Tag: public schools

‘Free to express opinions’: Oregon district pays $650,000 to settle with educators who objected to trans lessons

Schools ‘can’t retaliate against speech simply because they disagree with what’s said.’

An Oregon school district has agreed to pay $650,000 to settle with two educators who were punished, then fired, for speaking out against the injurious transgender agenda the district was adopting.

The trans ideology as promoted by Joe Biden and his administration for years includes giving chemicals to children to delay puberty, then doing mutilating body surgeries on the child.

Grants Pass, Ore., educators Katie Medart and Rachel Sager had launched a grassroots movement called “I Resolve” to speak out on a school gender identity education policy, and to offer alternatives that would allow teachers to continue teaching without submitting their religious beliefs to the social agenda.

And one that would respect the rights of parents to know what their children were being given in school.

They posted a video on their own website promoting their beliefs and efforts.

Subsequently, Grants Pass School District 7 officials suspended them, then fired them.

“Educators are free to express opinions on fundamental issues of public concern—like gender identity education policy—that implicate the freedoms of teachers, parents, and students,” said Mathew Hoffman, of the ADF, which represented the teachers along with the Pacific Justice Institute.

“The Grants Pass School District is taking the right step by acknowledging that teachers don’t give up their First Amendment rights when they set foot on school property. Public schools can’t retaliate against speech simply because they disagree with what’s said.”

Sager and Medart have worked in the education field for many years, including at North Middle School in Grants Pass. Sager served as assistant principal, and Medart taught science there, the legal teams explained.

Their legal action charging the school violated their free speech, religious freedom and equal protection rights was settled with the district agreeing to pay $650,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees.

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Public School Teachers Have A Serious Child Sex Abuse Problem

Every month, around 300 to 500 public school teachers are arrested or charged for incidents involving a minor, including sexual assault on minors.  The majority of these cases do not receive much attention in the media and often school districts will “pass the trash”; quietly removing an offending teacher and using confidentiality agreements to cover up incidents, allowing that employee to simply move on to another school district and repeat the pattern all over again.

These cases tend to start with lewd conduct – Teachers acting inappropriately or making sexualized comments with multiple students.  They are punished by school officials, but the action is kept under wraps.  The teacher then moves to another county and does something even worse.

For example, a teacher in NJ became the subject of a media firestorm last year when he was caught in multiple instances over the course of several years engaging in sexual discussions and behavior with students.  These incidents including dropping items in front of female students, telling them to pick up the objects so that he could look at them from behind as they bent over.  There were also several reports of the teacher discussing his personal sex life with children and making bizarre comments about how the girls in his class looked “cute”. 

Despite New Jersey making laws against “pass the trash” practices, schools flouted the restrictions and hid groomer teachers anyway.  Lewd conduct often ends up leading to physical abuse if teachers are not outed right away.

In the past two weeks alone the news feeds have been replete with child abuse cases involving teachers, from Aurora, Colorado to Maricopa County, Arizona to Swainsboro, Georgia to Mount Pleasant, Texas and Detroit, Michigan. 

These cases are so frequent they rarely stay in the focus of journalists for more than a few days before the next arrest takes the limelight. 

Think your children are safer if the teacher is female?  Think again.  Among educators arrested for abuse, women make up 30% of cases.  This might seem low until we take into account the fact that among all sexual abuse cases nationally, women perpetrate 10% of them.  In other words, female school teachers are far above the national average for child abuse.

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One in FIVE students entering UC San Diego can’t write properly, new data reveals

Roughly one in five Americans entering UC San Diego cannot write at an entry level standard, a new report revealed. 

About 20 percent of incoming students to the California university had to be placed in analytical writing courses after failing to meet the requirements of a writing placement exam, which forced them into specialized courses called ‘AWP’.

The report published by a UC San Diego admissions committee added that writing skills and literacy are in decline across the entire US. 

According to the university’s faculty, freshmen students’ vocabulary was ‘increasingly’ limiting their ability to engage with longer and harder texts. 

As a whole, the school had seen a ‘steep decline in the academic preparation’ of its domestic freshmen students.

The November 6 report read: ‘Admitting large numbers of students who are profoundly underprepared risks harming the very students we hope to support, by setting them up for failure.’

One possible solution offered was ‘moving beyond GPA and course titles’ in high school to evaluate how ready students actually are for writing at a college level.

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Trans Violence: Transgender Virginia Teacher Posts Gun In Rainbow Pointed At Someone’s Head

A “transgender” high school teacher in VA is in trouble, according to The College Fix.

