Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

A law requires Illinois schools to teach Asian American history. Is it happening?

suntimes.com · 4h · first reportShare

In 2021, Illinois passed a law requiring every public elementary and high school to teach a unit of Asian American and Pacific Islander history. Five years later, many schools throughout the state have yet to fully implement the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act. The Illinois State Board of Education developed a resource guide to help schools build out AAPI history curricula. State Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, says she’s proud of the progress that’s been made so far — but there’s still work to be done. Some advocates say they were met with mixed results while doing outreach to schools. “Roughly 25% of teachers and students in the state of Illinois have had some participation with the Asian American curricular resources that have been made available since the bill passed,” Gong-Gershowitz, a sponsor of the bill, told WBEZ. In 2026, WBEZ talked to Chicago-area educators, students and lawmakers about the TEAACH Act to see how the law has taken shape in