REACH Coalition Hails Governor Hochul’s Signing of the AANHPI Education Equity Act
The Act calls for a statewide survey to assess what schools currently teach about AANHPI history while also establishing New York State’s first-ever AANHPI History Advisory Committee.
New York, NY (December 17, 2025) — The R.E.A.C.H. (Representing and Empowering AANHPI Community History) Coalition was proud to stand beside Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday as she signed the AANHPI Education Equity Act, a landmark step in the fight to bring an AANHPI curriculum to New York State’s public schools.
The signing of this new law is the culmination of years of organizing and advocacy by bill sponsors and inclusive curriculum champions Senator John Liu, Assemblymember Grace Lee, who have worked alongside the R.E.A.C.H. Coalition through every step of the legislative process.
The AANHPI Education Equity Act (S7855E/A8463E) is a critical measure to understand how public schools across New York are teaching Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) history. The Act directs the New York State Education Commissioner to conduct a statewide survey to assess what schools currently teach about AANHPI history. It also establishes the first-ever AANHPI History Advisory Committee, charged with providing recommendations on how to better integrate AANHPI history into classrooms statewide.
The AANHPI Education Equity Act is separate from, but aligned with, S3334/A4638, a bill that calls for the development of an AANHPI curriculum consistent with New York state learning standards and State Education Department’s Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education Framework, and remains a priority for legislators and advocates.
Together, these efforts represent a multi-step approach to ensuring AANHPI history is accurately and fully reflected in New York classrooms.
“The AANHPI Education Equity Act is about telling the complete American story,” said Assemblymember Grace Lee. “For generations, Asian Americans have helped build this country, yet our histories have too often been left out of our classrooms. This law affirms that our stories matter, that our children belong, and that an inclusive education strengthens our community. I’m grateful to the community advocates for their work on this effort, to Senator John Liu for his partnership and to Governor Hochul for championing an inclusive education that affirms belonging for all students.”
State Senator John Liu, Chair of the Senate Committee on NYC Education, stated, "In signing the AANHPI Education Equity Act into law, New York is now one step closer to a statewide AANHPI curriculum that would at long last truly validate the lived experiences of Asian Americans in New York. This survey bill is not the endgame, but an important step in that direction by measuring how AANHPI history is currently taught in classrooms, and how it is not. Gaining this understanding will help shape our curriculum in the future so we can make sure the education of all students throughout the state accurately reflects the diverse communities that have shaped it."
Below are quotes from the community-based organizations that make up the R.E.A.C.H. Coalition’s Steering Committee:
“The AANHPI Education Equity Act is a critical step forward to getting an AANHPI curriculum integrated into public school classrooms across New York State. As co-founders of the REACH Coalition, we thank Governor Hochul for signing this law, which acknowledges the importance and positive impact of inclusive curriculum on students of all backgrounds,” said Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung, Co-Executive Directors at the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), a co-founder of the REACH Coalition. “We are proud to work alongside bill sponsors and AANHPI curriculum champions Assemblymember Grace Lee and Senator John Liu in advocating for the AANHPI Education Equity Act. For decades, CACF has fought for culturally responsive curriculum in New York's public schools. This legislation reflects our deep commitment to educational equity and ensuring that AANHPI students see our histories, including our struggles and contributions, reflected in the classroom.”
“Legislation like this will help visualize what educators and youth know to be true: there is a dearth of AANHPI history being taught in our classrooms. Data like this will only make it easier for us to address such gaps, and ensure that all of our communities' history is represented in our curriculum,” said Shreya Sunderram, Director of the Localized History Project at CUNY’s Asian and Asian American Research Institute (AAARI-CUNY.)
“We join our diverse Asian American communities in celebrating the signing of the AANHPI Education Equity Act. As a member of the REACH Coalition's Steering Committee, we are proud of this historic achievement, the result of dedicated advocacy through a multi-ethnic approach to coalition-building. The legislation requires the implementation of a survey to document how educators teach AANHPI history across New York State, and its data will play a pivotal role in identifying gaps in the teaching of an inclusive and comprehensive curriculum. We are one step closer to deepening cross-racial solidarity and ending hate violence through a monumental stride toward integrating AANHPI-focused lesson plans into the New York State educational system, ensuring students with transnational identities learn their histories, stories, and cultural heritage throughout their K-12 academic years,” said Mohamed Q. Amin, Founder and Executive Director of the Caribbean Equality Project.
“As an Indo-Caribbean organization led by survivors and committed to building power through culture, storytelling, and community, Jahajee is proud to stand with the REACH Coalition as Governor Hochul signs the AANHPI Education Equity Act into law. Indo-Caribbean communities, descendants of Indian indentured laborers who have shaped New York’s social and cultural landscape, remain largely invisible in our education system. This bill is an essential step toward ensuring that our histories, and the broader AANHPI experience, are taught with accuracy, care, and respect. At a time when the Trump administration is attacking inclusive education, New York must lead with clarity and conviction. Today’s signing affirms that every child deserves to see themselves reflected in America’s story and that Indo-Caribbean histories belong in the classroom,” said Simone Jhingoor, Co-Executive Director of JAHAJEE.
“Passage and implementation of the AANHPI Education Equity Bill is a necessary step forward in shedding light upon what our communities have known and said for years about the incomplete narratives of our American histories in our public school curricula. We thank all those that fought hard to call for a serious examination of what is and is not being taught in our schools. We are hopeful that the results of the survey will be used to advocate for a more inclusive and meaningful curriculum in our public schools, and that educators will be equipped with the tools to provide our students a more well-rounded education,” said Richard In, Executive Director of KACE (Korean American Civic Empowerment).
“With the AANHPI Education Equity Act now signed into law, New York is taking a meaningful step toward understanding how Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history is taught across our public schools,” said Brianna Cea, Immediate Past President of OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates New York (OCA-NY), and former Co-lead of the R.E.A.C.H. Coalition. “As a co-founder of REACH, OCA-NY is proud to have helped lead the coalition advocacy that was instrumental in securing this bill’s passage. By directing the State Education Commissioner to conduct a statewide survey and establishing an AANHPI History Advisory Committee to recommend high quality K–12 curricular resources, this law creates a critical framework for identifying gaps in instruction and strengthening AANHPI history education. We look forward to supporting implementation so this process leads to more accurate, inclusive, and representative classrooms for students across New York State,” said Estelle Rivera, Program Manager, OCA-NY.
“There is a reason the federal administration is working to rewrite history. It’s because our histories are powerful and the strongest defense we have against authoritarianism. To learn Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) history is to save ourselves from repeating its darkest chapters. The AANHPI Education Equity Act is a step in the right direction — and we applaud our legislative champions, Senator Liu and Assemblymember Lee for leading the fight for diverse, inclusive public education, and Governor Hochul for signing this bill into law — and reminding us that education remains a powerful tool to fight hate,” said Kenny Nguyen, Advocacy Manager, Stop AAPI Hate.
“As a child of Vietnamese refugees, I am very excited to see the passage of the AANHPI Education Equity Act as we need more transparency on how AANHPI history is being taught in schools. Growing up, I was never taught about the Vietnam War from the perspective of Vietnamese civilians who had fled the country or the Khmer Rouge or even the U.S Secret Bombing Campaign in Laos. We need to bridge the gap in how our history is being taught in schools and this bill will be the first step towards achieving that goal,” said Jonathan Lam, a New York City public schools graduate and a current student at Cornell University.
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