STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2014 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator GERALD CARDINALE
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Requires in public schools instruction on the contributions of United States veterans and the observance of patriotic exercises on certain holidays.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning patriotic instruction and exercises in the public schools and supplementing chapters 35 and 36 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. A board of education shall include instruction on the contributions and sacrifices made by United States veterans in an appropriate place in the curriculum of elementary school, middle school, and high school pupils as part of the Core Curriculum Content Standards for Social Studies. The Social Studies curriculum framework developed by the Department of Education shall include sample learning activities and resources to enable pupils to learn about the many contributions and sacrifices of United States veterans.
2. Appropriate exercises for the development of a higher spirit of patriotism shall be held in all public schools on the last school day preceding Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The exercises shall include instruction on the origins and historical significance of those holidays and the role of veterans in protecting and defending the United States, its people, its freedoms, and its form of government.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the 2012-2013 school year.
STATEMENT
This bill provides that a board of education shall include instruction on the contributions and sacrifices of United States veterans in an appropriate place in the curriculum of elementary school, middle school, and high school pupils as part of the Core Curriculum Content Standards for Social Studies. The bill directs that the Social Studies framework developed by the Department of Education must include sample learning activities and resources to enable pupils to learn about the many contributions and sacrifices of United States veterans, who have served their country with unsurpassable dedication, honor, and valor. This bill also requires that all public schools hold appropriate exercises for the development of a higher spirit of patriotism on the last school day preceding Memorial Day and Veterans Day, including instruction on the origins and historical significance of those holidays and the role of veterans in protecting and defending the United States, its people, its freedoms, and its form of government.
The children of this State must understand that the democratic freedoms which they enjoy have not come to them without sacrifice. A thorough and continuing discussion between educators and students on the contributions and sacrifices of veterans is necessary to provide an adequate instruction of United States history and to foster the development of civic character in New Jersey's students.