Special prosecutors representing Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Thursday moved to drop the criminal case against Loudoun County Public Schools’ former superintendent, Scott Ziegler, who was fired over a rape coverup.
Ziegler was already convicted by a jury in the case, but a judge overturned the conviction on a technicality, saying that although there was “ample evidence” to support the charge, it would have to be retried. Miyares’ office said it will no longer seek that retrial after LCPS settled a civil lawsuit with a teacher whose testimony was key in the case.
In October 2021, The Daily Wire reported that at a school board meeting over a proposed transgender policy, Ziegler dismissed concerns about safety by stating that no sexual assaults had ever occurred in Loudoun’s bathrooms, despite knowing that a boy wearing a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/loudoun-county-schools-tried-to-conceal-sexual-assault-against-daughter-in-bathroom-father-says">skirt and blouse allegedly raped </a>a ninth-grader in a girls bathroom just weeks prior. LCPS also filed false paperwork with the state concealing the incident. The policy was passed and the boy remained in the school system, despite the police charging him with rape. That allowed him to sexually assault a second girl in October. He was convicted on both counts.
A special grand jury was convened to look into Loudoun’s handling of sexual abuse, and it resulted in a felony perjury charge against the school’s then-spokesman, and two misdemeanors against Ziegler. One was for the false statement at the school board meeting, and the other was for allegedly firing a teacher, Erin Brooks, in retaliation for her speaking to the grand jury.
In September 2023, Ziegler was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jury-finds-former-loudoun-county-superintendent-guilty-of-charges-stemming-from-trans-rape-coverup">convicted</a> of the latter charge, which carried a penalty of up to a year in jail. He showed up to his trial wearing nail polish and an earring. Prosecutors then <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virginia-drops-remaining-criminal-charge-against-loudoun-superintendent-who-lied-about-rape" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped</a> the other charge, explaining that they were satisfied that he was now a convicted criminal and there was no need for the time and expense of a second trial. But that logic no longer held when the judge overturned the conviction on a technicality. Judge Douglas Fleming wrote that there was “ample evidence” to support Ziegler’s conviction in the Brooks case, but that it would have to be retried.
In June 2022, Brooks also brought a civil lawsuit seeking money over the same issue, suing LCPS and a principal. It settled last November, not long before the criminal retrial, which was set to take place next month. Miyares’ motion to close the case said “Since this Court’s ruling setting aside the earlier conviction, the complaining witness has resolved her civil suit against the defendant and the Loudoun County Public Schools. The complaining witness is grateful to the Office of the Attorney General for its efforts in obtaining the initial conviction, but now desires to put this entire matter behind her.” Brooks’ cooperation would have been key to securing another criminal conviction.
LCPS has a history of paying people who allege that they have been wronged by its employees in exchange for both not pursuing legal action and their silence. The Daily Wire is currently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-sues-loudoun-schools-for-misusing-privacy-protections-to-hide-wrongdoing">suing</a> the district for its payouts to resolve allegations of wrongdoing against it, including the contracts with language such as secrecy clauses. LCPS has acknowledged that it is hiding at least 10 settlements since May 2023.
<div id="attachment_472476" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-472476" class="size-full wp-image-472476" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/rapist-pic1200.png" alt="" width="1200" height="651" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/rapist-pic1200.png 1200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/rapist-pic1200-300x163.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/rapist-pic1200-1024x556.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/12/rapist-pic1200-768x417.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />The Loudoun County Public Schools rapist / Social media screenshot</div>
Those include a settlement with the second girl assaulted by the rapist, which used an out-of-district court, the Alexandria Circuit Court, to conceal the deal and place the entire case under seal. In the FOIA lawsuit in Loudoun court, LCPS has refused to show even that judge a copy of the settlement, or disclose its dollar amount. Her family said after the grand jury released its <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/grand-jury-finds-virginia-school-bathroom-rape-handling-worse-than-known-rips-officials-intentional-amnesia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fact-finding report</a> — leading to Ziegler&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/loudoun-school-board-fires-superintendent-who-lied-about-bathroom-rape" target="_blank" rel="noopener">firing</a> — that “since our daughter was assaulted, not one member of the school board, LCPS administration, or even our local high school leadership has reached out to check on how she is doing, lend any type of support or even apologize for what we are going through as a family. That alone speaks volumes to what we have endured throughout this ordeal.”
The school system&#8217;s indulgence in controversial politics has also been expensive for taxpayers — or its insurance company — through significant bills for the time of outside lawyers. LCPS responded to a FOIA request from The Daily Wire for legal bills with totals showing nearly $2 million to outside attorneys between the June 2021 rape and 2023. Missing were any payments to Ziegler’s attorneys, and LCPS ignored FOIA appeals questioning its completeness. Ziegler’s attorneys later filed a lawsuit against LCPS saying it had <a href="https://www.loudountimes.com/0local-or-not/1local/law-firm-representing-ziegler-says-lcps-owes-617k-in-legal-fees/article_798629dc-f906-11ee-9b1d-ff577cf00612.html">refused to pay his bills</a>, seemingly suggesting that Ziegler was on his own. Spokesman Dan Adams did not answer questions about the Brooks settlement for this story, which also asked its current position on whether Ziegler had to pay his own legal bills or not.
The former spokesman facing the felony perjury charge was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/loudoun-schools-honchos-in-perjury-trial-testify-they-cant-remember-almost-anything-about-rape-scandal">acquitted</a> after a parade of LCPS officials testified that they could not recall basic details of what had transpired.
Out of all of LCPS’ 15,000 teachers, Brooks was singled out for firing by Ziegler at a school board meeting in June 2022, prosecutors said. Ziegler told board members he fired Brooks for giving private information to a conservative activist, and for giving private information to the grand jury, school board member John Beatty testified. Ziegler’s alleged claim that Brooks had given information to a conservative activist turned out to be false, and it would be illegal to punish her for telling the truth to a jury she’d been subpoenaed by, prosecutors argued.
At trial, school board member Brenda Sheridan, a Democrat who was chair during the rape coverup, was asked under oath about Ziegler’s closed-door statements that amounted to a confession. She did not deny Beatty’s version, but instead refused to answer.