In the most recent trans related hoopla the teacher posted to the Instagram account an image of a rainbow gun pointed to “a person’s head and the demand “PUT THE PRONOUNS BACK IN THE EMAIL.”

This is the latest in leftist and so-called trans incitement and violent rhetoric.

The teacher in question, named Sabrina Morris, according to WSET, teaches in Danville Public School in Virginia.

“A district spokesperson said local police are involved in the matter, and that Morris “will not be present on school grounds while this matter is under investigation.”

The spokesman went on to say, “We are aware of a recent social media post involving one of our employees that has caused concern within our school community. We take such matters very seriously, as the content shared does not reflect the values or expectations of professionalism that guide our division,”.

The school district has since erased the info relating to this ‘teacher” and his Instagram is now in private mode.

According to The College Fix, “it appears Morris got it from the Dream for America Instagram account, which purports to ‘inspire  young Americans to defend democracy & fight fascism online, on-campus, & across the country.”

Dream For America claimed it was all in good humor and was not meant to endorse violence.

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California Teachers Forced into LGBTQ ‘Loyalty Test’ that Labels Christian Beliefs as Bigotry

In accordance with a recently passed law in 2023, the California school system is now requiring all 7th–12th-grade teachers and certificated school employees to undergo annual LGBTQ “cultural competency” training and testing. Developed by activist organizations, the training labels those with traditional Christian beliefs about sexuality and biological sex as “homophobic” or “transphobic.” It instructs employees to protect students’ “privacy” from their own parents and to use so-called “preferred pronouns” such as they/them or ze/zem. The training concludes with a test to ensure school employees repeat the state-approved beliefs about sexual orientation and gender ideology. (Image via Pixabay)

An alarmed former elementary school principal, Brett Loring, and current Director of Student Services at a TK–8 district in Northern California, is one of several concerned Christian educators who have reached out to the California Family Council. “It’s not training; it’s programming,” Loring said. “It’s telling teachers what to think and how to respond to students, no matter what their own beliefs or the parents’ beliefs are.”

The curriculum, mandated by the California Safe and Supportive Schools Act, AB 5 and AB 130, was funded with $2.4 million in taxpayer dollars. These funds support online courses designed by LGBTQ advocacy groups in partnership with the California Department of Education and the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Organizations such as the ACLU, Equality California, the Trevor Project, OUT for Safe Schools, the California Teachers Association, and the California State PTA helped craft the training outline—called PRISM—but school board members and parents have struggled to access the full material.

CFC has spoken with several school board members who have been denied access to PRISM training in their districts. One Southern California school board member was even told by his superintendent that the Department of Education will not allow school board members to view the material.

Recently, however, CFC obtained a recording of a teacher taking the LGBTQ “cultural competency” training and final exam as promoted by AB 5 and PRISM. While the PRISM website allows districts to create their own “substantially similar” version of the course, the content must still meet the same ideological standards. (read the ED code for details) Yet since the PRISM online training is free to school districts, it is assumed most school boards will opt for the no-cost version.

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‘All they did was wear wristbands!’ Judges question school district’s ban on ‘XX’ at girls’ games

Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island risk becoming hotbeds of censorship by school districts if the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals construes perceived offense as harassment. School districts risk massive liability for harassment if it does not.

Lawyers for censored parents and New Hampshire’s Bow School District laid out alternate visions of legal calamity to a three-judge panel of the Boston-based court at a hearing Wednesday on the constitutionality of Bow banning “XX” wristbands, a silent form of advocacy for female-only sports, from school athletic events.

Parents and a grandparent sued the district more than a year ago, after it threatened to arrest them at a Sept. 17, 2024, girls’ soccer game featuring a male player for not removing their wristbands, which refer to the female chromosome pair, and issued no-trespass orders. Bow set up a “protest zone” for critics of male inclusion soon after the suit was filed. 

Their passive protest shortly followed a federal judge blocking The Free State’s law that “prohibits biological males from participating in female athletics,” an injunction that applied only to the male athletes who sued, not every male who identifies as a girl.

A district judge nominated by President George H.W. Bush rejected a preliminary injunction against Bow this spring, claiming the wristbands send a “demeaning and harassing” message to males who identify as girls and participate in girls’ sports.

Wednesday’s oral argument suggested the panel might buck the 1st Circuit’s reputation as a rubber stamp for schools on gender identity, frequently leaving Bow School District lawyer Jonathan Shirley seeming to stumble for answers that would satisfy their questions.

