Parents, educators and students alike have celebrated President Donald Trump's efforts to protect students from the radical gender and racial ideology that has become commonplace in many classrooms. The state legislature is expected to take up a bill soon to protect Alabama classrooms by mirroring Trump's executive orders.
State Rep. Mack Butler (R-Rainbow City) said he would welcome any amendment to align his bill HB 244 with President Donald Trump's executive order "Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12."
"Classrooms have always been devoted to what has traditionally been called the 'Three Rs' — reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic — but there are some educators who want to add a fourth R to the classroom, and that's radicalism," Butler said.
As introduced, HB 244 aims to expand the state's current protections prohibiting public school teachers at all grade levels, pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade (PK-12), from teaching or discussing gender identity or sexuality. It would also ban flags or insignia related to sexual orientation or gender ideology on school property. Finally, it would require teachers and staff to refer to students using pronouns that correspond with their biological sex.
He said State Rep. Terri Collins (R-Decatur), chairwoman of the House Education Policy Committee, has indicated the bill will be on the agenda in March.
In a statement provided to 1819 News, Butler said, "We send our children to school to be educated, not indoctrinated, but some extremists see classrooms as a captive audience that can be used to force their ideas on the next generation.
"Discussions about controversial topics and extremist social theories are best had between a child and their parents or clergy, not in a classroom and certainly not with a moderator who might be pushing a radical agenda.
"If our classrooms return to a focus on the basics, we can improve test scores across the board, prepare our children to fill the good jobs of tomorrow, and reassure parents that their children are not being forced to accept ideas and concepts that are far outside Alabama's mainstream values."
This is not the first bill in this legislature with language similar to that in a Trump executive order. Earlier this year, the legislature passed and the governor signed the What is a Woman Act, codifying the definitions of male, female, man, woman, and other sex-based terms in Alabama law.
When asked about the provisions of his bill to protect teachers and staff from compelled speech that would require them to use a student's preferred pronouns, Butler said, "Everyone is entitled to pretend to be whatever they want to be, but none of us are required to play along. The sooner children learn that truth, the better adult they can become."
While opponents have said these laws aren't necessary, recent investigative reporting by 1819 News has shown that the Magic City Acceptance Academy, an Alabama Charter School in Homewood, has openly defied current laws on multiple occasions this academic school year — from inviting a guest lecturer who teaches American history has been "White Washed," to their "Parent/Student Handbook," and website highlighting their commitment to DEI and LGBTQ+ agenda.
Trump's Executive Order reads:
Parents trust America’s schools to provide their children with a rigorous education and to instill a patriotic admiration for our incredible Nation and the values for which we stand.
In recent years, however, parents have witnessed schools indoctrinate their children in radical, anti-American ideologies while deliberately blocking parental oversight. Such an environment operates as an echo chamber, in which students are forced to accept these ideologies without question or critical examination. In many cases, innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors solely based on their skin color and other immutable characteristics. In other instances, young men and women are made to question whether they were born in the wrong body and whether to view their parents and their reality as enemies to be blamed. These practices not only erode critical thinking but also sow division, confusion, and distrust, which undermine the very foundations of personal identity and family unity.
Imprinting anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies on our Nation’s children not only violates longstanding anti-discrimination civil rights law in many cases, but usurps basic parental authority. For example, steering students toward surgical and chemical mutilation without parental consent or involvement or allowing males access to private spaces designated for females may contravene Federal laws that protect parental rights, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), and sex-based equality and opportunity, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX). Similarly, demanding acquiescence to “White Privilege” or “unconscious bias,” actually promotes racial discrimination and undermines national unity.
My Administration will enforce the law to ensure that recipients of Federal funds providing K-12 education comply with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination in various contexts and protecting parental rights, including Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.; Title IX, 20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.; FERPA, 20 U.S.C. 1232g; and the PPRA, 20 U.S.C. 1232h.
Apryl Marie Fogel is a Birmingham resident who frequently appears on and guest hosts radio programs around the state. She can be reached at [email protected] or on X and Facebook at @aprylmarie.
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