materials as may assist local and regional 53
boards of education in developing instructional programs pursuant to 54
this section. The State Board of Education, within available 55
appropriations and utilizing available resource materials, shall assist 56
and encourage local and regional boards of education to include: (1) 57
Holocaust and genocide education and awareness; (2) the historical 58
events surrounding the Great Famine in Ireland; (3) African-American 59
and black studies; (4) Puerto Rican and Latino studies; (5) Native 60
American studies; (6) Asian American and Pacific Islander studies; (7) 61
personal financial management, including, but not limited to, financial 62
literacy as developed in the plan provided under section 10-16pp; [(7)] 63
(8) training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of automatic 64
external defibrillators; [(8)] (9) labor history and law, including 65
organized labor, the collective bargaining process, existing legal 66
protections in the workplace, the history and economics of free market 67
capitalism and entrepreneurialism, and the role of labor and capitalism 68
in the development of the American and world economies; [(9)] (10) 69
climate change consistent with the Next Generation Science Standards; 70
[(10)] (11) topics approved by the state board upon the request of local 71
or regional boards of education as part of the program of instruction 72
offered pursuant to subsection (a) of this section; and [(11)] (12) 73
instruction relating to the Safe Haven Act, sections 17a-57 to 17a-61, 74
inclusive. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection 75
shall be available to each local and regional board of education for the 76
development of curriculum on climate change as described in this 77
subsection. 78
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2022) (a) For the school year 79
commencing July 1, 2025, and each school year thereafter, each local and 80
regional board of education shall include Asian American and Pacific 81
Islander studies as part of the social studies curriculum for the school 82
district, pursuant to section 10-16b of the general statutes, as amended 83 Substitute Bill No. 5282
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by this act. Such Asian American and Pacific Islander studies shall 84
include, but need not be limited to, a focus on (1) the history of Asian 85
American and Pacific Islanders in the state, the region and the United 86
States, and (2) the contributions of (A) Asian American and Pacific 87
Islanders towards advancing civil rights from the nineteenth century to 88
the present day, (B) individual Asian American and Pacific Islanders in 89
government, the arts, humanities and sciences, and (C) Asian American 90
and Pacific Islander communities to the economic, cultural, social and 91
political development of the United States. In developing and 92
implementing the Asian American and Pacific Islander studies 93
curriculum, the board may utilize the curriculum materials made 94
available by the State Board of Education pursuant to subsection (d) of 95
section 10-16b of the general statutes, as amended by this act, or other 96
existing and appropriate public or private materials, personnel and 97
resources, provided such curriculum is in accordance with the state-98
wide subject matter content standards, adopted by the State Board of 99
Education pursuant to section 10-4 of the general statutes. 100
(b) A local or regional board of education may accept gifts, grants and 101
donations, including in-kind donations, designated for the development 102
and implementation of the Asian American and Pacific Islander studies 103
curriculum under this section. 104
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 10-16b
Sec. 2 July 1, 2022 New section
ED Joint Favorable Subst. C/R APP
APP Joint Favorable