Overview

• The legislation would prohibit public schools statewide from using Native American names, imagery, or logos as mascots or team identities.
• A companion bill would offer state grants to help districts cover the costs of rebranding.
• Under the proposal, schools that refuse to comply would be barred from interscholastic competition in leagues such as the PIAA.
• Rabb’s memo references social science research and Department of Justice findings that he says link such mascots to psychological harm, racialized violence, and higher suicide risk among Native youth.
• The proposal points to precedent including the NCAA’s 2005 restrictions on derogatory mascots and state-level bans or limits in Washington, Colorado, Nevada, and Maine.