In terms and courses of study, further providing for Holocaust, genocide and human rights violations instruction.
HB1054 amends Pennsylvania’s Public School Code to require, rather than merely permit, school entities to provide instruction on the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights violations beginning with the 2027-2028 school year. The instruction must be integrated into social studies and language arts courses, and may also be incorporated into other appropriate subjects. The bill also directs the Department of Education to update curriculum guidelines within 12 months of enactment and again before the 2027-2028 school year, with guidance that includes the history of the Holocaust, other genocides, human rights violations, antisemitism, racism, slavery, Jim Crow, apartheid, and civil rights abridgment.
The bill further requires the Department of Education to make in-service training available to school entities and requires schools that provide the instruction to train instructors whose courses include the subject matter. It also updates reporting requirements for the State Board of Education, including a new study and report due after the 2028-2029 school year, and removes the prior conditional trigger for a regulation based on whether fewer than 90% of school entities were offering the instruction. The definition of “school entity” is expanded to include nonpublic schools, though the bill does not appear to impose the same mandatory instruction requirement on nonpublic schools in the same way it does on public school entities.
HB1054 would change state education law by converting Holocaust, genocide, and human rights instruction from an optional offering into a required component of instruction for Pennsylvania school entities starting in the 2027-2028 school year. It would also require the Department of Education to maintain updated curriculum guidance and provide training resources, while expanding the statutory definition of school entity to include nonpublic schools for purposes of the section. The bill affects school districts, charter schools, cyber charter schools, regional charter schools, intermediate units, area career and technical schools, educators, and the Department of Education.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or votes in the provided materials, the overall sentiment appears broadly supportive and educational in nature. The bill is framed as a curriculum and teacher-training measure aimed at ensuring consistent statewide instruction on the Holocaust, genocide, and human rights violations. No formal opposition, amendments, or recorded roll-call votes are provided in the available context.
The main potential point of contention is the shift from permissive to mandatory instruction, which could raise concerns about local control, curriculum mandates, instructional time, and implementation costs for school entities. Another possible issue is the bill’s expanded subject matter, which includes antisemitism, racism, slavery, Jim Crow, apartheid, and indigenous peoples, potentially prompting debate over scope and framing. The inclusion of nonpublic schools in the definition of school entity may also create questions about how, or whether, the requirements apply to those schools in practice.