Rep. Emily Chenevert introduced her bill to the Senate Education Committee on May 15, 2024. (Allison Allsop)
The Louisiana Senate gave final approval Tuesday to a bill that would require K-12 schools, colleges and universities to submit reports on their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
House Bill 904, by Rep. Emily Chenevert, R-Baton Rouge, requires school-level reporting on all DEI staff, programs and spending in all Louisiana schools. Her bill is similar to a resolution introduced last year that was rejected after higher education leaders opposed it, calling the measure unnecessary. Chenevert’s bill passed with a vote of 27 to 10.
Attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion are often based on the idea that such programs inflate university budgets and increase student debt, as well as conflict with conservative views. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis called for a similar report in 2022. A review of this report by the Chronicle of Higher Education found that no institution dedicated more than 1% of its budget to DEI initiatives, and some spent as little as $9,000 .
Louisiana schools trail Florida in spending in virtually every area.
Chenevert said the bill is not an attack on diversity, equity or inclusion, but simply an attempt to get more information.
“I believe in diversity. I think it helps,” Chenevert said when the bill passed the House. “So my question to each of you… is there something that is causing division among our students?”
State schools Superintendent Cade Brumley has said there is no place for DEI in K-12 schools.
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His bill specifically seeks to report on any “program, activity, initiative, event, instruction, action, or policy that classifies or references individuals based on race, color, sex, national origin, culture, gender identity, or sexual orientation.” or promotes differential or preferential treatment of people on the basis of said classification.”
College campuses across the country have become battlegrounds for high-profile political culture wars as lawmakers have put DEI in their crosshairs.
Since 2023, at least 85 bills aimed at curbing university policy related to DEI have been introduced in state legislatures, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education’s DEI legislation tracker. DEI programs on college campuses seek to assist disadvantaged students, including racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, disabled students, veterans, and other nontraditional enrollees.
The Chenevert project is not required to generate DEI expense reports. Lawmakers often submit requests for information to universities, which they can then make public.
The proposal now goes to the governor for action.
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The post K-12 School and Higher Education Diversity Spending Insights Requested by Louisiana Lawmakers appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
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