Senate Bill S8959

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8959
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 21, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEBER  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation  to  requirements  for  a
   course of instruction relating to the potato famine in Ireland
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Subdivisions 1 and 3 of section 801 of the  education  law,
 as  amended  by  section 27 of part A of chapter 56 of the laws of 2020,
 are amended to read as follows:
   1. In order to promote a spirit of patriotic  and  civic  service  and
 obligation  and  to foster in the children of the state moral and intel-
 lectual qualities which are essential in preparing  to  meet  the  obli-
 gations of citizenship in peace or in war, the regents of The University
 of  the  State  of  New  York  shall prescribe courses of instruction in
 patriotism, citizenship, civic education and values, our shared  history
 of diversity, the role of religious tolerance in this country, and human
 rights  issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity
 of genocide, slavery (including the freedom trail and underground  rail-
 road), the Holocaust, and the POTATO FAMINE WHICH RESULTED IN mass star-
 vation  in  Ireland  from 1845 to 1850, to be maintained and followed in
 all the 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,  over  the  age  of
 eight years, shall attend upon such instruction.
   Similar  courses  of instruction shall be prescribed and maintained in
 private schools in the state, and all pupils in such schools over  eight
 years  of age shall attend upon such courses. If such courses are not so
 established and maintained in a private school, attendance upon instruc-
 tion in such school shall not  be  deemed  substantially  equivalent  to
 instruction  given  to  pupils  of like age in the public schools of the
 city or district in which such pupils reside.
   3. The regents shall determine the subjects to  be  included  in  such
 courses  of  instruction in patriotism, citizenship, civic education and
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD14272-01-5
 S. 8959                             2
 
 values, our shared history of diversity, the role of history of diversi-
 ty, the role of religious tolerance in this country,  and  human  rights
 issues,  with  particular  attention  to  the study of the inhumanity of
 genocide,  slavery  (including  the  freedom trail and underground rail-
 road), the Holocaust, and the POTATO FAMINE WHICH RESULTED IN mass star-
 vation in Ireland from 1845 to 1850, IN ACCORDANCE  WITH  SECTION  EIGHT
 HUNDRED ONE-B OF THIS ARTICLE, and in the history, meaning, significance
 and  effect  of the provisions of the constitution of the United States,
 the amendments thereto, the declaration of independence,  the  constitu-
 tion of the state of New York and the amendments thereto, and the period
 of  instruction in each of the grades in such subjects. They shall adopt
 rules providing for attendance upon such instruction and for such  other
 matters  as  are  required  for  carrying  into  effect  the objects and
 purposes of this section. The commissioner shall be responsible for  the
 enforcement  of  such section and shall cause to be inspected and super-
 vise the instruction to be given in such subjects. The commissioner may,
 in [his] THEIR discretion, cause all or a portion of the  public  school
 money to be apportioned to a district or city to be withheld for failure
 of  the  school authorities of such district or city to provide instruc-
 tion in such courses and to compel attendance upon such instruction,  as
 herein  prescribed,  and  for  a  non-compliance  with  the rules of the
 regents adopted as herein provided.
   § 2. The education law is amended by adding a  new  section  801-b  to
 read as follows:
   § 801-B. INSTRUCTION RELATING TO THE IRISH POTATO FAMINE. EVERY PUBLIC
 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL SHALL INCLUDE IN ITS CURRICULUM A UNIT
 OF INSTRUCTION STUDYING THE POTATO FAMINE WHICH RESULTED IN MASS STARVA-
 TION IN IRELAND FROM 1845 TO 1850.
   §  3.  This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding
 the date on which it shall have become a law.