Education Over Exclusion: Stop Discriminatory Treatment of Students Based on What They Wear

We celebrated a major victory in 2022 when the CROWN Act was signed into law, establishing civil rights protections against natural hairstyle discrimination to prevent the over-policing and surveillance of Black and brown girls as young as five years old.

But we cannot stop now – just a few months after the passage of the CROWN Act, an eighth-grade student in Malden was punished for wearing a hijab. School rules regarding grooming and dress continue to disproportionately target girls of color and LGBTQ+ students for punishment, reinforcing racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic norms in classrooms across the Commonwealth.

H.4400/S.2663 would build on the progress established by the CROWN Act by making rules related to student grooming and dress unbiased and objective. Crucially, it would also stop the suspension or expulsion of students for the perceived violation of these rules, an important component to keep girls of color and LGBTQ+ students in class and out of the school-to-prison pipeline.

Massachusetts students deserve welcoming, inclusive schools where they can show up as their authentic selves and thrive. This bill is now sitting in House and Senate Ways and Means and we need your help to keep it moving to the next stage in the legislative process. Take action today and urge your legislators to advocate with State House leadership, asking them to release H.4400/S.2663 and send it to the floor for a vote!