AN ACT CONCERNING HUMANE EDUCATION.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (d) of section 10-16b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2006):

(d) The State Board of Education shall make available curriculum materials and such other materials as may assist local and regional boards of education in developing instructional programs pursuant to this section. The State Board of Education, within available appropriations and utilizing available resource materials, shall assist and encourage local and regional boards of education to include: (1) Holocaust education and awareness; (2) the historical events surrounding the Great Famine in Ireland; (3) African-American history; (4) Puerto Rican history; (5) Native American history; (6) personal financial management; (7) principles of humane education, which includes instruction in the humane treatment of animals, the value of preserving a healthy and sustainable environment and the importance of character traits, such as compassion, respect and empathy; and [(7)] (8) topics approved by the state board upon the request of local or regional boards of education as part of the program of instruction offered pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. The principles of humane education described in subdivision (7) of this subsection may be developed in consultation with the Commissioner of Agriculture, the Commissioner of Education and representatives of the state farm industry, animal welfare organizations and humane education organizations.

Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10-220a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2006):

(a) Each local or regional board of education shall provide an in-service training program for its teachers, administrators and pupil personnel who hold the initial educator, provisional educator or professional educator certificate. Such program shall provide such teachers, administrators and pupil personnel with information on (1) the nature and the relationship of drugs, as defined in subdivision (17) of section 21a-240, and alcohol to health and personality development, and procedures for discouraging their abuse, (2) health and mental health risk reduction education which includes, but need not be limited to, the prevention of risk-taking behavior by children and the relationship of such behavior to substance abuse, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV-infection and AIDS, as defined in section 19a-581, violence, child abuse and youth suicide, (3) the growth and development of exceptional children, including handicapped and gifted and talented children and children who may require special education, including, but not limited to, children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or learning disabilities, and methods for identifying, planning for and working effectively with special needs children in a regular classroom, (4) school violence prevention and conflict resolution, (5) cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other emergency life saving procedures, (6) computer and other information technology as applied to student learning and classroom instruction, communications and data management, (7) the teaching of the language arts, reading and reading readiness for teachers in grades kindergarten to three, inclusive, and (8) second language acquisition in districts required to provide a program of bilingual education pursuant to section 10-17f, as amended. The State Board of Education, within available appropriations and utilizing available materials, shall assist and encourage local and regional boards of education to include: (A) Holocaust education and awareness; (B) the historical events surrounding the Great Famine in Ireland; (C) African-American history; (D) Puerto Rican history; (E) Native American history; (F) personal financial management; (G) principles of humane education, as described in subsection (d) of section 10-16b, as amended by this act; and [(G)] (H) topics approved by the state board upon the request of local or regional boards of education as part of in-service training programs pursuant to this subsection.