A new Texas law bans DEI programs in K–12 schools. The ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the measure's constitutionality.
Hundreds of new laws take effect this week, including a controversial new measure impacting public schools across Texas. State lawmakers have expanded a ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, extending it into K–12 education.
The new law will affect every public school campus in Texas, if it survives a legal challenge now underway.This week, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop four sections of the law. “It’s clearly unconstitutional for the government to suppress certain viewpoints,” said Brian Klosterboer, lawyer for the ACLU.The law also bans race-based or gender-based hiring practices, reinstates the opt-in requirement for sex education, and prohibits many after-school clubs like the Gay-Straight Alliance. “It says that same-gender programs can still exist as long as they don’t advance a social or political mission, but it’s not clear what that mission is,” Klosterboer said. “It’s about affirming what most of us believe to be common sense, preventing political agendas from creeping into the classroom,” said the bill’s author, Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, during debate on the Senate floor in March.The DEI restrictions were part of a broader measure called the Parental Bill of Rights. Under the law, parents can now file grievances with their school district and the state if they believe a campus is teaching or supporting a now-prohibited topic. “These are God-given rights that we are reaffirming and restating in 2025 as parents report more than ever difficulties,” Creighton said.
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