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Senate committee rejects House Bill 1527 on Holocaust instruction, citing curriculum and funding concerns
Summary
The Senate Education Committee voted 6–0 to recommend a do‑not‑pass on House Bill 1527, which would have required specific Holocaust instruction; senators said the subject is already in content standards and raised concerns about placing curriculum mandates in statute.
The Senate Education Committee voted 6–0 to recommend a do‑not‑pass for House Bill 1527, a proposal that would have required specific instruction on the Holocaust in public schools.
Committee members said they support Holocaust instruction but expressed concern about putting detailed curriculum mandates into statute. Several senators noted the subject already appears in state content standards and that mandating content in statute could trigger implementation costs borne by the state.
"Any of the content standards that we dictate would require the state to pay for the implementation of that," one senator said, referring to a remark made to the sponsor by Superintendent Basler. The senator added that the Department of Public Instruction updates social studies standards and that those updates are regularly scheduled; the committee heard that the social studies standards were last updated in February 2019 and are due for update in the next year or two.
Members also said curriculum is implemented differently by teachers and districts, and that if the committee were to single out one topic for statutory curriculum detail it would raise questions about many other content areas. Supporters of the bill, including at least one witness, provided personal testimony; the committee chair noted that the sponsor had provided an amendment and that a clean, redline version was distributed for members' review.
After discussion, Senator Wabamaw moved a motion for do not pass on House Bill 1527; Senator Axman seconded. The committee voted 6 ayes, 0 nays and recorded a do‑not‑pass recommendation. Senator Baucher was recorded by the committee as the carrier for the action.
The committee recessed earlier to obtain a printed clean copy of the sponsor amendment and returned to consider the bill; no further amendments were enacted at this meeting. The committee emphasized that while the content of Holocaust instruction is important, statutory mandates are not the preferred mechanism for specifying classroom curriculum, and recommended that such material be handled through content‑standards processes and the Department of Public Instruction.
