Classroom Censorship Policy Diffusion: How a Model Bill Shaped State Policies Across the U.S.

• In Event: Measured Response to Policy Changes

Abstract

Since 2021, state level classroom censorship policies have been proposed or adopted by 29 states. In addition to restricting discussions of race and gender, these censorship policies have also sought to ban evidence-based civic education practices such as service learning and action civics. The purpose of this study is to understand the objectives and design features of the model bill, the “Partisanship Out of Civics Act,” and the diffusion of the state level policies modeled after it. The findings illuminate how the politicized efforts to restrict civic learning and participation threaten to exacerbate existing racialized and socioeconomic inequities in political and civic power.

Author

• Mallory Lineberger, University of Texas at Austin