Military families sue Trump administration to keep their school system diverse
Keep up with the latest in + news and politics.
Students at military bases have been staging protests and walkouts at schools around the world to voice their opposition to the changes in a school environment that previously allowed all students to thrive.
The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia, alleges that recent executive orders signed by President Donald Trump have triggered widespread First Amendment violations within the DoDEA school system, which serves more than 67,000 children of active-duty military personnel.
Related: DOJ appeals block on Pentagon's transgender military ban
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Virginia, and the ACLU of Kentucky brought the legal action on behalf of 12 students from six families. These students from pre-K to 11th grade attend DoDEA schools in Virginia, Kentucky, Italy, and Japan. According to the complaint, their schools have 'quarantined' books, scrubbed curriculum references to race and gender, canceled Black History and Pride Month events, and prohibited discussions of 'gender ideology' under directives from three Trump executive orders signed in January.
Despite being largely invisible to the broader public, DoDEA is one of the highest-achieving public education systems in the United States. It spans 161 schools across seven U.S. states, 11 countries, Guam, and Puerto Rico, educating the children of service members and Department of Defense civilian personnel. It is also one of the nation's most racially diverse school systems.
In January, DoDEA again led the nation on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation's Report Card. DoDEA fourth and eighth-graders scored up to 25 points higher than the national public school average in reading and math. press release.
Related: Transgender Army officer Erica Vandal was born into military service. Now, she's suing Trump to stay in
'These schools are some of the most diverse and high-achieving in the nation,' said Emerson Sykes, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 'It is particularly insulting to strip their shelves of diverse books and erase women, LGBTQ people, and people of color from the curriculum to serve a political goal. Our clients deserve better, and the First Amendment demands it.'
The ACLU's complaint details how DoDEA officials, acting under Trump's executive orders, ordered staff to pull books referencing race, gender identity, or 'discriminatory equity ideology' and relocate them to inaccessible 'professional collections.' Some school libraries were temporarily shut down during the purge.
Among the books reportedly removed: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski, The Antiracist Kid by Tiffany Jewell, and even Hillbilly Elegy by Vice President JD Vance. The administration also targeted picture books like Julian Is a Mermaid and Julianne Moore's Freckleface Strawberry.
In addition, schools canceled entire chapters from health classes on puberty, reproduction, consent, and STDs. The Trump administration stripped the AP Psychology curriculum of its unit on gender and sex—even though the material still appears on the national exam. Students say they are now unprepared for college-level testing.
Related: Pete Hegseth receives jeers from U.S. service members' families at military base in Germany
'By quarantining library books and whitewashing curricula in its civilian schools, the Department of Defense Education Activity is violating students' First Amendment rights,' said Matt Callahan, senior supervising attorney at the ACLU of Virginia. 'The government can't scrub references to race and gender from public school libraries and classrooms just because the Trump administration doesn't like certain viewpoints on those topics.'
The administration's reach has gone beyond textbooks and into school culture. According to the ACLU, the Defense Department has banned official recognition of Black History Month, Pride Month, Women's History Month, and other cultural observances. Even student yearbooks have been scrutinized, with new rules prohibiting any 'visual depictions, written content, or editorial choices' that could be construed as promoting 'gender ideology.' In other words, trans and nonbinary kids of military service members don't exist and cannot be celebrated in their previously supportive school environment.
'Our clients have a right to receive an education that includes an open and honest dialogue about America's history,' said Corey Shapiro, legal director of the ACLU of Kentucky. 'Censoring books and canceling assignments about the contributions of Black Americans is not only wrong, but antithetical to our First Amendment rights.'
The suit names Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and DoDEA Director Beth Schiavino-Narvaez in their official capacities. Students are seeking a permanent injunction blocking the enforcement of school executive orders and a court order to restore removed books and curricula.
'Students in DoDEA schools, though they are members of military families, have the same First Amendment rights as all students,' said Sykes. 'Like everyone else, they deserve classrooms where they are free to read, speak, and learn about themselves, their neighbors, and the world around them.'
