By JENNIFER PELTZ The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Here’s what U.S. states expect or suggest about teaching 9/11 in public schools, according to reporting by The Associated Press.
Alabama
A 2024 revision to Alabama’s social studies standards expanded coverage of the modern era, including 9/11, the state Department of Education said. Now, fifth graders are required to “trace the United States’ military involvement in international conflicts since 1980, including those following the Sept. 11 attacks,” while high school juniors must “evaluate the effectiveness of the United States’ response” to 9/11, including the war in Afghanistan, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and passage of the Patriot Act. The act granted the federal government sweeping surveillance powers in the interest of pursuing possible terrorists.
Alaska
Alaska doesn’t have a statewide requirement or specific policy mandating instruction about 9/11, but the state’s “learning objectives support addressing important dates and events in history, which may include Sept. 11, within broader instructional goals,” the state Department of Education & Early Development said. Individual school districts decide whether and how to teach about 9/11, but the agency said it’s in the early stages of developing “core knowledge” documents to give more guidance on teaching specific historical events and dates.
Arizona
Arizona lawmakers decided in 2022 to require every public school to devote time on or around each 9/11 anniversary to “age-appropriate education” about the attacks. Three years later, they limited the requirement to seventh through 12th grades. State Sen. John Kavanagh, who sponsored the original law, said that he supported the change after hearing concerns about how younger students would handle the catastrophic images and complexity of 9/11. “You don’t want to introduce it too young, but by the same token, you want everybody eventually to know about it,” said Kavanagh, a Republican. State law also requires the state Department of Education to provide a list of recommended instructional materials on the subject.
Arkansas
Updated in 2022, Arkansas’ standards for modern U.S. history require students to be able to explain “change and continuity in foreign policy since 2001 after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,” including the Bush administration’s response, the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and anti-terror efforts, such as the Patriot Act and Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, a Supreme Court case that concerned the legal rights of U.S. citizens detained as “enemy combatants.” The state Department of Education didn’t provide information to AP.
California
A 2021 California law encourages public schools to hold a moment of silence each Sept. 11. “Decisions about how and whether to address this tragic and pivotal event in our nation’s history are generally made at the local level by school districts and educators,” the state Department of Education said, but there are some recommendations in state guidance for teachers. Tenth grade world history students might get this prompt: “Since 9/11, the hopes for a more peaceful world that the end of the Cold War spawned have been displaced by a resurgence of international conflict. … Did 9/11 change everything? Or was the world in the 1990s less stable than it might have appeared at the time?” Seniors in a class on American democracy might discuss the expansion of presidential powers and the debate over national security and civil liberties after 9/11.
Colorado
Colorado’s social studies standards give school districts considerable flexibility, the state Department of Education said. But examples of topics for high school history include “the war on terror (e.g., 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq wars, Middle Eastern discrimination and the evolution of U.S. counterterrorism efforts).”
Connecticut
Connecticut leans heavily into local decision-making for schools, and its Department of Education said the state doesn’t have a requirement or policy about covering 9/11 in the classroom. However, its education standards suggest that high school students analyze the causes and effects of the Sept. 11 attacks and how they shaped perspectives in the U.S., from the Patriot Act and creation of post-9/11 agencies to the views of Muslims and Sikhs.
Delaware
Delaware doesn’t have a law or regulation that requires teachers to cover 9/11, but it’s often addressed in high school civics and U.S. history courses, according to the state Department of Education. “Many teachers include the Sept. 11 attacks when addressing contemporary U.S. history, terrorism, foreign policy and debates about the balance between security and individual rights,” the department said.
Florida
A 2023 Florida law requires at least 45 minutes a year of 9/11-related instruction in some middle and high school classes. The statute lists points to cover: historical context on terrorism, the attack timeline, acts of heroism and charity, the “importance of respecting civil liberties while ensuring safety and security,” and more. It notably mentions not only those killed and wounded but also people who fell ill after being exposed to toxins when the World Trade Center’s burning twin towers collapsed. State standards go into still more detail. It’s all intended “to ensure this important event in America’s history is not only remembered but also integrated into civics and resiliency education statewide,” the state Department of Education said.
Georgia
Georgia’s social studies standards require instruction on 9/11 beginning in fifth grade, when students are expected to be able to describe the attacks and analyze their impact on American life. High school U.S. history classes analyze Sept. 11 and the war on terror under the rubric of “challenges faced by recent presidents.”
The state Department of Education didn’t respond to inquiries from AP. Georgia Association of Educators President Wayne Huston, a middle school social studies teacher, said his suburban Atlanta school also holds a moment of silence each Sept. 11.
Hawaii
Hawaii has no statewide requirement or policy mandating instruction specifically on 9/11, the state Department of Education said. But the state’s standards for high school U.S. history and government mention 9/11, the war on terror and the Patriot Act in lists of “sample content” that schools might use to illustrate the rise and impact of modern conservatism.
Idaho
Idaho added Sept. 11-specific requirements to its social studies standards in an overhaul approved this year, the state Department of Education said. During the lengthy revision process, “there was clear feedback that certain major historical events, particularly those with lasting national and global impact, should be more explicitly identified to ensure they are consistently addressed,” the agency said. High school U.S. history students now must assess government responses to terrorism, “including those after Sept. 11, 2001, and analyze the causes, progression and aftermath” of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Illinois
Illinois’ education law lists Sept. 11 among “commemorative holidays” that schools may mark with instruction, activities or events, but they aren’t required to do so. The state Board of Education noted that its “ Inclusive Calendar ” offers 9/11 teaching materials, but “local school boards and educators decide what instructional materials to use and how specific topics are addressed in the classroom.”
Indiana
Indiana’s standards for high school U.S. history expect students to “explain the background and effects” of 9/11 “on U.S. foreign and domestic policy.”
Iowa
A hotly debated 2024 Iowa law called for focusing social studies on “United States history, Western civilization and civics” and detailed many topics and events to teach, among them 9/11 and the war on terror. The state’s new social studies standards, approved this year, require U.S. history courses to cover Sept. 11, then-President George W. Bush’s address to