Russell Pearce Sponsored Bill Passes State House Appropriations Committee, Advances to House and Senate Floor

Arizona schools whose courses “denigrate American values and the teachings of Western civilization” could lose state funding under the terms of legislation approved Wednesday by a House panel. SB 1108 also would bar teaching practices that “overtly encourage dissent” from those values, including democracy, capitalism, pluralism and religious toleration. Schools would have to surrender teaching materials to the state school superintendent for review, who could withhold state aid of districts that broke the law.

Another section of the bill would bar public schools, community college and universities from allowing organizations to operate on campus if it is “based in whole or in part on race-based criteria,” a provision Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said is aimed at MEChA, the Moviemiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, a student group he described as racist... read more>>>