Asian American History Now Mandated in Illinois Schools
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Public schools in Illinois will be required to teach a unit of Asian American history under a new law education experts say is the first of its kind nationwide. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Friday signed the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEAACH) Act, which mandates “a unit of instruction studying the events of Asian American history, including the history of Asian Americans in Illinois and the Midwest, as well as the contributions of Asian Americans toward advancing civil rights from the 19th century onward.”
No state has ever done this,” said Sohyun An, a professor of elementary and early childhood education at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. “It is a watershed moment in history in terms of teaching Asian American history in K-12 schools.”
The units are required by the start of the 2022-2023 school year and must cover the wrongful incarceration of Japanese Americans and the contributions of Japanese-American infantries during World War II, the legal challenges by Japanese Americans to Executive Order 9066, the resettlement of Japanese Americans in Illinois following incarceration, and the United States’ formal apology and redress in 1988.
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