Scott Ziegler outside the Loudoun courthouse on September 28, 2023 / Daily Wire

Criminal Charge Against Loudoun County Superintendent Dropped After Victim Is Paid Off

Education

Loudoun County

Virginia

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Education</a> (DOE) has launched a discrimination investigation into the University of Rhode Island over its use of race and sex-based scholarship programs.
The investigation from the DOE’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) comes after the Equal Protection Project (EPP) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/university-of-rhode-island-hit-with-civil-rights-complaint-over-discriminatory-scholarships">filed a federal complaint</a> against the university over scholarship offerings that excluded would-be applicants on the basis of their race or sex.
“OCR will investigate whether the University discriminates on the basis of race, color, or national origin by administering the scholarships” and will also investigate “whether the University discriminates on the basis of sex through other scholarship programs,” the DOE said in a letter.
The announcement comes as the diversity, equity, and inclusion agenda has embedded itself throughout higher education, oftentimes informing the selection criteria for scholarship programs.
The DOE’s announcement that it is investigating the university was a direct response to the complaint filed by the EPP, which highlighted specific scholarships and their selection criteria.
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“The discrimination in scholarships at URI is shocking in its breadth, far exceeding any other university we have seen at the Equal Protection Project,” the organization’s founder, William A. Jacobson, told The Daily Wire at the time of the complaint. “URI does not even try to hide the discriminatory barriers, they are all detailed on the URI website.”
One of the scholarships that will now be subject to the investigation is the Bank of America scholarship, which is designated for “two four-year scholarships for minority students, preferably one male and one female.” The Citizens Bank Scholarship, which is reserved for “minority students with financial need who live in Rhode Island,” will also be subject to the investigation.
The two are joined by the Dr. Robert L. Carothers Student Leadership Endowment, which will also be investigated and provides &#8220;annual scholarships to URI students of color who provide leadership in broad university programs.”
The EPP highlighted 51 different scholarships in the complaint to the DOE, which explained that it is starting an investigation into 35 of the scholarships while dismissing the others that were the subject of the complaint.

Dept of Education

Education Department To Investigate University Of Rhode Island’s Discriminatory Scholarships

Academia

Department of Education

Diversity

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Equity

U.S.

The vast majority of Americans believe that parents should be able to opt their children out of gender and sexuality-related curricula that violate their religious beliefs, according to a new survey shared with The Daily Wire. 
Data from the <a href="https://becketfund.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Becket Fund</a>’s annual Religious Freedom Index found that 77% of Americans believe parents should be able to opt their children out of curriculum violating their religious beliefs, up from 74% the previous year. Just 23% said they didn’t think parents should be able to opt their kids out for religious reasons. 
“Parents don’t take a back seat to anyone when it comes to raising their children,&#8221; Lori Windham, vice president and senior counsel at Becket told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This year’s Index shows that a vast majority of Americans believe in this commonsense principle and in every parent’s right to excuse their children from classroom lessons that violate their faith.&#8221;
“Our nation is best when we empower parents, not the government, to decide what’s best for their children,&#8221; she added. 
Becket has <a href="https://becketfund.org/case/mahmoud-v-taylor/?_sm_nck=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">requested</a> the Supreme Court to hear a case featuring a coalition of Maryland parents, including both Christians and Muslims, who want to be able to opt their elementary school-aged students out of instruction on gender and sexuality. The parents argue that the Montgomery County School Board is violating their religious beliefs by forcing children as young as three to read books about transgenderism, pride parades, and preferred pronouns. 
The case is expected to be reviewed at one of the Supreme Court’s upcoming conferences. 
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The responses were gathered after Becket asked survey respondents if they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “Parents should be able to opt their children out of public school curriculum on gender and sexuality that violates their religious beliefs or that they believe is not age appropriate.”
The data were shared with The Daily Wire ahead of the publication of Becket&#8217;s Religious Freedom Index, which measures American attitudes toward the First Amendment. This year’s survey featured answers from a representative sample taken from an online poll of 1,000 adults.
In <a href="https://becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20240116160431/RFI-One-Pager-2023_.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previous years</a>, the index has asked Americans about their attitudes toward religion in the workplace and whether they think religion can help solve America’s problems. 
Across the country, there is broad support for parents to have increasing control over their children’s education. A recent poll from Parents Defending Education found that 75% of parents do not support teachers providing instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity to elementary school students.

TOPSHOT-THAILAND-POLITICS

EXCLUSIVE: Most Americans Say Parents Should Be Able To Opt Kids Out Of Gender Curriculum

