FINAL BILL REPORT

                 SHB 2418

                         C 112 L 00

                     Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Establishing a World War II oral history project.

Sponsors:  By House Committee on Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Woods, Conway, Talcott, D. Schmidt, Koster, Bush, Wensman, Carlson, Rockefeller, Kenney, Cody, Barlean, Schoesler, Sump, Cairnes, Thomas, Huff, Haigh, Mastin, McDonald, Lantz, Santos, Skinner, Ogden and McIntire).

House Committee on Education

Senate Committee on Education

Background:

About 250,000 Washingtonians served their country in the armed forces of the United States during World War II.  Almost 6,000 of these residents lost their lives during the war.  On Friday, May 28, 1999, Washington became one of the first states in the country to officially dedicate a memorial to World War II veterans.  The memorial was designed by artist/sculptor Simon Kogan of Olympia, and features the names of Washington residents who lost their lives during the war.  Veterans and other supporters raised almost $800,000 to fund the memorial.

Veterans and other members of the World War II Memorial Committee convened an educational subcommittee to help develop an instructional guide on the memorial for use in Washington's schools.  In 1998, members of the subcommittee decided to create an educational foundation to help provide an objective and accurate overview of the war for students, and help students understand and learn the lessons of the war.  The subcommittee also recommended the creation of an oral history guide to supplement K-12 curriculum on World War II.

Summary of Bill:

The World War II Oral History Project is established in the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).  The program is intended to preserve, for the education of our state's children,  the history and memories of the citizens who contributed to the state and country during World War II.  The contributions may include service in the armed forces of the country or other forms of service to the nation or community.  The history and memories will be preserved though audiotapes, videotapes, films, stories, digitally, and through other appropriate means.  The materials prepared through the project are intended to help OSPI and teachers in the development of a curriculum for use in kindergarten through 12th grade.

The office shall convene an advisory committee to assist in the design and implementation of the project.  The committee will include members of the World War II Memorial Educational Foundation, legislators, representatives of the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the Office of the Secretary of State, and others if the need arises.  The office may contract with schools, the foundation, and filming and taping specialists.  The office will also prepare requirements for instructional guides to help teachers use the material, and will report on the project by December 1, 2000, and every second year thereafter that the project is funded.   Required elements of the first report are described.

Votes on Final Passage:

House970

Senate430(Senate amended)

House960(House concurred)

Effective:June 8, 2000