THE MARYLAND HOUSE OF DELEGATES

ANNepous, MenrreND 2r4or-r99r

September 3,2019

Dr. Karen B. Salmon

Superintendent
Maryland State Department of Education
200 W. Baltimore St.
Baltimore, MD 21201

Dear Dr. Salmon:

We write in support of the request from the Baltimore Jewish Council and the Jewish
Community Relations Council for the Maryland State Board of Education and the Maryland
State Department of Education (MSDE) to enhance the state's existing guidelines and curriculum
standards with respect to education about the Holocaust. We agree that what is currently in place
is too vague and creates too much potential for variations in the quality and quantity of what is
taught among our state's 24 jurisdictions.

The latest national statistics on the lack of knowledge among American young adults about the
Holocaust are beyond troubling. They are disgraceful, and it is critically important for our
school systems to do more. While we understand that MSDE has long stated that its middle
school and high school standards and frameworks include some teaching on the Holocaust, we
believe thatit is not enough. The Modern World History framework does not even specifically
mention the Holocaust, nor do the Middle School standards specifically mention the Holocaust.

Teaching about the Holocaust is vitally important for its historical significance in and of itself,
but its universal lessons about the dangers of prejudice and racism will help ensure that genocide
and other atrocities will never happen again.

We recognize and appreciate our state's long-standing preference for curriculum standards to be
established by our professional educators - MSDE and local school systems, as well as the
boards that govern them. However, we also believe that, as legislators representing different
parts of the state, we have an obligqtion to speak up if we believe that critical areas are not being
adequately and consistently taught in our public schools. We have reached the conclusion that
Holocaust education qualifi es.

We hope that several of us could join a meeting between you, your staff, and representatives of
the Baltimore Jewish Council and the Jewish Community Relations Council to discuss how
MSDE and the State Board of Education could make a sfiong statement about the significance of
Holocaust education by building on the standards already in place. We want to ensure that our
state's education leaders have an opportunity to hear our concerns, before we retum to Annapolis
for the 2020 legislative session.

Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to your official reply.

Sincerely,

Delegate Dana M. Stein Delegate Shelly Hettleman

Delegate Michele Guyton
Delegate Lauren Arikan
Delegate Heather Bagnall
Delegate Benjamin Brooks
Delegate Jon S. Cardin
Delegate Lorig Charkoudian
Delegate Daniel L. Cox
Delegate Bonnie Cullison
Delegate Jessica Feldmark
Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo
Delegate Jim Gilchrist
Delegate Shaneka Henson
Delegate Ken Kerr
Delegate Carol L. Krimm
Delegate Mary A. Lehman
Delegate Robbyn Lewis
Delegate Lesley J. Lopez
Delegate Eric G. Luedtke
Delegate Maggie Mclntosh
Delegate David Moon
Delegate Neil Parrott
Delegate Joseline A. Peffa-Melnyk'
Delegate Kirill Rearik
Delegate Samuel I. Rosenberg
Delegate Jared Solomon
Delegate Kathy Szeliga
Delegate Geraldine Valentino-Smith
Delegate Jheanelle K. Wilkins
Delegate Pat Young
Delegate Gabriel Acevero
Delegate Dalya Attar
Delegate J. Sandy Bartlett
Delegate Alice Cain
Delegate Alfred C. Carr, Jr.
Delegate Frank M. Conaway, Jr.
Delegate Charlotte Crutch{ield
Delegate Kathleen M. Dumais
Delegate Diana M. Fennell
Delegate Tawanna P. Gaines
Delegate Robin L. Grammer, Jr.
Delegate Ariana B.Kelly
Delegate Marc Korman
Delegate Stephen W. Lafferty
Delegate lazzLewis
Delegate Brooke E. Lierman
Delegate Sara Love
Delegate Susan K. McComas
Delegate Mike McKay
Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr
Delegate Edith J. Patterson
Delegate Lily Qi
Delegate Mike Rogers
Delegate Emily Shetty
Delegate Vaughn Stewart
Delegate Jen Terrasa
Delegate Courtney Watson
Delegate Karen Lewis Young

Cc: Maryland State Board of Education