Another panel upheld a school district’s ban on a student wearing an “Only Two Genders” shirt because it “assertedly demeans characteristics of personal identity” even if done “passively, silently, and without mentioning any specific students.” Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas blasted their colleagues for not accepting that case.

One of Wednesday’s panel members, Judge Julie Rikelman, served on another that upheld a school district’s practice of hiding students’ identification as the opposite sex from their parents. President Biden nominated Rikelman, who argued to preserve federal abortion rights in Dobbs, a month after SCOTUS ruled against her abortion-clinic client.

The 1st Circuit was the only federal appeals court until recently without any active GOP-nominated judges, which Reuters reported has made its lower courts “magnets for lawsuits challenging Trump’s agenda by Democratic state attorneys general and advocacy groups.” The Senate confirmed President Trump nominee Joshua Dunlap on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s panel included two judges with senior status, meaning they are allowed to handle a reduced caseload compared to active judges: Jeffrey Howard, nominated by President George W. Bush, and Sandra Lynch, by President Clinton.

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Rep. Jamie Thompson: Despite age of consent being 16, state BOE wants to teach ‘safe and healthy’ sex to 8-year-olds

Michigan’s Department of Education has proposed major updates to the state’s health education standards, reshaping how schools teach about sex, relationships, and identity. The draft guidelines, still under review, emphasize inclusivity, consent, and respect, and have sparked debate among educators, parents, and lawmakers across the state.

The proposal moves away from the state’s longstanding abstinence-focused framework toward a more comprehensive model. It calls for lessons that explicitly address sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, encouraging respect for all individuals regardless of their background.

Students in middle and high school would learn to define and distinguish between biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, treating each as a distinct part of personal identity. The framework also asks students to practice empathy and show courtesy toward those whose sexuality or gender differs from their own.

Rep. Jamie Thompson, R-Brownstown, who has been a vocal critic of the new guidelines, told The Midwesterner that “it shifts essential aspects of child development from parents to schools without sufficient oversight. It uses a classroom to push radical and unproven ideologies and downplay the real consequences of adult decisions.”

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MD School District That Lost Queer Sex Ed Case At SCOTUS Keeps Pushing Trans Ideology On Kids

The same Maryland school district the Supreme Court rebuked for exposing children to sexually explicit material is still forcing children as young as 12 to decipher numerous gender ideology terms in a vocabulary lesson, without parental knowledge, permission, or the ability to opt out.

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is a far-left school district on the periphery of Washington, D.C., perhaps most (in)famous for blocking parents from opting their children out of highly sexual material, including advocacy for homosexuality and transgenderism.

However, even after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling stating the district had to allow parents to opt their children out of the coursework, the county is still trying to force-feed young teenagers and preteens “transgender” propaganda, according to a document obtained by Defending Education from a parent.

“This vocabulary lesson requires that students buy into an ideology that many reject,” DE Senior Director of Communications Erika Sanzi told The Federalist. “Does MCPS require that students subscribe to gender ideology in order to fulfill the district’s family life requirements for middle schoolers? Because if so, that seems like viewpoint discrimination in a public school.”

The seventh grade vocabulary assignment, given the week of Oct. 13, 2025, was part of a “Family Life” (a.k.a. sexual education) lesson in which students were told to define “Sex Assigned at Birth,” “Gender Identity,” “Transgender,” “Gender Expression,” and “Cisgender.”

The worksheet appears to be a district-wide lesson, as a stamp at the bottom states “Middle School Health Education-MCPS 2023.”

It does not appear any opt out was available for this in-class assignment, ostensibly so that parents did not find out about the content.

“Gender identity,” according to the definitions provided, “refers to a person’s internal sense of being male, female, or transgender” and “How you feel. Girl, boy, both or neither.”

It also maintains that sex is “assigned at birth” instead of being immutable, and goes on to say that it can be changed because “transgender” is “when your gender identity (how you feel) is different than what doctors/midwives assigned to you when you were born (girl/boy or sex assigned at birth).”

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Wyoming Parent Wins Free Speech Lawsuits Against Sweetwater County School Officials

It’s one thing to bake cupcakes for the school fundraiser. It’s another to find yourself explaining your Facebook posts to a judge. Yet that’s precisely where Kari Cochran, a Wyoming mother with a stubborn streak and a social media account, ended up. Twice.

For the uninitiated, Kari isn’t your run-of-the-mill parent who just grumbles in the car line. She once sat on the Sweetwater County School Board, where she learned that speaking your mind can make you the most talked-about person in the faculty lounge.

