New York Democrat Legislators Block Bill To Supervise Holocaust Studies In State Schools

NEW YORK (VINnews) — New York Assembly Democrats succeeded in blocking legislation which would examine pedagogic methods of teaching the Holocaust in New York public schools, according to a New York Times report.

A bill which was originally on the agenda for a Monday meeting of the Assembly’s committee was removed, despite the fact that the issue was on the agenda due to Holocaust Remembrance Day falling on Thursday.

Ways And Means Committee Chair Helene Weinstein said that the State Education Department(SED) had requested the deferment of the legislation, citing “some issues going on” which prevented the legislation from being submitted.

State law requires public schools to teach about the Holocaust, as well as other historical topics like the Great Irish Famine and immigrants’ contributions to building the transcontinental railroad. The new bill would require the department to report within a year to the Legislature about how well students are learning about the Holocaust.

A 2020 survey found widespread ignorance of the Holocaust among young people, including 19 percent of respondents in New York who claimed that Jews caused the genocide of their own people.

A spokesman for the department did not respond to a request for comment Monday, but the SED has a record of opposing legislative probes into its own performance on maintaining educational standards. Such concerns helped keep the bill from passing the Assembly last year.

The state Senate Education Committee is scheduled to consider the bill, which is sponsored by state Sen. Anna Kaplan and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, both of whom are Jewish.

“The senator is thrilled that the bill is on the agenda and looks forward to it passing,” a spokesman for Kaplan said in a text Monday.

The upper chamber passed the bill in 2018 under the former Republican majority, but Committee Chair Shelley Mayer could not be reached for comment Monday about whether she expects the bill to move forward from her committee to the full Senate.

Assemblywoman Nily Rozic said it is a “shame” that Holocaust survivors “have to fight to ensure that their story are heard.”

Despite the delay this week with the bill, Weinstein said she is optimistic that the proposal will move out of her committee before the scheduled end of the 2022 legislative session on June 2, though its prospects for passing both chambers and being signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul remain unclear.

“It’s not unusual that bills come on and come off,” she said about removing the Holocaust education legislation. “I fully expect it’ll be on the Ways and Means agenda for a report with recommendations before the end of the year.