Gov. Evers Signs Senate Bill 69, Requires Holocaust and other Genocides Education for Wisconsin Students

MILWAUKEE — Gov. Tony Evers today signed Senate Bill 69, now Wisconsin Act 30, requiring lessons about the Holocaust and other genocides be incorporated into social studies education for Wisconsin students throughout grades five to twelve. 

“This bill will affect generations of kids in our state and bring increased awareness, and recognition in our schools to the tragedies of the Holocaust, the pervasiveness of anti-Semitism to this day, and hopefully cultivate a generation that is more compassionate, more empathetic, and more inclusive,” said Gov. Evers. “States across our country require or encourage education about the Holocaust for students, I am glad that today, Wisconsin will be joining them.”

Senate Bill 69, now Wisconsin Act 30: 

• Requires the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to incorporate the Holocaust and other genocides into model academic standards for social studies and to develop model curriculum in consultation with a state agency in another state that has developed such standards, as well as an organization that is dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, education, and the preservation of the memory of victims and that provides free Holocaust education programs to schools and training and tools to educators; and 
• Requires school districts, independent charter schools and private schools participating in a choice program to provide instruction on the Holocaust and other genocides at least once in grades five through eight, and again at least once in grades nine through twelve.