TRENTON -- A bill that would require Garden State school districts to instruct students how to safely interact with law enforcement has cleared the state Assembly.

On Monday, the lower house of the Legislature passed by a vote of 76-0 A1114, a bill creating a social studies curriculum starting in kindergarten and running through grade 12 about students' rights and responsibilities when interacting with police.

Nationwide, states have been grappling with a rash of police shootings of unarmed teens. In Texas last month, an officer was dismissed and charged with murder after fatally shooting an unarmed 15-year-old black high school freshman who was driving away from a high school party.

When introduced last year, the New Jersey bill called for educators to explain "the role and responsibilities of a law enforcement official in providing for public safety" as well as "an individual's responsibilities to comply with a directive from a law enforcement official."

However, the new version was amended to stress that students must also be instructed in their constitutional rights.

While it requires that schoolchildren be taught to communicate with police "in a manner marked by mutual cooperation and respect," the latest version of the bill also requires that students be taught about "an individual's rights under law in interacting with a law enforcement official."

It also calls on the Department of Education to work with an advisory committee that includes many neighborhood and civil rights groups serving on Newark's Civilian Complaint Review Board.

The bill now heads to the state Senate for consideration.

Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.