Patriotism, Citizenship & Human Rights Education

Patriotism, Citizenship & Human Rights Education

The Board of Education recognizes and affirms the importance to students of learning to appreciate the sanctity of life and the dignity of the individual. In order to promote a spirit of patriotic and civil service and obligation, as well as to foster in students of the district moral and intellectual qualities which are essential in preparing them to meet the obligations of citizenship, the board requires students over the age of 8 who are attending district schools to attend instructional courses in patriotism, citizenship, and human rights issues, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust. The board also directs that all students attending district schools in grades 8-12 receive instruction in the history, meaning, significance of the United States Constitution, the New York State Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

The curricula for such courses must include the subjects specified by the Board of Regents and be for the period of instruction, as mandated by the Regents, which is necessary in these subjects in each of the appropriate grades.

One week during each school year a uniform course of exercises shall be provided to teach students, in age-appropriate manner, the purpose, meaning and importance of the Bill of Rights Articles in the United States and the New York State Constitution. These exercises shall be in addition to the above required courses.

The board directs that the above-named subjects, as mandated by law, be addressed in the instructional curricula provided by the district.

(Education Law Section 801).