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BILL: HB 1323
DATE: March 05, 2025
POSITION: Unfavorable
COMMITTEE: House Ways & Means Committee
CONTACT: Mary Pat Fannon, Executive Director, PSSAM
The Public School Superintendents’ Association of Maryland (PSSAM), on behalf of all twenty-four public school superintendents, opposes House Bill 1323.
House Bill 1323 would require the Maryland State Board of Education (MSDE) to develop curriculum content standards for a unit of instruction on Asian American history in public schools in the State. Furthermore, this bill would require each county board of education to implement the developed Asian American history curriculum content standards beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, as well as ensure that a unit of instruction on Asian American history would be taught at least once during elementary school, once in a required history course in middle school, and once in a history course required to graduate from high school. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.
Local superintendents recognize the importance of teaching culturally relevant and diverse curricula for Maryland’s students. However, PSSAM has a longstanding policy of resisting efforts by the General Assembly to codify curriculum standards, assessments, or graduation requirements. Local superintendents strongly believe that the role of instructional mandates and implementation belongs to local boards of education in conjunction with MSDE. Rest assured, PSSAM’s opposition to this bill is not an evaluation of the merits of teaching Asian American history, but rather opposition to statutorily mandating content standards and additions to curriculum.
The Maryland General Assembly, in creating the MSDE and local boards of education, has delegated to these entities the responsibility of delivering a high-quality statewide system of public education. The State Board establishes State content frameworks, state assessment standards, and minimum state graduation requirements, while each local board and school system implements locally-developed curriculum to ensure that the state content frameworks are followed, student performance standards are met, and students are prepared to meet graduation requirements.
In the context of educational programming proposed by House Bill 1323, PSSAM emphasizes that many local school systems already incorporate age-appropriate units of instruction on topics such as Asian American history into a comprehensive social studies curriculum. Superintendents are committed to providing students with a comprehensive, well-rounded education through history curriculum that is implemented after proper stakeholder input and review processes are completed in each local school system.
For these reasons, PSSAM opposes House Bill 1323 and kindly requests an unfavorable report.
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