HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 277        FILED ON: 1/8/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 463

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act Concerning Genocide Education..

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1.   Chapter 15 of the Massachusetts General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 65 the following:

Whereas, genocide is an integral and fundamental piece of history, and whereas a cohesive understanding of the underlying causes, progression, international response, and aftermath of the major genocides of this past century contribute to a heightened global conscience and equip students with the knowledge and capacity to prevent future atrocities and crimes against humanity, the origin, and the definition and concept of genocide as it applies to past and present atrocities, shall be a required area of study in the Massachusetts Social Studies Curriculum Frameworks for United States and world history. Case studies of any one such genocide may be used to demonstrate the concept of genocide. Such case studies may include, but are not limited to, the genocide of Armenian Christians, The Holocaust and the Nazi concentration camps, the genocide of Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge, the genocide of Bosnian Muslims, the genocide of Rwandan Tutsis and the genocide of Darfurians by the Sudanese government.

The Massachusetts Department of Primary and Secondary Education shall be required to provide adequate curricular materials detailing the underlying causes, international reaction, progression, and aftermath of the aforementioned genocides.

The Commonwealth shall appropriate funding of not less than $50,000 per year for classroom programs, as well as trainings, seminars, conferences, and materials for educators to utilize in the teaching of genocide. Such programs, trainings, seminars, and conferences may include, but shall not be limited to those programs organized by Facing History and Ourselves, the Children's Movement for Creative Education or other such organizations which seek to bring about humanitarian involvement and awareness through education.