In the past year, an influx of state legislatures have considered bills that would deny students’ access to affirming learning environments. Many of these bills, some of which have already been signed into law, create hostile learning environments for students.

Policymakers are trying to turn schools into battlefields to score points, rather than places to support students’ needs. In 2022 alone, all 50 states considered literally hundreds of bills that would harm students, including:

• Banning any truthful mention of racial history
• Censoring and silencing discussions about LGBTQI+ people and history
• Enacting harmful and discriminatory laws that single out trans and gender nonconforming students

To make matters worse, many school districts still have discriminatory discipline policies in place that surveil, harass, and punish students of color for normal adolescent behavior. Students of color suffer the most and girls of color are no exception. At the federal level, the far-right has been relentlessly attacking the Biden administration’s proposed rule changes for Title IX—changes that would clarify and strengthen protections for LGBTQI+ students, student survivors, and pregnant and parenting students.

John, we are at a crossroads. We are witnessing coordinated attacks on every young person’s right to be authentic, explore, and learn. If we do not equip students, teachers, and their allies with the tools to fight back, then we risk seeing millions of students get pushed out of school.

Check out our Know Your Rights resources to learn how to reclaim schools as places for imagination, transformation and power.

In solidarity,

Kirstin Brockenborough
she/they
Manager, Campaigns and Digital Strategies
National Women's Law Center