House Bill 1491

AN ACT TO CREATE THE "DIGNITY AND NONDISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC EDUCATION ACT" FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROHIBITING THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS, PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE GOVERNING BOARDS FROM PROVIDING INSTRUCTION OR INDOCTRINATION ON PRINCIPLES THAT UNDERMINE THE DIGNITY OF OTHERS, OR FAIL TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS TO EXPRESS DIFFERING OPINIONS REGARDING ANY SEX, RACE, ETHNICITY, RELIGION, COLOR OR NATIONAL ORIGIN; TO PROHIBIT THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION FROM EXPENDING FUNDS WHICH PROMOTE THE INSTRUCTION OF SUCH DIVISIVE POSITIONS; TO PROVIDE THAT PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT ARE SEVERABLE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Dignity and Nondiscrimination in Public Education Act of 2022." SECTION 2. (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that administrators, faculty members, other employees and students at public schools, including public charter schools, state institutions of higher education, and community and junior colleges respect the dignity of others, acknowledge the right of others to express differing opinions, and foster and defend intellectual honesty, freedom of inquiry and instruction, and freedom of speech and association.

(2) The Mississippi Legislature finds that tenets outlined in subsection (3)(a) of this section, often found in "critical race theory," undermined the objectives outlined in subsection (1) of this section and exacerbate and inflame divisions on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, or other criteria in ways contrary to the unity of the nation and the well-being of the State of Mississippi and its citizens.

SECTION 3. (1) In accordance with United States Constitution and the Mississippi Constitution, no public institution of higher education, community or junior college, school district or public school, including a public charter school, shall direct or otherwise compel students to personally affirm, adopt or adhere to any of the following tenets:

(a) That any sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color or national origin is inherently superior or inferior;

(b) That individuals should be adversely treated on the basis of their sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color or national origin; or

(c) That individuals, by virtue of sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color or national origin, are inherently responsible for the actions committed in the past by other members of the same sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color or national origin.

(2) No distinction or classification of students shall be made on account of race or color.

(3) No course of instruction or unit of study directing or otherwise compelling students to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to any of the tenets identified in paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be used or introduced in any institution of higher education, community or junior college, any school district or any public school, including a public charter school.

(4) Nothing in this section should be construed to prohibit the required collection or reporting of demographic data by public schools or public institutions of higher education.

SECTION 4. No monies shall be expended by the State Board of Education, any entity under the board's jurisdiction, or any school district, or public charter school for any purpose prohibited in Section 3 of this act.

SECTION 5. The provisions of this act are hereby declared to be severable and if any provisions of this act or the application of such provisions to any person or circumstances are declared invalid for any reason, such declaration shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this act.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.