By Cortney Salt, The Freedom Foundation
School should be a safe place for students to grow and learn, and parents should be confident in their child’s security. In a shocking breach of trust, however, a Jefferson County (Colo.) school exploited a child’s educational environment in the most reprehensible manner imaginable.
In April 2022, school staff assisted a minor student in fabricating a claim of homelessness so she could leave her parents’ home and move in with a teacher, Leann Kearney, who had cultivated an inappropriate relationship with the student through the school’s GSA club (Gay Straight Alliance).
This wasn’t a spontaneous, unilateral decision. The school counselor, multiple teachers, and the principal were aware of the minor’s close ties to Kearney and that the teacher was actively involved in facilitating the student’s false homelessness declaration.
Let the gravity of this sink in. A child, driven by an inappropriate relationship with a teacher, felt compelled to falsely declare herself homeless.
Yet not a single adult entrusted with her safety — not the counselor, not the teachers, not the principal — acted responsibly.
When the child’s mother confronted the principal about the inappropriate relationship, the principal defended the teacher, saying, “Ms Kearney takes interest in helping kids navigate their sexuality.”
“Helping?” By literally grooming a minor for years?
This was a grotesque breach of trust, and almost certainly a crime.
RELATED: Orwellian: Colorado Bill Would Classify ‘Misgendering’ As Child Abuse, Parents Could Lose Custody
Bad News for Teachers’ Unions – New Poll Says Majority of Voters Not Happy With Education System
Now, three years later, the Colorado House has passed a bill declaring “misgendering” and “deadnaming” (referring to a student by their birth name rather than the name they’d prefer to be called) forms of child abuse that must be considered in child custody decisions.
The measure is a direct assault on parental rights and paves a clear path for situations like this Jefferson County story to become the norm. It is a calculated move to strip parents of their fundamental rights and place ideological and political agendas above the well-being of children.
Not coincidentally, three of the four prime sponsors of this bill represent Jefferson County. And all four were endorsed and funded by local and national teachers’ unions. (See, e.g., here, here, and here.)
The same national teacher’s union, National Education Association (NEA), that encouraged teachers to read “Gender Queer” during their summer break donated to one of the prime sponsors. And the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Colorado donated to all four and filed to lobby in support of this bill. AFT not only contributed money to the sponsoring legislators but is also supporting the bill.
In committee, parents who opposed this bill were likened to members of the “KKK” and called a hate group. And during the House’s final vote on this heinous bill, all 38 affirmative votes came from teachers’ union-endorsed candidates.
The only thing worse than teachers’ unions spending their members’ dues money to promote despicable legislation is teachers who willingly allow it to happen on their behalf.
Cortney Salt is the Director of Employer Engagement for the Freedom Foundation.
Editor’s Note: President Trump is fighting to dismantle the Department of Education and ensure America’s kids get the education they deserve.
Help us fight back against Big Government waste and restore power back to the states. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
