Children at Marshall Elementary School in Eureka, Kansas were given an assignment to write about their heroes. The class was conducted by guidance counselor Kacey Countryman. It was part of a project for sixth graders called “Find Your Voice.”
One of the children said Charlie Kirk. The teacher became incredibly uncomfortable and told the child that Charlie was not a hero. Another mentioned President Trump. At that point the teacher became enraged and stated the children could not include political figures. Yet another student said their role model was Jesus Christ. Television station KWCH spoke with a Eureka parent of a sixth-grade student who recalled that when the student wrote “Jesus,” and the teacher said religious figures were not allowed as part of the role-model-naming activity.
The kids told their parents what happened and the parents complained to the school board. They are now represented by the American Center for Law & Justice.
“When parents complained about this viewpoint discrimination, the school’s response made everything worse. Following a supposed “apology” to students, Principal Stacy Coulter addressed the sixth-grade class and, according to multiple consistent student reports, instructed them that in the future they should bring concerns to school officials – not their parents,” the ACLJ wrote in a statement. “The principal stated that the school should also be considered their family.”
ACLJ alleges that the school district justified the ban on Jesus and Trump was about public safety.
They said “that allowing discussion of Charlie Kirk or President Trump would create an ‘unsafe’ environment or provoke disagreement.”
“This is an unconstitutional heckler’s veto – silencing speech because others might disagree with it. Teaching students to engage respectfully with opposing viewpoints is a core function of public education, not a threat to classroom safety,” ACLJ said. “Moreover, by prohibiting religious figures as role models while permitting secular ones, the school discriminated based on religious viewpoint in violation of the Free Exercise Clause.”
The ACLJ has filed a federal discrimination complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Education, urging a comprehensive investigation into Unified School District 389’s policies and practices. We’re seeking formal findings that the school engaged in religious and political viewpoint discrimination and violated fundamental parental rights.
It’s not education, folks. It’s indoctrination.
It appears the teacher was not so much interested in helping kids find their voices as she was silencing their voices.
Todd Starnes is an award-winning journalist, best-selling author, and host of The Todd Starnes Radio Show.
