A Christian public school teacher resigned in front of her school board Tuesday night to protest its embrace of what she calls “highly politicized agendas” that contradict her beliefs.
Laura Morris, a teacher in Loudoun County Public Schools, resigns in protest of the school board’s embrace of a “highly politicized agenda” that contradicts her beliefs at an Aug. 10 school board meeting in Leesburg, Virginia. | Screenshot: YouTube/The Washington Examiner
Parents, community members and teachers have expressed concern about what they believe is the county’s implementation of critical race theory elements and other “woke” ideologies in the curriculum. They have also voiced concerns about a trans-affirming policy that requires teachers to use students’ preferred names and pronouns.
Morris addressed her concerns before announcing her resignation.
While she expressed excitement about the opportunity to follow her students from last year into fifth grade, Morris acknowledged that she has “struggled with the idea of returning to school knowing that I’ll be working yet again with a school division that, despite its shiny tech and flashy salary, promotes political ideologies that do not square with who I am as a believer in Christ.”
Lots of impassioned arguments tonight from both sides.
One of the most striking moments was this…
This @LCPSOfficial teacher quit right in front of the board, b/c she said they’re forcing her to “push highly politicized agendas on…children.” @wusa9pic.twitter.com/K7KYKLCHA0
— Jess Arnold (@JessArnoldTV) August 11, 2021
The teacher alleged that in one of her “so-called equity trainings,” she was informed that “white, Christian, able-bodied females currently have the power in our schools and that ‘this has to change.’”
“Clearly, you’ve made your point. You no longer value me or many other teachers you’ve employed in this county,” she added. “Since my contract outlines the power that you have over my employment in Loudoun County Public Schools, I thought it necessary to resign in front of you.”
Morris began to tear up as she declared: “School board, I quit. I quit your policies, I quit your trainings and I quit being a cog in a machine that tells me to push highly politicized agendas on our most vulnerable constituents: the children.”
The teacher expressed confidence about her ability to find employment elsewhere and encouraged “all parents and staff in this county to flood the private schools.”
Noting that the school board “shut the doors to the public” who gathered to share opposition to proposed policies, Morris lamented the school district’s “lack of consideration for the growing population of concerned citizens in this division.”
She indicated that she had gained the impression that “a dissenting opinion is not allowed” on controversial matters based on emails she received from the Loudoun County Public Schools superintendent last year.
According to Morris, the superintendent sent a form to her and her colleagues that they could fill out if they heard a faculty member “speaking against the controversial policies being promoted by this school board and adopted in this county.”
She maintained that the ban on “dissenting opinions” applied to her personal life as well as her professional life.
As highlighted in her biography on the Lucketts Elementary School website, Morris taught in Loudoun County Public Schools for five years and has served as a teacher for the past 10. Additionally, the biography describes Morris as “very involved with her church family.”
Morris is not the only Loudoun County teacher to point to religious faith as a source of concern about proposed policies.
At a May 25 board meeting, physical education teacher Tanner Cross proclaimed his opposition to a proposed policy requiring teachers to address students by their preferred pronouns, regardless of their biological sex. He told the board, “I’m a teacher but I serve God first.”
“I love all my students but I will never lie to them regardless of the consequences,” Cross added.“I will not affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa because it’s against my religion.”
Cross was placed on leave shortly after making those comments. But a judge later ordered his reinstatement, arguing that Cross was speaking as a private citizen at a “forum where public comment was invited.” Loudoun County Public Schools subsequently appealed the decision.
While the Loudoun County School Board was initially scheduled to vote on making the transgender policy at Tuesday night’s meeting official, the vote was rescheduled to Wednesday evening. The school board approved the policy in a 7-2 vote.
As previously reported, Loudoun County Public Schools has also come under fire from parents for some books that the county’s children were exposed to in ninth-grade English classes. At a recent Loudoun County School Board meeting, parents read aloud excerpts from the books, which contained portrayals of domestic violence and sexually explicit language.