New MAP Report: Curriculum Censorship & Hostile School Climate Bills

In recent years, a growing number of states have considered or passed legislation that censors discussions of race and LGBTQ people in schools and that creates a hostile climate for students. Among these political attacks are attempts to ban critical race theory and Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, but it doesn’t end there.
MAP’s newest report, Curriculum Censorship & Hostile School Climate Bills, examines this concerning wave of state bills and makes clear that these are coordinated efforts to radically undermine public education in this country. Released in partnership with the Equality Federation, the report highlights that from 2020 to 2021 these kinds of bills nearly quadrupled in number and were considered in nearly every state.

Over 59 million young people live in the 42 states that considered these kinds of bills in the previous two years. Even when those bills did not become law, the public debate about them causes harm. According to a 2021 national survey from The Trevor Project, two-thirds (66%) of LGBTQ youth said their mental health was negatively impacted by recent state legislative debates about transgender people.

As of March 2022, at least 280 hostile school climate and curriculum censorship bills have been introduced — more than in the previous two years combined.