AUGUSTA — Maine lawmakers are considering a bill designed to require students to learn about the Holocaust.

Democratic Sen. Louie Luchini of Ellsworth introduced the bill, which received a public hearing before a legislative committee Monday. Luchini says it’s time for Maine to join the less than a quarter of U.S. states that mandate Holocaust education.

Luchini says Maine’s education commissioner would develop instruction required for graduation from all public and private elementary and secondary schools.

The bill was recommended by Ellsworth High School’s Heidi Omlor, who teaches a course about the Holocaust. Omlor says education about the Holocaust and genocide is “often severely lacking.”

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, reintroduced a bill earlier this year that would authorize Holocaust education grants from the U.S. Department of Education.

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