A bill that would prohibit anti-Semitic discrimination in Missouri’s public K-12 schools and higher education institutions is moving through the state legislature.
House Bill 937 is sponsored by Republican State Representative George Hruza and House Speaker Jon Patterson.
Hruza spoke this week about the bill at a hearing by the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development.
“We’ve got to make sure that our Jewish students can feel safe and comfortable going to school, and they can have their education and not worry about what might happen if they go to class,” Hruza said.
The bill defines antisemitism using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of Antisemitism. It mandates the integration of that definition into student, faculty and employee codes of conduct. It also directs the Missouri State Board of Education and the Coordinating Board for Higher Education to designate a Title VI coordinator to monitor, review and investigate anti-Semitic discrimination in schools.
Some Democratic committee members, including Stephanie Hein of Springfield, emphasized that they don’t believe anyone should be discriminated against. Hein suggested Hruza include other races and cultures in the bill.
She told him that, while she doesn’t disagree that Jewish American heritage should be taught in schools, “I’m just trying to understand how we reconcile that in the classroom if I am asked to offer a Jewish American heritage curriculum – ok. But then do I also need to have a Black American heritage curriculum, a Native American heritage curriculum those types of pieces? And I’m all for that. I would be happy to do that, right? Are you ok with that?”
While Hruza said he thinks that’s “totally reasonable, I just don’t think that really fits into this bill, which is trying to address a very specific problem, which is the dramatic increase in anti-Semitic attacks.”
Democrats also questioned whether the bill conflicts with anti- diversity, equity and inclusion legislation that’s been introduced this session.
The legislation is backed by the Combat Antisemitism Movement. Similar legislative initiatives have been put forth in recent weeks in Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska.
