News - Advocacy
Thursday, June 23, 2022 07:48 AM

HB 5097 Moves Forward to Ban Race and Gender Stereotyping in the Classroom – Challenging Intellectual Freedom

In early June, the Senate Education and Career Readiness Committee took up House Bill 5097, which was first introduced by Rep. Andrew Beeler (R-Fort Gratiot), and referred it to the committee of the whole. The legislation would ban “race and gender stereotyping” from the classroom. Two Democratic members of the committee walked out of the committee meeting in protest. 

Under Beeler's legislation, lessons regarding a racial, ethnic or gender group holding the same  "collective quality of belief" or that "cultural norms or practices" of one of these demographics "are flawed and must be eliminated" would be banned. Beeler's bill does not include a portion withholding 5% in a district or public school academy's state funding for conducting such lessons as would an earlier bill proposed by Senator Lana Theis (SB 0460). 

MLA is opposed to this bill as it challenges intellectual freedom and the Governor is expected to veto the bill if it crosses her desk. We will continue to monitor this bill and make our opposition known at every stage of its movement through the legislative process.

 


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