Christianity

gender ideology

Religious Freedom

Religious Liberty

An Ohio school district is facing a federal complaint over a discriminatory employment program that may have illegally barred teachers from participating on the basis of their race and sex.
Parents Defending Education (<a href="https://defendinged.org/">PDE</a>), a non-profit organization dedicated to opposing left-wing ideology in the education system, filed the complaint against Middletown City School District over the district’s discriminatory affinity group programming, which is open only to black male teachers.
“PDE and its members oppose racial discrimination and political indoctrination in America’s schools. Middletown City School District is offering educational and affinity group programming for Black male employees that are not offered to all employees in the District,” reads the complaint from PDE, first obtained by The Daily Wire.
The complaint comes as school districts across the country have adopted controversial diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies that often discriminate against individuals on the basis of their race and sex in attempts to diversify the staff or faculty of a given institution.
&#8220;Schools should be focused on making training and resources available to ALL teachers, not arbitrarily excluding teachers and staff based on race,” Michele Exner, Senior Advisor for Parents Defending Education, told The Daily Wire. “This is a blatant violation of employment laws and it’s why we are calling for an investigation into this program. Students and teachers deserve better than a system that chooses divisiveness over results.&#8221;
The complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission points specifically to the district’s <a href="https://www.middletowncityschools.com/middletown-middle-school-news/entry/the-admiral-squad/">Admiral Squad</a>, a race and sex-based affinity group program that seeks to “address the shortage of Black males in education” and aims “to hire 25 Black male classroom teachers.”
“As the Commission is aware, ‘the important purpose of Title VII’ is ‘that the workplace be an environment free of discrimination, where race is not a barrier to opportunity,’” PDE writes in its complaint.
The complaint goes on to explain that the hiring and retention model proposed by the district also includes a number of race-based goals, such as securing a “50% increase in the number of Black male educators from 32 to 52,” “developing a diverse pipeline,” and offering a “fellowship for Black and Brown candidate student members.” The district also intends to “work with He is Me Institute, which offers a fellowship to support Black males in high school and college who are interested in becoming teachers.”
“The District has even committed to working with nearby universities to target, hire, and retain Black male classroom educators,” it adds, detailing the extent of the district’s race and sex-based recruiting and hiring operation.
A representative of the school district contended that the Admiral Squad program is compliant with federal employment law in a comment to The Daily Wire, also adding that &#8220;while the Admiral Squad is an affinity group for Black male educators, nothing is stopping a Middletown City School District educator of any other race or sex from being part of the group.&#8221;
The district representative also added that the Admiral Squad is “used as a retention and recruitment tool for current Middletown City School District educators” and “was created as a result of the fact that less than 2% of the teaching population nationwide are Black males.”
The Middletown City School District is hardly the only district that appears to be engaging in race-based discrimination, however. PDE also filed a federal complaint against Minnesota’s Rochester Public Schools after the district allegedly used funds to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/minnesota-school-district-hit-with-federal-complaint-over-race-based-discrimination">support affinity group programs</a> and professional development initiatives that discriminated against white employees.
The district also boasted the “Grow Your Own” program, which intended to “increase and support the number of educators of color in our district.” The initiative’s description went on to add that the program “will support teachers/individuals of color who want to pursue a career in teaching.”
There’s also California’s La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District, which PDE hit with a federal complaint after discovering that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/california-school-district-hit-with-calls-for-investigation-into-racial-discrimination">district set out</a> to “achieve an increase in diversity” for new hires.
One district document outlined “strategies to encourage diverse candidates,” with another detailing the district’s goal of achieving “an increase in the diversity of the workforce in at least 75% of new hires.”

High school classroom

EXCLUSIVE: Ohio School District Hit With Federal Complaint Over Discriminatory Hiring Program

inclusion

K-12

Two teachers union heads in Florida have been indicted on fraud and conspiracy charges, accused of stealing more than $2 million from union members.
The indictment against Terrie Brady, who was president of Duval Teachers United, and Ruby George, who was executive vice president, was unsealed on Monday.
Brady, 69, and George, 81, could face decades in prison if convicted of the charges, which <a href="https://jaxtoday.org/2025/01/13/teachers-union-fraud-indictment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">include</a> conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud, and three counts of aiding and abetting mail fraud.
The indictment accuses the two women of cheating the union out of <a href="https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2025/01/13/florida-teachers-union-execs-terrie-brady-ruby-george-indicted/75914930007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more</a> than $1.2 million each between 2013 and 2022, in part by claiming much more unused vacation time than they had. According to the indictment, they tag-teamed on signing each other&#8217;s union checks for fraudulent vacation time payments and additional bonus payments.
Brady was also charged with two counts of money laundering for allegedly using nearly $44,000 of the money to pay personal American Express credit card debt.
Then, the women filed false documentation to a union auditor, the indictment claimed.
The bombshell charges come after agents from the FBI and Internal Revenue Service raided the union&#8217;s headquarters in San Marco in September 2023, sparking confusion and speculation. Agents were spotted carrying computers, bags, and boxes of financial documents out of the building.
Brady and George resigned just weeks later after leading the union for 24 years, saying they wanted to spend more time with their families.
Back in 2023, Brady <a href="https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/governor-ron-desantis-takes-aim-teachers-unions/XEPIGBHODZB7PEWRRJNWN2XYCE/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">complained</a> about Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis trying to impose new financial transparency requirements on the unions.
“We think we’re pretty transparent in the work that we do,” Brady said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Terrie Brady, President of the Duval Teachers United union, put in a rare appearance at the DCPS school board meeting to discuss…not receiving dues for 12 days because of the new Florida law making teacher dues opt in and not mandatory. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MomsForLiberty?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MomsForLiberty</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Florida?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Florida</a> <a href="https://t.co/71OLVS4MSc">pic.twitter.com/71OLVS4MSc</a>
&mdash; Moms For Liberty &#8211; Duval Co., FL (@DuvalMoms) <a href="https://twitter.com/DuvalMoms/status/1686628447953555456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 2, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
DeSantis had accused the unions of being too political and promised better pay for teachers and a cap on the salaries of teachers union officials.
“Having partisan groups basically get special privileges for deductions and all these other stuff, you know, that doesn’t work and so, I think this will be a huge, huge boon for transparency and efficiency in our school system,” DeSantis said at the time.
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Duval Teachers United represents about 13,000 teachers and other school employees in the Jacksonville area. The local union is affiliated with both the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA).
The union <a href="https://jaxtoday.org/2025/01/13/teachers-union-fraud-indictment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brings</a> in about $5 million in revenue a year.
In 2022, Brady received a lifetime achievement award for “a long record of excellent leadership” from the Florida Education Association.
She also chaired the Florida Democratic Party in the 1990s.

