The Louisiana House has overwhelmingly approved a bill that will require public schools in the state to report what diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives they use.
House members voted 67-30 on Monday to approve the bill, authored by Rep. Emily Chenevert, R-Baton Rouge. It will move to the Senate for approval.
The bill requires public K-12 and higher education institutions to submit a one-time report about DEI programs, funding and personnel.
“It’s to look and see what we’re spending and who we’re hiring and their roles as it pertains to DEI initiatives across the state,” Chenevert said. “This is just about transparency.”
All public schools are required to pass a financial budget during public meetings. Most schools post their budgets on their website for viewers to access.
Some members of the House asked Chenevert what the reports would be used for and if she could point to any specific instances of DEI initiatives in Louisiana schools.
Chenevert said the report wasn’t intended to be accusatory but to “see what we’re doing and what we’re spending.”
If the bill is passed by both chambers, Louisiana would join other Republican-led Legislatures in the U.S. who have targeted DEI initiatives, arguing that the programs elevate racial or gender identity over individual merit.
Under the bill, elementary and secondary schools would submit their reports to their local school boards by the end of the year about programs that were active during the 2021-2022, 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 fiscal years. Each district’s report would then be given over to the state Department of Education.
Public charter schools, which are sometimes excluded from mandates put on traditional public schools, also would have to create reports.
Higher education institutions would only need to report programs active during the 2023-2024 fiscal year. They would send their reports by Oct. 31 to its management board, which would then have to send a report to the Board of Regents by Dec. 31.
Complete reports from the state Education Department and Board of Regents would be due to the state legislature by the end of January.
Chenevert told House members on Monday that some schools may not have anything to report if they don’t have any programs that fall under DEI. Programs relating to schools' Title IX offices, sororities and fraternities, and athletics would not have to be reported.
When questioned what would happen if a school didn’t report a DEI program that someone, such as a parent, thought fell into that category, Chenevert said there was “no criminality to it, but I would think, with the law, they would want to submit the report.”