A 8974: Establishes a committee to conduct a survey of instruction on Jewish heritage and issue a report on such survey.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8974 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY August 13, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. DURSO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing a commit- tee to conduct a survey of instruction on Jewish heritage and issue a report on such survey; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known as the "New York Jewish Heritage 2 Education Equity Act". 3 § 2. (a) The commissioner of education is authorized and directed to 4 conduct a survey regarding instruction on Jewish heritage within the 5 state. Such survey shall focus on identifying the extent to which school 6 districts provide instruction on Jewish heritage. Such survey shall 7 include as appropriate, questions on how the district is providing such 8 instruction, including, but not limited to, the following: 9 (1) how the department's learning standards inform the school 10 district's teaching of Jewish heritage history; 11 (2) which grade levels are being taught about Jewish heritage history; 12 (3) how much instructional time is devoted to Jewish heritage history; 13 (4) what are the school district's social studies curricula that are 14 used in the district, and who publishes curricula; 15 (5) what challenges and/or barriers do districts face in incorporating 16 Jewish heritage history into the curriculum; 17 (6) do educators receive any training or professional development 18 regarding Jewish heritage history; and 19 (7) are there assessments or evaluations to measure student under- 20 standing of Jewish heritage history. 21 (b) Findings shall include detailed results of the survey, and if 22 needed, recommendations to implement or strengthen such instruction. A 23 report of the findings of such survey shall be delivered to the gover- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD13545-01-5 
 A. 8974 2 1 nor, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, 2 the minority leader of the senate and the minority leader of the assem- 3 bly the first of January following the effective date of this act or one 4 hundred twenty days after the effective date of this act, whichever is 5 later. 6 § 3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 805 to read 7 as follows: 8 § 805. Jewish heritage history advisory committee; appointment; powers 9 and duties. 1. The commissioner shall establish a Jewish heritage advi- 10 sory committee. 11 2. (a) The committee shall be comprised of four members, to be 12 appointed as follows: 13 i. one member appointed by the governor; 14 ii. one member appointed by the temporary president of the senate; 15 iii. one member appointed by the speaker of the assembly; and 16 iv. one member appointed by the commissioner. 17 (b) All members appointed to the committee shall be experts in Jewish 18 heritage and/or have a background in educational instruction and/or 19 educational administration. 20 (c) All members of the committee shall be appointed within ninety days 21 of the effective date of this section. 22 3. Vacancies in the membership of the committee shall be filled in the 23 same manner provided for original appointments. 24 4. The committee shall meet no less than four times per year. 25 5. The committee shall provide recommendations on the following: 26 (a) high-quality K-12 curricular and instructional resources on Jewish 27 heritage history; and 28 (b) strategies for strengthening and deepening public K-12 education 29 programs in the areas of Jewish heritage history, including analysis of 30 the survey referenced in section two of the chapter of the laws of two 31 thousand twenty-five that added this section. 32 6. The committee shall submit their recommendations to the commission- 33 er no later than two years after the effective date of this section and 34 be disbanded thereafter. 35 7. Committee members shall receive no compensation for their services, 36 but shall be allowed their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the 37 performance of their duties. 38 8. To effectuate the purposes of this section, the committee may 39 request from any department, board, bureau, commission or other agency 40 of the state, and the same are authorized to provide, such cooperation 41 and assistance, services and data as will enable the committee to prop- 42 erly carry out its functions pursuant to this section. 43 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be 44 deemed repealed 3 years after such date.