Money

Teachers Union Heads Indicted For Fraud, Stealing More Than $2M From Union

Teachers Union Heads Indicted For Fraud, Stealing Millions From Union

Crime

DeSantis

Florida

Fraud

Public Schools

Ron DeSantis

Teachers Unions

2024 was supposed to be the year that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tennessee" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tennessee</a> enacted <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/school-choice">school choice</a> with Republicans in full control of the legislature and governor’s office. But it fell short. 
Nearly everyone publicly supported school choice in principle, but the Senate and House came into the last legislative session with dramatically different school choice bills. They never came to a consensus on the bill’s final language, and the clock ran out. As lawmakers gather on Tuesday for the start of this year’s session, they have renewed optimism based on lessons learned. 
In November, Republican leadership in the House and Senate introduced <a href="https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/SB0001.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">identical legislation</a>, known as the “Education Freedom Scholarship Act,” backed by Republican Governor Bill Lee that will create 20,000 scholarships of around $7,000 that can be used for tuition at private schools. 
In an interview on school choice with The Daily Wire, Lee said he thinks the proposal should be an easy sell to Tennesseeans across the state.
“The fundamental idea that every child is different and every parent ought to have the best option for their kid. It transcends zip codes and economics, it ought to be for every family, it ought to be for every parent, it ought to be universal,” Lee told The Daily Wire. 
Both Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, who represents an area with some of the best public schools in the state, and House Education Chair Rep. Mark White, who represents an area with some of the worst, told The Daily Wire that they were in support of school choice policies. 
&#8220;Nobody would be happy if you lived in a neighborhood where you only had one grocery store to go to or one shopping center,” White said. “We go to other grocery stores or other businesses because there’s competition which gives us better prices and better performance and better customer service.” 
Johnson said that there was broad support among his colleagues to increase options for parents, adding that he was “cautiously optimistic” that the General Assembly would get the school choice legislation passed this session. He said that there had been productive conversations with both the House and governor’s office. 
“I think that the stage is set for us to get something passed. That’s not a promise, but it is the way I see the landscape right now,” Johnson said. 
White said that the proposal from Lamberth and Johnson could be subject to change as the session begins. He said that lawmakers were currently giving their feedback on the proposed legislation. He added that the legislature hoped to take up the issue first and said they would then vote it up or down based on its merits. 
The specific <a href="https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bill/SB0001.pdf">proposal</a> would create 20,000 scholarships for the 2025-2026 school year worth an estimated $7,295 that parents could apply for and use for things like tuition at private schools and textbooks. Half of the scholarships would be reserved for students in households with annual incomes of less than 300% of the amount needed to qualify for free or reduced lunch. The second 10,000 would be universally open. 
If implemented, the program would create scholarship opportunities for about 2% of Tennessee&#8217;s one million school-aged children. 
In the second year, an additional 5,000 scholarships could be made available if 75% of the available scholarships are taken the previous year. In this year, the scholarships are prioritized based on current recipients and income levels if there is more demand than supply. 
The scholarships could be used at any accredited school in Tennessee. A student unable to prove legal residency in the state would be denied use of the scholarship.  
Scholarship recipients would have to be administered a nationally standardized achievement test or the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program. Lee said that all schools that would be participating in the program were already giving these kinds of tests. 
Additionally, the legislation would also stipulate that 80% of the revenue collected by the state from sports gambling would go toward the “maintenance and construction” of public school buildings and give all current public school teachers a one-time $2,000 bonus. 
The proposal is already causing debate in Tennessee
Polling conducted by the Beacon Center of Tennessee <a href="https://www.beacontn.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Crosstabs-Party-Voting-History-January-2025.pdf">indicates</a> that 67% of registered voters in the state support expanding Tennessee&#8217;s current school choice program. The poll surveyed 540 Republicans, 288 Democrats, and 372 independent voters. 
Conservative groups like the Club for Growth have already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/conservative-org-launches-push-to-get-school-choice-across-finish-line-in-tennessee">announced</a> plans to support the initiative while organizations like Public School Strong TN are <a href="https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-news/opposition-lee-school-voucher-town-hall/">calling</a> the legislation a “scam.” 
Provisions have been added to counter concerns that the legislation would bring ruin to public schools.
One guarantees that public schools would not lose state funding based on disenrollment from their schools. Johnson said he did not foresee a “mass exodus” from any public school, but said he didn’t oppose the provision if it would reassure local school districts. 
White told The Daily Wire he had questions about that particular provision and said he wanted “more clarity” on it himself.  
”We need to look at that carefully because if you’re losing a student it may be because of choice and no fault of the school system that they’re coming from,” he said. “But also I don’t want to falsely prop up a failing school or a failing system by continuing to give them money if they are losing students for the wrong reason. That is something that I have questions about as we go back into session.” 
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When asked by The Daily Wire about that provision, Lee said it’s highly unlikely any school would be losing students given the population increase in nearly every county in the state.
“For all future students that are coming here, the public school and the private schools will be competing for those students,” Lee said. “They will be competing for future funding. They’re not going to lose funding as they move forward now, but they certainly will compete for future students. That is what makes schools better,” Lee said.
The governor pushed back on a <a href="https://fox17.com/news/crisis-in-the-classroom/governor-lee-says-voucher-pilot-program-students-doing-better-than-peers-data-shows-different" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent article</a> highlighting data showing that students on the pilot program in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton counties were less proficient in math and English compared to the rest of the state. 
Lee said it was not fair to compare low-income inner-city students coming out of failing schools with high-income suburban students across the state. He pointed out that in Shelby County — home to Memphis — students who attended private schools on scholarships had a <a href="https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/education/esa/2023-24_ESA%20Annual%20Report.pdf">higher proficiency </a>rate in English than their public school counterparts, and were tied in math. 
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Others have raised concerns about the potential for encroachment on private schools if they participate in the program. Johnson said he did not believe that this was a valid concern, saying that the General Assembly would not use it as a “backdoor” mechanism to start regulating private schools.
“The last thing we want to do is go out and start turning these private schools and making them run the same way we run our public schools, that would certainly defeat the purpose,” he said. 
Lee pointed to a provision on school autonomy. 
“The creation of the education freedom scholarship program does not expand the regulatory authority of this state, the officers of this state, or the authority of any [local education agency] to impose any additional rules, regulations, or requirements on private schools that enroll recipients beyond the rules narrowly tailored to enforce the requirements of the program,” the legislation says. 
Lee says the highest priority should be maximizing student achievement and parental satisfaction, not protecting the public system that is letting some kids down.
“We have to do something to challenge the status quo, we have to do something to provide a better opportunity for our children,” Lee said.
With the legislature meeting today, there has been talk that a special session may be convened to ensure the focus is on passing this legislation. While Republicans seem more unified than last year, the ghosts of last year’s failure have the bill’s backers insistent that it’s the first item on this session’s agenda.

EPA Administrator Regan Visits Florida To Highlight Funding For New Clean School Buses

Is This The Year Tennessee Wins On School Choice?

