The Act to include African-American studies in the social studies component of the public school curriculum was signed into law on June 21, 2020.
Scot Esdaile, President of the Connecticut NAACP State Conference and a member of the NAACP National Board of Directors, testimony was among more than 200 heard or filed on March 6, 2019, at the Connecticut General Assembly’s Education Committee, urging passage of House Bill 7082, An Act Concerning the Inclusion of Black and Latino Studies in the Public School Curriculum.
Before the legislative session concluded last spring, the law was approved unanimously by the Senate and 122-24 in the House, and was subsequently signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont on June 21, 2019. The curriculum is now being developed, in accordance with the law’s requirements.
It requires the State Board of Education to review and approve, by January 1, 2021, a Black and Latino studies year-long high school course that the State Education Resource Center (SERC) has been designated to develop. Local Boards of Education must offer the course in the 2022-23 school year, but they may do so in the 2021-22 school year. The law requires the high school course to be offered, but does not require that every student take the course.
During the school years 2022-23 to 2024-25, the State Department of Education must conduct an annual audit to ensure that the Black and Latino studies course is being offered by each Board of Education in the state.
Among those testifying at the Capitol last year were students, including those attending colleges and high schools throughout Connecticut.
The process of developing the curriculum and course syllabus is now well underway. Even with obstacles presented by COVID-19 restrictions, SERC has moved forward, with appointment of a nearly 150-member Advisory Group, and additional input from focus groups and surveys of state residents.