Attorney General Opinion on American Indian Mascots and Funding
The Michigan Attorney General has released Opinion Number 7296 indicating that the Superintendent of Public Education does not have the authority to withhold funding based on the school’s use of a American Indian-themed mascot. While the State Board of Education adopted a policy resolution discouraging the use of American Indian-themed mascots (such as Redskins), the Attorney General indicated that such was only a policy decision which did not have the force of law. There are only certain statutorily authorized reasons, such as a failure to meet minimum educational hours, authorizing the Superintendent of Public Instruction to reduce school payments, the use of an Indian-themed mascot is not one of them. The full text of the opinion can be found here, AGOpinion7296.