HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	93
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

encouraging the department of education to include in the social studies curriculum the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities.

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii and the Department of Education should be committed to educating Hawaii's youth about diverse cultures and the vastness of the human condition in preparing Hawaii's youth to be participating members of an equal society; and

     WHEREAS, while the Department of Education's existing content and performance standards for social studies include the history of many minorities and subcultures, including Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, African Americans, Japanese Americans, and women, the standards fail to include the history of persons with disabilities; and

     WHEREAS, federal census data estimates that nineteen percent of the nation's population has a disability; and

     WHEREAS, the use of derogatory terms aimed at persons with disabilities occurs in Hawaii's public schools and students need to know that these terms are discriminatory and hurtful; and

     WHEREAS, persons with disabilities are often verbally, physically, and emotionally harassed and bullied at school because of their actual or perceived disability and therefore report feeling depressed, isolated, suicidal, and unsafe at school; and

     WHEREAS, the State has an obligation to protect persons who are discriminated against; and

     WHEREAS, the Governor of the State of California signed the FAIR Education Act into law on July 14, 2011, which requires the inclusion in public school curriculum of the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities to the development of California and the United States; and

     WHEREAS, the implementation of a similar curriculum in Hawaii is consistent with the State's effort to promote a more supportive learning environment for students with disabilities; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that this body encourages the Department of Education to:

     (1)  Integrate into the social studies curriculum of the State's public education system the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities;

     (2)  Provide resources on such topics for complex areas, individual schools, and educators to empower them to implement age-appropriate content for students from kindergarten through twelfth grade;

     (3)  Train and support educators who integrate such topics into school curriculum;

     (4)  Prohibit material in textbooks or other instructional material that perpetuates discriminatory stereotypes and misinformation about persons with disabilities;

     (5)  Adopt textbooks or other instructional materials that include and fairly portray persons with disabilities; and

     (6)  Discourage discrimination toward persons with disabilities in public schools and at public school functions; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education and Chair of the Board of Education.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Department Of Education; Public School Curriculum; Discrimination; Persons With Disabilities