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Sparks fly at budget hearing on mascot complaint

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   Republican lawmakers at the state Capitol have some harsh words for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. The department has filed a formal complaint that names 35 school districts that have American Indian mascots.

More from Michigan Public Radio’s Rick Pluta:  

  

The complaint was filed last week with the U.S. Department of Education and it could cost school districts federal education funds. Republican lawmakers like Representative Anthony Forlini say the complaint is an abuse of the department’s authority.

“I think to file against our own school districts, you’re with our state, with the federal government, just seems nuts,” he says.           

Leslee Fritz is with the civil rights department. She says the department filed the complaint because research shows the nicknames and mascots hurt American Indian student performance.

"And so it is no longer a question, a subjective question, about what is offensive, but what is harmful,” she says.

That exchange was from a hearing about the department’s budget. Republicans want the department to withdraw the complaint.

For the Michigan Public Radio Network, I’m Rick Pluta at the state Capitol.        

Nicole was born near Detroit but has lived in the U.P. most of her life. She graduated from Marquette Senior High School and attended Michigan State and Northern Michigan Universities, graduating from NMU in 1993 with a degree in English.