It seems that yet another school district has been caught pushing a problematic agenda to indoctrinate children. In this case, a Colorado district is being accused of destroying surveys given to children in violation of the law. Could there be another lawsuit in the works?
Parents with children in the Jefferson County School District allege that educators and members of school staff have been breaking the law in conjunction with the teachers union to cover up surveys on gender identity that were handed out to students.
The move comes as educational institutions are under scrutiny for pushing progressive gender ideology in the classroom without the knowledge or consent of parents.
Some parents in Jefferson County say teachers are breaking state and federal laws and their union is helping them get away with it.
At issue are student surveys about gender identity. While the school district says it's unclear whether surveys about students' preferred pronouns are illegal, there are several lawsuits regarding the issue. So, administrators told teachers - just don't go there.
The teachers union told them something else. An email from Jefferson County Education Association (JCEA) to teachers says, "If you do a questionnaire, please make it a paper and pencil activity - any digital records are more permanent and may be requested under federal law."
The union also encouraged teachers to "make your notations about students and not hold on to the documents."
District administrators allegedly cautioned teachers to avoid giving these surveys due to their murky legal status and ongoing lawsuits. The JCEA, the teachers union, advised members to continue giving the surveys in paper format to avoid having digital records available for prying eyes to find.
The union’s directive puts educators at odds with state and federal laws that prohibit mandatory surveys involving protected information being administered to students without parental consent. In fact, even voluntary surveys can be illegal if the district does not offer parents the opportunity to opt their children out.
This is what alarmed parents like Denice Crawford, who was shocked when her son came home with a gender identity survey from his school. She said she felt “deceived” and “taken advantage of.”
This development is problematic for a smorgasbord of reasons. To begin with, the JCEA is encouraging teachers to break the law in order to promote a far-leftist agenda in the classroom. The fact that they wanted educators to conceal the administration of the survey undermines a parent’s right to consent to their child participating in such an exercise.
Moreover, the educators who went along with this advice could be subject to legal repercussions, including losing their licenses. Crawford accurately summed up the matter when she noted, “This is not political. It’s just they’re breaking the law.” A teachers union should never push teachers to violate the law, especially to influence children into accepting far-leftist gender ideology.
But even further, none of these people should be trying to promote this ideology without the knowledge of parents, which is precisely what the JCEA was trying to accomplish. This is not the only instance in which Jefferson County School District has engaged in this type of conduct.
Last year, I wrote about an educator in this district who faced discipline for refusing to affirm a student’s chosen gender identity.
The student informed the teacher that “she was going under a new name & gender but not telling her parents.” The educator gave the student a passing grade and also “provided an internet link to information about young people regretting their transition.”
The teacher told RedState why he sent the link and what happened afterward:
My motive was to protect myself if the parents found out I knew about this new identity and did not tell them. The student reported me and I was formally disciplined (the only time in 15 years in the district). I contacted the mother as part of a formal grievance, and she was supportive of my actions (they have since moved out of Colorado).
The Jefferson County Education Association (JCEA) concluded that the teacher had violated district policy. It concluded that “only ‘gender affirming’ information can be discussed with students, and referring to the transgender movement as a ‘trend’ was prohibited language.”
The teacher was required to go through “mandatory ‘gender sensitivity’ training,” which included watching videos depicting young transgender children tout their decision to “transition” to the opposite sex.
This problem seems to be growing worse as more teachers unions and school staff collaborate to promote gender ideology among children. But the fact that there are so many parents pushing back offers a ray of hope.