Her habit of asking uncomfortable questions about district leadership might have made her unpopular, but it also made her the kind of parent who doesn’t disappear quietly when things get messy.

Cochran’s online posts, sharp enough to make a superintendent wince, were her way of keeping the school district accountable. “Publicly accused [the] petitioner of unprofessional and unethical conduct,” one court filing complained.

In other words, she said things out loud that people in small towns usually only whisper over coffee at the diner.

Her criticism didn’t sit well with everyone. Two people connected to the district, Assistant Superintendent Nicole Bolton and Laura Libby Vinger, the wife of Superintendent Josh Libby, decided the comments had crossed into stalking. They filed civil petitions to try to stop her from speaking.

It didn’t work. Both cases were tossed out this year. Circuit Court Judge Michael Greer dismissed Bolton’s petition in August, reminding everyone that public officials are “subjected to public scrutiny.” (If you’re paid by taxpayers, you don’t get to hide from them.) A magistrate later dismissed Vinger’s case, too.

Cochran was, understandably, relieved. “Parents, students, or staff members should never feel that they should be silenced or punished for standing up for what’s right,” she said to The Center Square.

Her lawyer, Parker Jackson of the Goldwater Institute, had a less sentimental view.

If Cochran had lost, he explained, she might have been banned from attending district events or even school board meetings. “It essentially would’ve turned these school officials into roaming censors where, wherever they didn’t want Kari to be, they could show up and force her to leave,” Jackson said.

Cochran’s battle didn’t begin with Facebook posts. It began with heartbreak. Her son Joran, a graduate of Rock Springs High School, died by suicide in 2023 after being bullied.

It’s the kind of loss that rearranges your life completely. She resigned from the school board afterward, but she didn’t stop pushing for better mental health support and accountability in the district.

When she asked to see her son’s school records, the district refused. Then, as if to make her point for her, the board introduced a rule restricting what topics citizens could address during public comment. So Cochran did what most parents do when the microphone is taken away: she turned to Facebook.

Her posts gained traction. They also drew ire. The day a sheriff showed up with not one but two stalking petitions, Cochran said she felt “complete fear,” unsure what she’d done wrong.

“Complete fear” seems like an understatement for having your free speech hauled into court by the very people you’re criticizing.

The rulings didn’t erase the months of stress. Cochran said the ordeal drained her and took away time she wanted to spend with her daughter before high school began.

But her victory sends a message: criticizing your school district may make you unpopular, but it isn’t a crime.

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Huge win for Wisconsin mom who was sued for calling a teacher woke

A Wisconsin mom who was sued for defamation after calling an English teacher woke has won her free speech case.

Mother-of-five Scarlett Johnson took to social media in October 2022 to criticize Mary MacCudden for serving as Mequon-Thiensville School District’s social justice coordinator.

‘Why the hell am I paying for a “Social Justice Coordinator” in my school district?’ Johnson tweeted alongside a screenshot of MacCudden’s LinkedIn profile.

‘This is just what @mtschools needs; more woke, White women w/ a god complex. Thank you, White savior.’ 

Johnson, who is affiliated with education lobby group Moms for Liberty, in other social media posts, also referred to DEI specialists as ‘woke lunatics’ who ‘bully’ parents ‘into silence and compliance’.

MacCudden, who had resigned from her position at Homestead High School in January 2022, filed a defamation suit against Johnson in response.

She won her case against Johnson in lower court, but the Moms for Liberty activist’s legal team appealed the ruling.

The Wisconsin appeals court on Tuesday ruled to reverse the circuit courts ruling after determining that her statements ‘do not constitute defamation’.

MacCudden resigned from the school district in January 2022 but did not update her LinkedIn profile, according to a press release from Johnson’s lawyers.

Roughly 10 months later, Johnson discovered the profile, which listed MacCudden as the district’s ‘Social Justice Coordinator’, and started criticizing the district online.

MacCudden responded with a defamation suit, which went to trial.  

An appeals court has now ruled Johnson did not defame the former teacher because her statements ‘cannot be proven true or false.’

‘Free speech belongs to every mom, dad, and citizen who demands answers and accountability from their government,’ Johnson said in a statement by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL).

‘I am grateful that WILL stood alongside me in this legal battle. Parents across the country are speaking out against radical ideology in our schools, and our fight does not stop today.’

Johnson’s lawyers argued that while Johnson’s social media posts were ‘pervasive’, her words were ‘more restrained than a lot of online speech’.

Her legal counsel added that her posts could not be defamatory because they were ‘statements of opinion that are not provably false’.

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