Holocaust Teaching Bill Controversy

Holocaust teaching bill controversy

At any other time and place, an effort to study how well the state’s school districts are teaching the Holocaust might not be controversial.

But right now, it is.

On Monday, the State Assembly’s education committee spent about 40 minutes discussing the bill authorizing the study, sponsored by Assemb. Nily Rozic.

The meeting was held over Zoom. An Assembly spokesman said it was not officially recorded. But The Point obtained a full recording of the lengthy discussion, and the resulting vote. A majority 18 of the committee’s 31 members voted against the committee chairman’s recommendation that the bill not move forward.

The chairman, Assemb. Michael Benedetto, had recommended at the conversation’s outset that the bill be "held." Benedetto (D-Bronx) argued that the bill was unnecessary because state education law requires that the Holocaust be taught, and so it was "understood that this was being done." The chair also called the bill an "unfunded mandate," noting that the state education department would have to put time and money into it.

According to several Assembly members who participated in the meeting, the Zoom hands began rising as Benedetto continued to talk.

One by one, members began to object to Benedetto’s request for a hold and in favor of the bill, with several members of Long Island’s delegation among them.

"I am in support of this bill and I am very surprised that anyone would even think to hold this bill," said Assemb. David McDonough (R-Merrick). "The Holocaust was one of the worst events of human history and for us to deny making sure that every student hears the story of this in history … Voting to hold this would be just another slight step to anti-Semitism."

Assembly members Doug Smith (R-Holbrook), Melissa Miller (R-Atlantic Beach) and Phil Ramos (D-Bay Shore) also spoke out against the hold during the meeting.

"In light of the recent anti-Semitic sentiment that’s been out there and the attacks on people of Jewish faith," Smith, who’s the committee’s ranking Republican, told The Point Tuesday, "I think it’s important that we ensure that our schools are teaching about the Holocaust and what can happen when hatred is allowed to grow."

Ramos told The Point he supports the bill because "we can change society by starting early and creating awareness of these issues."

Still other members, however, voted in favor of the hold, with some saying the bill should be expanded to include a look at other issues, such as slavery. But some Assembly members told The Point they wondered whether the ongoing battles between Israel and Gaza, and anti-Israel sentiment expressed by some elected officials, were also an issue in the desire to hold the bill back.

State Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-Great Neck), who is sponsoring a Senate version of the bill, said it was "inexcusable" to "play politics" with a bill like this. "Considering the fact that this bill has existed with vast and diverse support from lawmakers of all backgrounds and ideologies for months and was passed unanimously by the Senate in a prior session, I can’t help but question the motivations of lawmakers who have suddenly raised brand new concerns that didn’t come up during prior discussions and revisions, seemingly in an effort to kill this critically important bill in the eleventh hour of the waning legislative session," she said.

Rozic (D-Queens), who isn’t on the education committee and wasn’t present during the meeting, said she had been asked to pull the bill before it even got to the committee, and that she refused to do so. An Israeli whose mother taught at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Israel, Rozic said that for her, the bill is "personal."

In the end, the bill was referred to the ways and means committee. Oddly, as of Tuesday, there was no record on the bill’s history of the education committee’s meeting, or that a vote had taken place. Instead, it said, "Referral changed to Ways and Means."