As hate incidents against Asian Americans continue to rise nationwide, Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz of Illinois said that a new bill, which would be the first in the nation to require Asian American history to be taught in public schools, will help to address “harmful stereotypes” and “defeat ignorance.” “As a student of the Illinois public schools, I knew nothing about the Chinese Exclusion Acts
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois is poised to become the first state to require Asian American history be taught in public schools after a bill cleared its last legislative hurdle Monday amid growing national concerns about anti-Asian hate and discrimination. The final version of the measure cleared the state House, 108-10, after it passed the Senate unanimously last week. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker is expected
The Illinois lower house passed a bill on Wednesday requiring public schools to teach Asian-American history, setting the stage for possible adoption of milestone legislation amid rising incidents of violence against people of Asian descent. The bill, which would mandate the teaching of a unit of Asian-American history in public elementary and high schools starting in the 2022-2023 school year, passed the Democratic-controlled House