Bill Lee

School Choice

Tennessee

The University of Michigan, which has worked with Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Communist China since 2005, suddenly announced it was ending the partnership.
Last October 31, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, wrote a letter to University of Michigan President Santa J. Ono, warning him of the risks of a partnership with the Chinese university. His letter came in the wake of five Chinese nationals from the Joint Institute studying at the University of Michigan being charged with <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/us/5-chinese-nationals-charged-with-covering-up-midnight-visit-to-michigan-military-site/index.html">deliberately concealing</a> their unauthorized visit to Camp Grayling in northern Michigan. Those nationals came from China to Michigan as students through the joint institute partnership.
“Shanghai Jiao Tong plays a critical role in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) military-civil fusion strategy,” Moolenaar <a href="https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2024-10-31%20-%20Letter%20to%20U-M%20re%20Research%20Security%20House%20Select%20Cmte%20CCP.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. “Through its extensive military-aligned departments and laboratories, advanced dual-use research programs, and large-scale operational training platforms, Shanghai Jiao Tong drives the PRC’s military modernization and intelligence capabilities. For example, the university is currently home to several national-level laboratories, including three defense-related laboratories. This military-academic integration enables Shanghai Jiao Tong to make significant contributions to the PRC’s most sensitive defense programs, including nuclear weapons, carrier rockets, satellites, nuclear submarines, and fighter jets.”
“Research performed at the Joint Institute advances the PRC’s defense and intelligence capabilities,” he added. “For example, Institute researchers have helped the PRC achieve advancements in defense technologies from propellant combustion modeling and solid rocket fuel research to anti-corrosion technology for military aircraft developed with People’s Liberation Army (PLA) researchers. They have worked on projects to improve CT imaging technology for detecting flaws in advanced military equipment, which appears to have leveraged Department of Defense- funded research from University of Michigan faculty.”
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“International academic partnerships have deeply enriched our academic offerings and strengthened the global education of our students, and we will continue to pursue partnerships around the world as part of our academic mission,” Ono <a href="https://record.umich.edu/articles/u-m-to-end-partnership-with-shanghai-jiao-tong-university/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stated</a> regarding the termination of the partnership. “As we do so, we must also prioritize our commitment to national security.”
“International experiences are vital for our students in this interconnected world,” he said. “We remain committed to supporting U-M’s international students and will continue to foster international partnerships that advance knowledge and cross-cultural understanding and ensure our campus remains a vibrant community where scholars from around the world can thrive.”
Georgia Tech <a href="https://www.gatech.edu/news/2024/09/06/georgia-tech-exit-georgia-tech-shenzhen-institute" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a</a><a href="https://www.gatech.edu/news/2024/09/06/georgia-tech-exit-georgia-tech-shenzhen-institute" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nnounced</a> the termination of the Georgia Tech Shenzhen Joint Institute in September. The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party noted in July 2023 that then-Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) of the committee and Chairwoman Virginia Fox (R-NC) of the Education and the Workforce Committee sent a letter to the President and Chancellor of the University of California Berkeley warning them about Berkeley&#8217;s joint institute with Tsinghua University and the Shenzhen government in China.

Aerial View of University of Michigan Campus and Urban Landscape

University Of Michigan Ends Partnership With Communist Chinese University

China

Communist China

Department of Defense

University of Michigan

A tenured Columbia University law professor says she was effectively terminated after an investigation found she discriminated against Jewish and Israeli students.
Katherine Franke, who was investigated after she gave an interview claiming that Israeli students were harassing students on campus, on Friday announced she was retiring and <a href="https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2025/01/Statement%20from%20Katherine%20Franke.docx.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released a statement</a> criticizing the university.
“For the last year and a half, as students at Columbia University and across the globe have protested against the Israeli government’s genocidal assault on Palestinians after the October 2023 attacks, a response that has resulted in horrendous devastation in Gaza, I have ardently defended students’ right to peaceful protest on our campus and across the country,” Franke began her statement. “I truly believed that student engagement with the rights and dignity of Palestinians continued a celebrated tradition at Columbia University of student protest.”
She said she had been “targeted” for her “support of pro-Palestinian protesters – by the president of Columbia University, by several colleagues, by university trustees, and by outside actors.”
“This has included an unjustified finding by the University that my public comments condemning attacks against student protesters violated university non-discrimination policy,” she added.
Those <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2024/1/25/columbia_palestine_protest_attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">public comments</a>, however, suggested Israeli students were the ones harassing other Columbia students, particularly Palestinian students.
“So many of those Israeli students, who then come to the Columbia campus, are coming right out of their military service,” she said in January 2024. “They’ve been known to harass Palestinian and other students on our campus.”
In that interview, Franke also repeated the false allegation that Israeli students had sprayed anti-Israel protesters with skunk spray, with Franke claiming they were hospitalized due to a “chemical attack.” She also claimed the students responsible were part of Columbia’s dual degree program with Tel Aviv University – but they weren’t.
“The students were able to identify three of these exchange students, basically, from Israel, who had just come out of military service, who were spraying the pro-Palestinian students with this skunk water,” Franke said in her interview with the leftist organization “Democracy Now.”
The “chemical attack” was actually a non-toxic gag spray from Amazon, and Columbia paid $395,000 to a Jewish student after it suspended him for the incident.
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Other professors at Columbia Law filed a complaint against Franke following this interview, arguing that Franke “harassed members of the Columbia community based on their national origin,” <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/probe-finds-columbia-university-professor-discriminated-against-israeli-students/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to The Times of Israel</a>. The investigation determined that Franke violated the school’s anti-discrimination policy during her interview and also violated school policy regarding retaliation by revealing to a reporter the name of a professor who reported her. On social media, Franke also targeted the professors who filed the complaint.
“As made public by parties in this matter, a complaint was filed alleging discriminatory harassment in violation of our policies,” Columbia said in a statement to the Times. “An investigation was conducted, and a finding was issued. As we have consistently stated, the University is committed to addressing all forms of discrimination consistent with our policies.”
Franke also supported the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which aims to harm Israel economically for perceived slights while targeting no other nation for similar or worse aggressions.
Protesters at Columbia and other Ivy League universities have promoted open calls for violence, the Times previously <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/columbia-student-group-retracts-apology-of-member-who-said-zionists-deserve-to-die/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. As The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/columbia-university-giving-day-donations-plunge-nearly-30-following-anti-israel-protests" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, these student protests likely caused Columbia’s annual “Giving Day” donations to plunge nearly 30% in 2024.

