Bill > A04091

This bill establishes a new educational program within the New York State Education Department aimed at preventing and addressing bias and discrimination across multiple dimensions. The program requires the department to contract with an outside expert organization to develop a comprehensive curriculum for kindergarten through 12th-grade students focusing on preventing anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and discrimination based on religion, race, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The program will include creating age-appropriate model curriculum resources, lesson plans, and instructional materials that provide guidelines on recognizing and preventing various forms of bias, understanding warning signs of discrimination, and reporting incidents. These materials will be voluntarily available to school boards and teachers for implementation in social studies classes and will be publicly accessible on the department's website in multiple languages, including Spanish, Creole, Mandarin, Korean, and Bengali. The bill emphasizes collaboration with stakeholder groups and aims to educate students, parents, and school personnel about preventing bias and discrimination. The program will take effect on the first of July following its enactment, with preparatory work authorized to begin immediately.