# Teaching Asian Pacific American History Act

This bill would give federal money to schools and educational organizations to teach students about Asian and Pacific Islander history as part of American history classes. Right now, most K-12 textbooks and curricula focus heavily on European and white American history, with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders largely left out or presented in stereotypical ways. This bill aims to fix that gap.

The bill would fund programs that cover several key topics: how Asian and Pacific Islander people contributed to settling and building America, the discriminatory laws that targeted these communities throughout U.S. history (like the Chinese Exclusion Act and Japanese internment), and how those historical injustices connect to problems Asian Americans face today. It would also highlight the real contributions Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have made to American culture, economy, politics, and society. The bill specifically mentions working with the Smithsonian Institution's Asian Pacific American Center to create resources and programs that teachers can actually use in their classrooms.

The practical effect would be that schools receiving these grants could develop better curriculum materials, train teachers on this history, and create educational programs that give students a more complete picture of American history. Students would learn about things like Chinese laborers building the Transcontinental Railroad, Filipino farm workers who helped start the farm labor movement, the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, and the experiences of Southeast Asian refugees. The bill also ensures that national education assessments would include Asian Pacific American history as part of what students are tested on.

This is essentially a funding and curriculum initiative—it doesn't mandate anything, but rather provides money to schools and organizations that want to incorporate this history into their teaching. The goal is to make sure Asian American and Pacific Islander contributions and experiences are recognized as central to American history rather than treated as a side note.

Teaching Asian Pacific American History Act

Meng, Grace

Teaching Asian Pacific American History Act This bill requires entities (e.g., institutions of higher education, libraries, and museums), in order to be eligible for certain grants administered by the Department of Education (ED), to include Asian Pacific American history in their teaching of American history. It also requires Asian Pacific American history to be included in tests administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Specifically, the bill mandates the inclusion of Asian Pacific American history as a required component of American history for such entities to be eligible for American History and Civics Academies' competitive grants. These grants support the establishment of (1) Presidential Academies for Teachers of American History and Civics, which offer workshops to teachers of American history and civics to strengthen their knowledge and prepare them to teach in these subjects; and (2) Congressional Academies for Students of American History and Civics, which support high school students in developing an understanding of these subjects. (Currently, Asian Pacific American history is not a required component of American history for either academy.) In addition, ED must give priority to grant applicants that align their activities with programs and resources of the Smithsonian Institution's Asian Pacific American Center. The bill also requires the inclusion of Asian Pacific American history in tests administered by the NAEP, which measures student academic achievement in various subjects.