Columbia University Anti-Israel Protest

Columbia Professor Retires After Investigation Found She Discriminated Against Jewish Students

Anti-Semitism

Columbia University

Israel

Palestine

The vast majority of parents oppose schools teaching their children transgender ideology, polling conducted last month by Parents Defending Education shows. 
The <a href="https://defendinged.org/press-releases/parents-defending-education-poll-parents-support-girls-only-spaces-in-schools-oppose-parental-exclusion-policies-and-grading-for-equity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">polling</a>, first shared with The Daily Wire, shows that 75% of parents do not support teachers providing instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity to elementary school students. Additionally, a large majority of parents indicated they opposed teachers pushing transgender identity on kids behind their parents&#8217; backs, as has happened across the country. 
“This poll shows overwhelming opposition to school personnel withholding information from parents about their child&#8217;s gender identity at school,” Parents Defending Education Director of Outreach Erika Sanzi told The Daily Wire. “It&#8217;s refreshing to see even more confirmation that people think this ubiquitous trend of facilitating gender transitions behind the backs of parents is complete madness and needs to stop.&#8221;
Covering a wide range of topics from DEI to transgender policies, the polling from Parents Defending Education shows that parents want more oversight of what is happening in their children&#8217;s classrooms. 
The poll surveyed 1,000 parents across the country who have children under the age of 18. The results come as parents have become increasingly vocal about the need for schools to focus on academics and not ideology. A third of those surveyed said they leaned Republican. Thirty-eight percent said they were independent, and 24% said they leaned Democrat. 
The survey found that 80% of parents believed that schools should not “help a child change their gender identity” without parental notification while 19% said they would be fine with teachers changing a student&#8217;s pronouns or providing things like chest binders to girls without parental consent.  
Three-quarters of those surveyed said they supported legislation that would require school officials to inform parents if their child wanted to identify as a different gender at school. Just over 60% of parents said they disagreed with a Wisconsin school district policy that said parents do not have a right to know about their child’s identity.
“This matters because the policies propagated by activist groups, the National School Boards Association, and teachers&#8217; unions all allow for  — and often require — the deliberate deception of parents by school staff if that is what the minor child wants,” Sanzi said of the polling. 
When asked whether they supported teachers instructing elementary school students on topics related to sexual orientation and gender ideology, 74% said they were opposed.
Nearly 80% of parents indicated they did not believe that males who identify as females should be allowed to compete on women’s sports teams. Republican-led states across the country have passed laws in recent years requiring students to participate on the sports team aligning with their biology. 
While 21% of those surveyed said that they would be fine with allowing a male to use female bathrooms and locker rooms, 77% said they would oppose any policy that allowed that. Similarly, the poll found that 72% of parents believed that students should be housed based on biological sex during field trips.
The poll also showed that 72% of parents opposed schools implementing “grading for equity” policies, including things like eliminating the ability for a student to get a zero on an assignment that was not turned in. Over half of the parents (56%) also opposed schools sponsoring race-based clubs. 
&#8220;These results highlight that parents are dissatisfied with a number of elements of the modern American education system &#8211; and that there is broad-based consensus that it&#8217;s time for schools to get back to basics,” Parents Defending Education President Nicole Neily told The Daily Wire. 
Neily added that she was optimistic about the incoming Trump administration, which has suggested it would make major reforms at the Department of Education. 
“For far too long, federal bureaucrats have sacrificed the needs of students and families in order to appease unions&#8217; and activists&#8217; insatiable demands for money and power,” she said. “January 20th can&#8217;t come soon enough.&#8221;

Blackboard with the international flag of peace drawn on.(series)

EXCLUSIVE: Majority Of American Parents Oppose Teaching Kids Transgender Ideology

