Despite their continuous threats to completely dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, President Trump and his administration seem to keep creating newer and more absurd responsibilities for the Department and the people who work there. Last week, they launched a new website where people can anonymously snitch on their children’s teachers or fellow educators and co-workers at publicly funded K-12 schools that are still pursuing or providing any programs that could be seen as falling in line with the intention to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
According to a press release put out by the administration announcing the launch and availability of the form, this was a joint project in collaboration with the ridiculous far-right group Moms for Liberty, certified hate group and the organization that has become known for waging bureaucratic battles against tons of school districts regarding books that included LGBTQ+ themes and characters or provided a more nuanced view of American history and society. The press release actually quotes famous fearmonger Tiffany Justice, the co-founder of Moms for Liberty, in its statement: “For years, parents have been begging schools to focus on teaching their kids practical skills like reading, writing, and math, instead of pushing critical theory, rogue sex education and divisive ideologies—but their concerns have been brushed off, mocked, or shut down entirely. Parents, now is the time that you share the receipts of the betrayal that has happened in our public schools. This webpage demonstrates that President Trump’s Department of Education is putting power back in the hands of parents.”
An article in Education Week features some commentary from Tina Descovich, a co-founder and executive director of Moms for Liberty, that further “clarifies” the points being made in the press release. Descovich reports that despite President Trump signing of the Executive Order Ending Radical Indoctrination in K – 12 Schooling (which, remember, is not technically a legally binding document in any way, shape, or form), parents are still “saying to [Moms for Liberty]” that their children’s school districts aren’t listening and made the claim, “The portal empowers parents to be able to take action when they see destructive DEI or critical race theory happening in the classroom. […] This [portal] gives them a tool to document where this is still happening.”
You’re reading that correctly. In an attempt to curb divisive ideologies, the administration along with organizations like Moms for Liberty are hoping to sow more division by providing an online portal where parents can, instead of dealing directly with their child’s school or teachers, report the people of their community directly to the Federal government. The designers of this snitch form wanted to give parents — the people who are not educated, trained, or professionally authorized to know what education is necessary for their children — the power to snitch on teachers and school administrators who are literally just trying to do their jobs and do right by the students entrusted to their care. The form itself says in big, bold letters “Schools should be focused on learning” so we’re seeing this administration and the people who support it, once again, use the guise of “child safety” as a way to hide their fascist beliefs.
Many other (legitimate) education and parent organizations have spoken out against the form and are encouraging educators to keep providing the educational programs and materials they view as most important for their students. An article in ABCNews about the portal states that “National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues said the Trump administration has struck a tone of retribution with its recent actions and that the nation’s most vulnerable students will be harmed if the department goes after school districts” and quotes Rodrigues as saying “I just think that they’re looking for any weapon to attack and cause chaos.”
Whether you’ve been paying close attention or not, that just about sums up exactly what is going on here. Given that the far-right constantly makes claims about wanting this country to be “freer,” their policies keep proving precisely the opposite. Instead of taking away barriers that prevent students from getting a decent education, they keep pushing policies and initiatives that will make it harder for young people to actually learn in this country’s public schools. Of course, that isn’t shocking but it’s important to identify what the point of all this is: to destroy the institution of public school education altogether.
Thankfully, one organization immediately sprung to legal action when the portal was announced. In a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Teachers, the organization cites the First Amendment in its argument against both the Executive Order and the tip portal and states: “Throughout our nation’s history, courts have consistently prevented various state actors, including executive branch officials, from trampling the First Amendment rights of federal fund recipients.” It will take time before their arguments are heard in court, but hopefully, the ongoing litigation will force the Department of Education and the administration to take the website down at some point soon.
And that doesn’t mean we have to wait to make our own little marks on the snitch portal while it’s still up. As was reported by PinkNews on March 4th, the website had to be temporarily taken down earlier this week because it was being spammed with false reports. According to the article, users across social media said they were “sending such helpful tips as the entire script of The Bee Movie, while others described reporting Elon Musk as a DEI hire or signed the online portal’s email to newsletters from groups such as the Scientologists and The Satanic Temple.” The portal has since been relaunched and people can begin making submissions again. There’s no telling how helpful it’ll be but if people keep forcing the website to go down, then it’ll be harder for hateful parents to access it and it’ll be nearly impossible for the people responsible for going through the forms to find reports that are making an “actual” claim worth investigating. Just some information worth considering and acting on while you’re scrolling on social media today.
Read related news coverage from Autostraddle:
- Trump’s presidency is scary, but remember: We have collective power.
- Trump wants to fight fake indoctrination with real indoctrination in public schools.
- Trans kids are being targeted by the Trump administration when it comes to healthcare and sports.
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Oooh I’m going to have such fun creating the most obnoxious republican mom alter ego for the purpose of fucking with this snitch form