Massachusetts Senate Passes Genocide Education Bill

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Massachusetts Senate has passed a bill that requires genocide and human rights education for middle and high school students.

"It is shocking how many young people today have never heard of the Auschwitz concentration camp, the Holocaust, or other heinous genocides perpetrated in the past," said Sen. Jason Lewis, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Education. "This important legislation will ensure that more students understand the history of genocide so that it never happens again. I'm grateful to Senator Rodrigues for championing this legislation and to all of the educators and advocates who have worked to see this bill passed."

The bill would require all schools to annually submit their lesson plans on genocide education to the Department of Education and establish a Genocide Education Fund that would "ensure the development of curricular materials, as well as to provide professional development training to assist educators in the teaching of genocide."

The Mass. House of Representatives is now considering a genocide education act.