polling

Transgender Athletes

The past few years have seen Americans roundly reject the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ideology universities have long pushed on faculty and students alike.
Even before the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action at universities, a majority of Americans, 62%, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/most-americans-think-college-admissions-should-not-consider-race-reutersipsos-2023-02-15/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">opposed</a> race-based college admissions. At least a dozen states, including one with a Democratic governor, have cracked down on DEI at their higher education institutions in the past few years.
In 2024, seven states signed legislation against DEI or stripped funding for it at universities — Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming. Those states join Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and North Dakota, all of which moved against DEI before last year.
In April, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, a Democrat, allowed the legislature to enact a new <a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2023_24/measures/documents/hb2105_enrolled.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> that fines public universities $10,000 if they use DEI policies in hiring faculty or accepting students.
&#8220;While I have concerns about this legislation, I don’t believe that the conduct targeted in this legislation occurs in our universities,&#8221; Kelly <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/six-states-banned-limited-dei-colleges-universities-2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> of the bill.
In Utah, Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, signed a <a href="https://le.utah.gov/~2024/bills/static/HB0261.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> prohibiting universities from having &#8220;diversity, equity and inclusion&#8221; programs, practices, or required trainings.
The law says such &#8220;discriminatory&#8221; practices include asserting that &#8220;meritocracy is inherently racist or sexist&#8221; or &#8220;that an individual, by virtue of the individual’s personal identity characteristics, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other individuals with the same personal identity characteristics.&#8221;
Alabama&#8217;s new <a href="https://arc-sos.state.al.us/ucp/L1499133.AI1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> banning DEI offices from public universities, K-12 school systems, and state agencies <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/alabama-universities-shutter-dei-offices-new-law-rcna163400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">took</a> effect in October.
The Alabama law also prohibits pushing certain &#8220;divisive concepts&#8221; in public settings, including that a person can be &#8220;inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously&#8221; due to his race, sex, or religion.
In response, the University of Alabama&#8217;s three campuses shuttered their DEI offices.
The Alabama law also addresses the transgender bathroom issue. It requires restrooms at public universities to be designated on the basis of biological sex with &#8220;penalties for violation.&#8221;
Indiana passed a <a href="https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/123/2024/senate/bills/SB0202/SB0202.06.ENRH.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> in March banning universities from requiring diversity statements from employees or students. The law also requires universities to have policies where faculty cannot get tenure if they have not encouraged “free expression and intellectual diversity” or have taught students political views unrelated to their classes. It also orders universities to explore ways to promote recruitment of &#8220;underrepresented&#8221; students, not just minority students.
Iowa passed a <a href="https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=90&amp;ba=SF%202435" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> in May barring its three state universities from having DEI offices or requiring anyone to submit a DEI statement. And Wyoming <a href="https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2024/03/a-message-from-the-president-legislative-actions-regarding-uw.html#:~:text=Most%20notably%2C%20the%20Legislature%20reduced,%2C%20effective%20July%201%2C%202024." target="_blank" rel="noopener">defunded</a> the DEI office at the University of Wyoming, which had been getting $1.73 million.
A number of other states banned certain DEI policies before last year. Florida now has several anti-DEI laws, including a 2023 law that <a href="https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/931/?Tab=BillHistory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibits</a> public universities from requiring a &#8220;political loyalty test&#8221; from employees or students or giving them preferential treatment based on race or ideology. Another Florida law from that year bans using state or federal funds for DEI at public universities.
Last month, Idaho&#8217;s state education board unanimously <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/in-sweeping-action-idahos-education-board-bans-dei-ideology-on-college-campuses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> to ban race and gender policies and cultural centers at its public universities.
In 2021, Idaho barred public colleges and K-12 schools from DEI statements, or compelling “students to personally affirm, adopt, or adhere to” certain concepts related to sex, race, and religion. The same year, the state <a href="https://www.highereddive.com/news/idaho-education-board-bans-dei-boise-state-university-idaho-state-lewis-clark/735987/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20the%20Legislature%20passed,%2C%20color%2C%20or%20national%20origin." target="_blank" rel="noopener">cut</a> $2.5 million from state funding for social justice programming at its three public universities.
In 2023, North Dakota enacted a new law <a href="https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/68-2023/regular/documents/23-0417-02000.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">banning</a> DEI statements at universities as well as mandatory DEI training. A student or school employee may not be required to agree with concepts like &#8220;race or sex scapegoating&#8221; or that an individual &#8220;should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or another form of psychological distress solely because of the individual&#8217;s race or sex,&#8221; the law says.
The same year, Texas enacted a <a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/88R/billtext/pdf/SB00017F.pdf#navpanes=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> requiring public universities to confirm that they do not require DEI statements or have a DEI office before they can spend any state money.
In 2022, Tennessee <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/diversity-equity/2023/04/18/tennessee-again-targets-divisive-concepts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a law saying public university students and employees cannot be penalized for not agreeing with certain “divisive concepts” including that “the rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups.”
The state doubled down in 2023 with another law banning mandatory implicit bias training and inviting students and employees to report violations.
North Carolina passed a <a href="https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/Senate/PDF/S364v6.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">law</a> in 2023 making it illegal to force state employees, including those at public universities to give their opinion about &#8220;matters of contemporary political debate or social action.&#8221;
The state&#8217;s Democratic governor vetoed the bill, saying it would get rid of training to help people understand &#8220;the unconscious bias we all bring to our work and our communities.&#8221; However, the legislature <a href="https://ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2023/S364" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overrode</a> the governor&#8217;s veto.
A slew of other states have proposed anti-DEI legislation as well, but so far they have not been successful.

Diversity and inclusion. Multi-colored puzzle with figures of people.

These States Have Cracked Down On DEI At Colleges

American Universities

College

LGBT

LGBTQ

The Biden administration’s Department of Education has faced growing criticism for the enormous amount spent on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-dei" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DEI</a>) initiatives in schools across the country. <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/granted/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A new report from Parents Defending Education</a> reveals that more than $1 billion in DEI grants have been distributed nationwide since 2021. Included in the report are grants that affect schools in 25 states that voted for Donald Trump in 2024.
It turns out that radical woke ideology is not just a problem in blue states.
This federal spending spree has caught the attention of state government leaders in red states, specifically Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, who <a href="https://sde.ok.gov/press-release/2024-12-16/no-woke-agenda-here-walters-continues-protect-oklahoma-kids-bidens-radical" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denounced</a> the Biden administration for using taxpayer money to “shove DEI down the throats of Oklahomans.”
DEI has been shoved down the throats in many conservative red states through these Department of Education grants. Consider three prominent examples from <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/granted/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PDE’s “GrantED” report</a>, which shows federally funded DEI initiatives in Iowa, Missouri, and South Carolina, all of which have received $89,440,558 total in grants aimed at embedding far-Left ideologies into K-12 classrooms.
First, the University of Iowa, situated in a state that voted decisively Republican in the last presidential election, <a href="https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/2023/09/S336S220023-Iowa-Abstract.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">received a grant award of $1,261,718</a>. The funding is designed to train 40 elementary teachers to “enact equity-centered education” in K-12 partner districts. What has “equity-centered education” looked like in recent years? A lower threshold for academic excellence and overall lower test scores for all students, more lenient discipline policies that have resulted in increasingly disruptive learning environments, and the implementation of <a href="https://defendinged.org/resources/affinity-groups/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">race-based groups</a> in schools that include or exclude students and teachers based on the color of their skin.
Missouri offers another telling example. The University of Missouri–St. Louis was <a href="https://defendinged.org/investigations/granted/#:~:text=The%20Curators%20of%20the%20University%20of%20Missouri%20on%20behalf%20of%20UMSL%20(MO)%3A%20%24306%2C289" target="_blank" rel="noopener">awarded a $306,209 grant</a> to train school counselors in Trauma-Informed, Antiracist Social-Emotional Learning. Antiracism sounds well-intentioned, but the author of the literal book on Antiracism, Ibram X. Kendi, describes antiracism saying, “the only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination.” As for Social Emotional Learning (SEL), another well-meaning term, in 2020, SEL was rebranded to <a href="https://defendinged.org/resources/sel101/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Transformative SEL,”</a> embedding race and gender ideology into what had previously been neutral student competencies.
Perhaps the most striking instance comes from Laurens County School District 55 in South Carolina, which <a href="https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/2023/10/Laurens-County-School-District-55-S374A230030.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">received a staggering $13.6 million</a> over three years. The grant’s stated goal is “to create schools where equity, diversity, and inclusion are embedded in the school culture.” Equity was mentioned earlier, but “inclusion” can include far-Left views of gender which manifests itself in schools in ways such as punishing students who “misgender” other students or allowing students to use the restroom that matches their “gender identity.” Reminder: Laurens County, SC <a href="https://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/Laurens/122466/web.345435/#/summary?v=353884%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted almost 70%</a> for Donald Trump in 2024.
At Parents Defending Education, we often read comments on social media like, “Thank goodness I live in Florida!” or “Move out of California!” However, DEI funding receipts from the last 4 years of the Biden administration show that geographical location does not shield children from exposure to far-Left ideologies in their schools. Ideological activists are determined to push their propaganda beyond blue-state lines.
Parents must remain vigilant in examining their child’s coursework, attending school board meetings, and maintaining regular communication with their child’s teacher — not only to identify potential bias in education but also to prevent it. DEI has been <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/biden-education-department-spent-over-1-billion-dei-grants-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exposed</a> as a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not help students, but hurts them. Families should not hesitate to speak up and work to stop this dangerous programming in their children’s schools, even if they live in a red state.
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Paul Runko is a Digital Communications Specialist for Parents Defending Education. Based in Charleston, South Carolina, he is also a proud father of two.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

