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KY education leader says lawmakers, not state policy, are making classrooms political

Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass had strong words for Republican lawmakers at a Tuesday committee hearing who said student pronouns, transgender policies and a perceived “woke” agenda are driving teachers out of the workforce.

“The people who are making pronouns and transgender issues and woke issues a priority in our education are politicians. They are not the things that are in our schools,” Glass said. Some audience members applauded Glass after his statement.

The House Education Committee hearing was focused on finding answers about Kentucky’s teacher shortage. Glass was one of multiple speakers invited to testify about what can be done to improve the “crisis” in the state’s schools.

“Woke” is a term for actions and policies that call attention to prejudice and discrimination among marginalized communities. It’s become an increasingly common buzzword used in society, particularly among conservatives and in education-related battles in states like Florida.

House Education Vice Chair Rep. Shane Baker, R-Somerset, asked Glass about Kentucky Department of Education guidance that calls for using a child’s requested pronoun, saying politics were becoming too much of a priority in classrooms.

He asked Glass if he still felt that teachers who would not call a child by a preferred pronoun may need to find another place to work.

Glass said he stood behind his 2022 statement that if a district had a policy requiring teachers to call students by their preferred pronouns, they should follow the policy.

In early October, the principal of an Anderson County alternative school was suspended after a discrimination and disruption to the school environment complaint was filed against him by a school employee.

Randy Adams said in a Facebook post obtained by the Herald-Leader that it was a “sin against God” for him to call a person anything other than their biological gender and criticized state guidance on the matter. The post was later deleted.

Guidance was sought by Anderson County High School staff regarding the use of pronouns after a discussion between a student and staff member, Anderson County Superintendent Sheila Mitchell said at the time.

Central Office staff then shared the Kentucky Department of Education’s guidance, which included: “The involuntary disclosure of a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity, commonly referred to as ‘outing,’ is an extremely dangerous practice. School leaders must balance their responsibility to protect the health and safety of students with their responsibility to keep parents informed of important educational issues.”

Toni Konz Tatman, a KDE spokeswoman, previously provided the Herald-Leader state guidance on the issue that said, “Students may request the use of a preferred name for a variety of reasons; including reasons that do not relate to their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. As a general rule, it is best practice to recognize students using the name that most closely aligns with their identity — referred to as their preferred name.”

The guidance is nonregulatory in nature, meaning that it has no force of law and represents the education department’s opinion on best practice on this matter, Tatman previously said. Glass also provided a similar answer during Tuesday’s hearing.

‘Woke’ issues

Later in the hearing, Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, said she was “amazed” at the woke agenda on the Kentucky Department of Education website.

She said teachers don’t like that directive.

“But it comes from you,” she told Glass.

Rep. Killian Timoney, R-Lexington, a Fayette County Public Schools employee, took an opposing view from his Republican counterparts who spoke out at the hearing.

Timoney said that “massive sweeping statements that we make that have so much power and pit people against each other make education political.”

“It’s not,” he said.

This story may be updated.