Teacher Appreciation Week this year is taking place under a shadow of uncertainty for those navigating political waters while trying to ensure students get the education they need.
K-12 schools are navigating book bans and running into state laws barring diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and transgender athletes.
College professors are watching as billions of dollars in research funding gets frozen.
And, increasingly, children and parents are being called on to report teachers they feel may be in violation of new policies to the authorities.
A teacher from California, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, told The Hill her colleagues are no longer teaching the classic American novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” because “it’s too racially charged.”
Educators are “avoiding” hard topics, she said, “because they don’t know which parents are going to get angry.”
“They become very kind of angry and activist, and it’s really hard to navigate right now. It’s just uncertain,” she added.
Pressures on teachers have come from the federal, state and local levels, creating a precarious situation for schools across the country.
The Education Department recently created an “anti-DEI” portal where parents and concerned members of community can report what the federal agency describes as illegal practices in classrooms.
The portal came on the heels of a certification letter the department sent to districts and states to verify there are no DEI programs in their schools. That letter has been temporarily blocked by a judge, echoing concerns of teachers that the federal agency is not operating under a clear definition of what is considered illegal DEI.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has pulled millions of dollars in contracts with universities over alleged inaction on antisemitism, jeopardizing thousands of jobs.
Fears of divisions among students, educators and parents are particularly prominent in Republican-led states that have laws on the books against DEI and what can be discussed in class.
“If you look at the way this has actually been implemented across the country, DEI is better viewed as standing for discrimination, exclusion and indoctrination,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has said. “And that has no place in our public institutions.”
In a Wednesday op-ed in The New York Times, Anna Peterson, a professor of religion at the University of Florida, said someone claiming to be a student wrongfully accused her of talking about who she voted for in class and discussing specific candidates.
“I was stunned. That never happened in that class or any other; it is antithetical to the way I teach.” Peterson wrote. “Far worse than the fear of investigation was the way the accusation shook the trust I thought I had with my students. Did one of them hate me so much that one would lie to get me in trouble?”
“That incident shattered my conviction that if I did my job well and followed the rules, I would be safe,” she added.
In Texas, a new bill on its way to Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) desk will remove legal protections for adults and teachers who share materials with students that could be considered harmful.
“It makes it easier to prosecute not just educators or librarians, but also parents and medical professionals, while simultaneously adding vagueness to the definition of what is prohibited,” said Caro Achar, the engagement coordinator for free speech for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, a civil rights organization, The Texas Tribune reported.
Higher education is also on the hook in Texas with a law banning DEI in campus life and hiring; the measure has some professors fleeing the state.
“It wasn’t supposed to target classrooms, wasn’t supposed to target research, but the actual application of it has and so that’s had, on the one hand, material effects, wherein people across the state of Texas have been told that they can’t submit certain research projects for grants because it’s in violation of the DEI law, even though there’s an explicit exception in the DEI law. And so, that’s had material impacts, and a lot of faculty have actually left as a result of that,” said Karma Chavez, a professor at the University of Texas, Austin.
“Many staff across the state have lost their jobs who used to do DEI work, and under SB-18, there have been many faculty who have either lost their jobs or have been threatened with losing their jobs because it’s easier to fire faculty now,” Chavez added.
And in Utah, one principal came under fire after a former State Board of Education member blasted the school for having an “inclusion” sign, although it was referring to an event for special needs students.
“A simple call […] to find out why we used the word ‘inclusion’ to support our Special Needs students would have clarified our intent and saved me time answering angry people who are against diversity, equity and inclusion rhetoric in schools,” said Todd Quarnberg, principal of Herriman High, in a Facebook post.
Many Democratic-led states have rejected movements to get rid of DEI practices, but that does not protect teachers from the local pressures they may face.
“I think we are teaching the kids properly, but I think that people are just very careful. They’re concerned, you know, they don’t want to upset any Trump supporters,” the teacher from California said, noting not everywhere in the state is as blue as Los Angeles or San Francisco.
