On Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Sen. Henry Stern, D-Calabasas, urged passage of Senate Bill 693, the Never Again Education of 2021. Stern’s bill is intended to help address the growing knowledge gap among young Americans about the Holocaust and other recent genocides by offering new teaching methods and enhanced resources for teachers and students, to remedy a recent rise in anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and other acts of hatred.
“As our collective memory fades, and we lose the last generation of survivors, we must redouble our commitment to educate the next generation and refuse to slip into the same apathy and ignorance that allows hatred to take root,” said Stern.
SB 693 would establish the Governor’s Council on Genocide and Holocaust Education. It would assemble leading experts on teaching about genocide, and the Holocaust in particular, to help students confront the subject matter and embrace the importance of diversity, human rights, and the roles and responsibilities of citizens in democratic societies to combat misinformation, indifference and discrimination.
SB 693 is a priority bill for the Jewish Caucus and is scheduled to be heard in the Senate Education Committee on April 14.
