By: Associated Press//December 19, 2013//
By TODD RICHMOND
Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. (AP) – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has signed a bill making it harder to force public schools to drop American Indian nicknames.
The Republican bill changes a 2010 state law that required Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction to hold a hearing on a school’s race-based nickname if it received even one complaint.
The new bill requires people with a complaint to submit a petition with signatures equal to 10 percent of the school district’s student population to trigger a review. They must prove the nickname is discriminatory at a hearing. The Department of Administration, which is under the governor’s control, decides whether to drop the name.
The law will go into effect Saturday.