interior of a traditional school classroom with wooden floor and furniture.

Biden Admin Blew Over $1 Billion On DEI In Red States

Biden Administration

Opinion

Students

In 2017, Americans were split almost down the middle on the question: “Is gender determined by sex at birth or one’s subjective sense of identity?” <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/06/06/gender-identity-sexual-orientation-and-the-2024-election/pp_2024-6-5_cultural-values_5-03/">Pew Research</a> found back then that the numbers were 53% on the side of biological sex and 45% on the side of “gender identity.” Seven years later, as 2024 comes to a close, that number has shifted significantly to 65% and 34%, respectively.
We’ve seen that play out in a number of ways, one of the most obvious being the 2024 Presidential election. Donald Trump aired ads that called attention to Kamala Harris and her party’s emphasis on gender identity — from men in women’s sports, to using taxpayer dollars to pay for body alteration procedures for prisoners. The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/us/politics/trump-win-election-harris.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> those ads shifted some voters — especially black and Hispanic men — toward Trump. Political commentators with a finger on the pulse of the culture <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/11/democrats-dishonest-gender-conversation-2024-election/680604/">attribute</a> the unscientific, dangerous focus on gender identity as one of the reasons Trump is now the president-elect.
From my point of view as the Director of the Center for Academic Freedom at Alliance Defending Freedom, gaining momentum toward scientific reality in the face of progressive thought policing has not been an easy task. Especially in the academic realm, where we <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/meriwether-v-trustees-shawnee-state-university/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">started</a> significantly litigating in 2018.
In that 2018 case, we represented Dr. Nicholas Meriwether, who was then a philosophy professor at Shawnee State University. Dr. Meriwether declined to use female pronouns for a male student, and as a result, the school punished him for following his convictions. Ultimately, Dr. Meriwether won the case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and settled the case four years after it started.
However, schools at all levels around the country tried to get everyone on board with accepting gender incongruence. ADF has worked to ensure teachers, parents, and students who have a view of human sexuality based on scientific reality don’t lose their voice in the conversation.
In Virginia, high school French teacher <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/vlaming-v-west-point-school-board/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">Peter Vlaming</a> nearly lost everything because he couldn’t refer to a female student as male in good conscience. Peter was highly respected by the school and well-loved by students. When a female student announced she was male, Peter accommodated her by using a different name and avoiding the use of pronouns. But when the school found out about this, administrators demanded that he use male pronouns to refer to the female student. Peter refused because doing so would violate his convictions about language and human sexuality. The school fired him for his stance, and through years of court battles, received almost $600,000 in a settlement for the school’s violation of his free speech.
Similar to Peter, Vivian Geraghty — a middle school English teacher in Ohio — was forced to resign after she tried to reach a compromise with her school’s officials that would allow her to respectfully decline to use terms inconsistent with the sex of two students. When Vivian raised the First Amendment issue with the school’s principal, he told her that, as a public servant, she must “set [her] religious convictions aside.” Vivian just <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/geraghty-v-jackson-local-school-district-board-education/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped" target="_blank" rel="noopener">settled</a> her lawsuit against the school this month to the tune of $450,000.
This fight over language and human sexuality is important, and it’s still not over. The University of Louisville punished, harassed, and ultimately fired <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/josephson-v-ganzel/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">Dr. Allan Josephson</a>, who turned the university’s struggling Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology into a well-respected institution, after he spoke — in his personal capacity — at a Heritage Foundation panel about the dangers of buying into gender identity ideology for children. Dr. Josephson’s case started back in 2019, and in September of this year, the Sixth Circuit ruled that the university “should have known that Josephson’s speech was protected and that retaliating against Josephson for his speech would violate his First Amendment rights,” and sent the case back to the lower courts for jury trial.
If the recent trend in views on gender identity is any indication, Dr. Josephson’s stand for truth should ultimately result in further vindication. Teachers should not be forced to lie to their students, especially on something as important as human sexuality. In the medical community, researchers like <a href="https://adflegal.org/article/cass-review-children-deserve-better-not-experimental-treatments/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dr. Hilary Cass</a> — who was commissioned to study the effects of gender transition procedures for minors by England’s National Institute of Health — are consistently finding there is no benefit to treating a young man or woman as the opposite sex.
These brave teachers are on the front lines of standing up against a dangerous ideology. Through their courage, the rest of America is catching on. This year brought important victories in the arena of thought and language, and in 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court has an opportunity to <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/united-states-america-v-skrmetti/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped" target="_blank" rel="noopener">further protect</a> children from this unproven, unpopular ideology by allowing states to protect kids from dangerous procedures like distributing puberty blockers and removing otherwise healthy body parts. More and more Americans agree it’s the right thing to do.
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Tyson Langhofer is senior counsel and director of the Center for Academic Freedom with <a href="http://www.adflegal.org/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alliance Defending Freedom</a> (<a href="https://twitter.com/ADFLegal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@ADFLegal</a>).
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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