Good morning.

Welcome to the committee vote on education at this time.

We ask that you please sign us all electronics.

And please do not approach today as chair.

You may begin.

Good morning, everyone.

I am Councilmember Eric Dinowitz, Chair of the Committee on Education.

Welcome to today's vote.

First, I want to acknowledge my colleagues who are present, Councilmembers Lewis, Narcisse Lee, Joseph Farias, Shulman, Delarosa, and Wong.

Today the Committee on Education will consider proposed resolution 7A, sponsored by Councilmembers Joan Ariola, Speaker Julie Menon, and Councilmember Rita Joseph.

The resolution calls on the New York State legislature to pass and the governor to sign legislation to incorporate a 911 curriculum in all New York City schools.

This Friday marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attack against the United States.

On that day in 2001, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial planes, deliberately crashing two of the planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center here in New York City, a less than 10 minute walk from where we are now.

Nearly 3,000 people were killed, and more than 6,000 others were injured, not to mention the countless others who have died from 9-11 related illnesses.

The events of 9 11 transformed Americans' attitudes about safety, privacy, and our nation's role in global affairs, the impacts of which are still felt today, including again here in New York City where survivors, first responders, residents, and family members and neighbors continue to deal with the effects of that horrific day.

While 9 11 and the events that followed are ingrained memories for many adults, many of us uh sitting here today.

For students in our schools, 9 11 is a historical event that can receive uneven coverage in classes, as there is currently no required curriculum that covers it.

Whether and how students learn about 9-11 can vary depending on the teacher and the school.

Teaching this topic can be a delicate task as the material is sensitive and the images and documents used as primary sources can be disturbing.

An important topic such as this one deserves the kind of careful, age appropriate consideration that can come from an intentionally crafted curriculum.

Resolution 7A proposes state legislation that would require 9-11 curriculum be age appropriate and include certain core information and themes on the events of the day and the global impact of the attacks.

Therefore, I ask my colleagues to support this resolution.

And I would now like to turn it over to one of the bill's sponsors, Councilmember Joseph, for some remarks.

Thank you, Chair Dinowitz.

The resolution 7A calling on Albany to pass the governor to sign legislation requiring a 9-11 curriculum in every school in the state.

Let me tell you where I was.

I was a fifth grade teacher.

My students were 10 years old.

This week marks 25 years since that day, which means those 10-year-olds are now grown.

They are in their 30s, some of them raising their own children.

Children who will never know.

September 11 as history the way I knew Pearl Harbor.

I remember exactly where I was, room 303.

The principal came over the PA system and said, Turn on your TVs.

Something is happening.

We turned on our television, and my whole class watched the towers fall live together right here in that classroom.

One of my students had a father who worked at the windows of the on the world at the top of the North Tower.

I remember calling to find out if that family was okay.

When I reached him, he told me he happened to be off that day.

He was safe, but I could hear it in his voice.

He had tears in his eyes because he was thinking about his co-workers, the people he worked beside every single day, who weren't so fortunate.

New York already requires moment of silence in our schools each September 11.

That matters.

But a moment of silence is not a lesson plan.

Silence remembers curriculum teachers.

But the teachers standing in front of the classrooms today weren't there, neither were their students.

New York City has tried to close that gap.

Our Department of Education built nine one nine eleven curriculum resources with the Memorial Museum.

And this council funded students' visit to the museum this year.

But a child in Buffalo or Rochester deserves to learn this history with the same seriousness as a child in Brooklyn.

State lawmakers have introduced legislation to do exactly that.

Firefighter Joseph Sparrow Jr., who responded to rescue three that morning and never came home.

So thank you.

Uh to begin the vote.

Morning.

Chair, do you know what's yes?

Councilmember Lewis.

Vote I on all.

Congratulations.

Councilmember Brewer.