H605 • 2025

Resolve providing for a special commission to examine anti-slavery education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Education

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The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: Howard, Vanna
Last action: 2025-12-11
Official status: Referred to House Committee on Rules
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Resolve providing for a special commission to examine anti-slavery education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Resolve providing for a special commission to examine anti-slavery education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts By Representatives Howard of Lowell and Montaño of Boston, a petition (accompanied by resolve, House, No.

What This Bill Does

Resolve providing for a special commission to examine anti-slavery education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts By Representatives Howard of Lowell and Montaño of Boston, a petition (accompanied by resolve, House, No.
605) of Vanna Howard and Samantha Montaño for an investigation by a special commission (including members of the General Court) to examine anti-slavery education in schools.
Education.
Status: Referred to House Committee on Rules

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2025-12-11 House
Discharged to the committee on House Rules
2025-11-17 House
Resolve reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on Rules of the two branches, acting concurrently
2025-09-02 Joint
Hearing scheduled for 09/16/2025 from 11:00 AM-5:00 PM in Gardner Auditorium
2025-02-27 House
Referred to the committee on Education
2025-02-27 Senate
Senate concurred

Official Summary Text

Resolve providing for a special commission to examine anti-slavery education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
By Representatives Howard of Lowell and Montaño of Boston, a petition (accompanied by resolve, House, No. 605) of Vanna Howard and Samantha Montaño for an investigation by a special commission (including members of the General Court) to examine anti-slavery education in schools. Education.
Status:
Referred to House Committee on Rules

Current Bill Text

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Bill H.605

Resolved,
that a special commission is hereby established for the purpose to study and make recommendations regarding the teaching of anti-slavery education in Massachusetts schools.

Every school district shall for the purpose of educating middle and high school students include in its curriculum a unit of instruction on the history of slavery utilizing, but not be limited to, the Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework disseminated by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Acts of slavery across the globe shall be taught consistently within the curriculum frameworks to (i) promote the teaching of racism issues in all public schools and school districts, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of slavery; (ii) address the notion that national, ethnic, racial, or religious hatred can overtake any nation or society, leading to calamitous consequences; and (iii) reaffirm the commitment of free peoples from all nations to never again permit the occurrence of another genocide and recognition that crimes of slavery continue to be perpetrated across the globe as they have been in the past, and to deter indifference to crimes against humanity and human suffering wherever they may occur.

The commission shall consist of the commissioner of the department of secondary and elementary education or his designee, who shall serve as commission chair; 2 members of the senate, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the senate president and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate; 2 members of the house of representatives, 1 of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the house of representatives; 2 persons to be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall have experience as an educator in the field of anti-slavery education; 2 persons appointed by the attorney general, 1 of whom shall have experience in education law in the field of anti-slavery education. The commission shall convene its first meeting not later than June 1, 2025, and shall file a report along with any recommendations for legislation not later than November 30, 2025, with the clerks of the senate and house, the chairs of the senate and house committees on ways and means, and the chairs of the joint committee on education.

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