The lawsuit comes as the ACLU fights on multiple fronts to defend civil liberties under the Trump administration, including challenges to immigration policies, attacks on reproductive rights, and free speech crackdowns.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
a few seconds ago
- CNBC
Trump directs commissioner of labor statistics to be fired after weaker-than-expected jobs figures slam markets
President Donald Trump on Friday demanded the firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner, hours after the agency reported that job growth in the U.S. had slowed to a near-halt. In a Truth Social post that also directed even more fire at Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Trump accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of being a political appointee who was manipulating jobs data. "I was just informed that our Country's "Jobs Numbers" are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala's [Harris'] chances of Victory," Trump wrote. "We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified," he added. CNBC has reached out to the BLS for comment. This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
Time Magazine
a few seconds ago
- Time Magazine
Oklahoma to Roll Out 'America First' Test for New Teachers
Oklahoma's education department has announced plans to introduce an 'America First' certification test to ensure that teachers moving from liberal states align with its values. "One of the things that we wanted to do is, first of all, make sure that they're great teachers, right? And No. 2, make sure we're not getting these woke, indoctrinating social justice warriors in the classroom," the state's Superintendent Ryan Walters said in an interview with Fox Digital. Walters said that every teacher moving to work in Oklahoma must pass the test in order to begin teaching, and that Conservative think-tank PragerU will assist in the development of the test. 'We put the Bible back in our history standards," Walters said, adding that the 'America First' test would include questions based on American history and 'common sense.' Walters said the teaching of gender identity in other states was one motivation for the test, which will roll out in time for the upcoming school year. 'We started seeing states like California, New York, Maine as well, that are putting out directives… saying 'In this state you've got to teach your 27 genders',' he said. California state law requires students to be taught about 'gender, gender expression, gender identity, and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes… schools must teach about all sexual orientations and what being LGBTQ means,' the state's Department of Education says. None of the Education Departments in California, New York, and Maine make reference to teaching students about 27 genders. Maine has pushed back against President Donald Trump's directive to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls' sports. At the start of his second term in office, Trump issued an executive order saying that there are only two recognized genders. 'We love President Trump in Oklahoma,' Walters said, adding that the MAGA agenda is 'saving education.' Walter also claimed teachers coming into Oklahoma were "fleeing the teachers unions, the grip that they've had on them in these blue states.' In 2023, Walters announced a maximum $50,000 bonus for teachers moving to the state with more than 5 years of experience, and for those in the top ten percentile in the United States. Smaller bonuses were offered depending on length of experience and what districts teachers had previously worked in. A spokesperson for PragerU said: 'We fully understand why superintendents of education, like Ryan Walters, feel compelled to protect their students from the extreme left-wing ideologies being promoted in schools through teachers who often do not even realize the damage caused.'
The Hill
a minute ago
- The Hill
Virginia GOP candidate, CNN host tangle on air over Trump questions
Virginia gubernatorial nominee and Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) clashed with CNN reporter Manu Raju over her past criticisms of President Trump on Friday. Raju pressed Earle-Sears over the Trump administration's cuts to the federal workforce this year, which have had a significant impact on Virginia given its large population of federal workers. 'Do you support the president's purge of the federal workforce, yes or no?' Raju asked the lieutenant governor. 'Oh, okay. If this is the way you want to go, then go ahead. I'm just not going to participate because I want to talk about real issues,' Earle Sears responded, adding that Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and his administration have tried to bring more jobs to Virginia. Earle-Sears accused Democrats of blocking the jobs. 'If they want to work together with me, we can get it done,' she said. Raju also pressed Earle-Sears about her previous criticism of Trump, specifically pointing to a 2022 interview with Fox Business, in which she referred to Trump as 'a liability.' 'Do you stand by those comments?' Raju asked. 'I voted for the president the first time around. I voted for him the second time around and I voted for him the third time around,' Earle-Sears responded. 'I am going to vote for somebody who understands how everything works.' 'I'm talking about who has brought us economic prosperity in the past,' she continued. 'I'm talking about somebody who understands how business works, who understands that the rogue nations of the world have to be told that we're not going to let them fool around with America, that we will protect America, and that's what President Trump has done.' The GOP hopeful added, 'Now because of your politics I suppose, you wanted to keep talking about the past when I've already told you the president and I have been in the Oval Office, we have had discussion, and I'm going to talk about things that should be held private.' Trump has yet to formally endorse the lieutenant governor to succeed Youngkin, who is term limited. Virginia Republicans have raised red flags about their chances in the state's gubernatorial race, pointing to Earle-Sears significantly trailing her Democratic opponent Abigail Spanberger in fundraising and polls.
