A Colorado teachers’ union recently landed in hot water after it encouraged educators to destroy evidence of gender identity questionnaires given to students, KCNC-TV reported on Friday.
Jefferson County Education Association, a teachers’ union with over 5,300 members, sent educators an email encouraging them to break the law. The local union, affiliated with the Colorado Education Association and the National Education Association, instructed teachers to hide any evidence of the student questionnaires regarding gender identity.
“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,” JCEA told its members.
“Make your notations about students and not hold on to the documents,” the union added.
Parents with Jeffco Kids First, a parental rights group, told KCNC that dozens of teachers in the district asked students to fill out a survey that asked about their gender identity.
A parent with children in the district, Denice Crawford, stated that she was especially shocked to learn about the survey since the district had sent an email informing parents that federal law prohibited such questionnaires unless parents could opt out.
“Deceived, lied to, taken advantage of,” Crawford replied when asked how she felt when her son came home with a survey asking about gender identity. “I don’t feel I can trust the teachers.”
“This is not political. It’s just they’re breaking the law,” Crawford added.
School board member Susan Miller stated, “The leadership actually provided an avenue to get around the law and basically saying it was OK.”
Miller noted that the district takes the union’s email “very seriously.”
“Maybe do a corrective that says, ‘Hey, we were wrong. We need to abide by the laws written. They are there for a reason,'” Miller said.
JCEA president Brooke Williams told KCNC that the issue has become politicized.
“By allowing students an optional avenue to share their preferred pronouns while maintaining student privacy, we can better ensure that students feel safe, respected, and validated. We encourage and support educators to follow Jeffco’s district policy which states: School staff shall not disclose information that may reveal a student’s transgender status to others, including parents and other school staff, unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure. Transgender and gender nonconforming students have the right to discuss and express their gender identity and expression openly and to decide when, with whom, and how much to share private information,” Williams said.
Controversy erupts after teachers use surveys for students’ gender identityyoutu.be
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