ACLJ Sends Demand Letter About Teacher Who Uses Classroom To Push Anti-Trump Agenda While Silencing Conservative Student

The ACLJ sent a legal demand letter to a high school in Georgia, where a history teacher has transformed her classroom into a forum for political indoctrination while actively suppressing conservative Christian viewpoints. This case represents a clear violation of fundamental First Amendment protections and strikes at the heart of academic freedom. The ACLJ is proud to engage in legal battles on behalf of students seeking to exercise their constitutional rights.

In the wake of President Trump’s 2025 inauguration, a history teacher has abandoned her educational duties in favor of political activism. Each class period, she spends at least 25 minutes – and often more – promoting her personal far-Left political views instead of teaching the required curriculum. This isn’t a spontaneous development; she had previously indicated to students that she would expand her political commentary after the election, stating she “is not going to vote for the orange man.”

Often, she has spent more time discussing these political matters than teaching the required class material. She does not attempt to connect these political discussions with the subject matter of the class, but instead spends the bulk of class time criticizing President Trump. The teacher’s political discussions have included inflammatory claims, including pro-abortion views and dismissive comments about Israel, stating it “needs to fend for itself” when our client expressed support for U.S.-Israel relations. She has shared with her students a variety of outrageous views of the President, from her conspiratorial belief that President Trump has set up a concentration camp for African Americans to her view that President Trump will send women “back to the stone age” and put them in cages.

Our client is a conservative and a supporter of President Trump. Other students are free to agree with the teacher, but when our client responds with her personal opposing political viewpoints supportive of President Trump, the teacher interrupts her by changing the subject and doesn’t let her finish expressing her differing views. In doing so, the teacher has created an intimidating environment that effectively suppresses conservative student expression. This targeted suppression has left our client concerned about potential academic retaliation.

The Supreme Court has consistently upheld students’ First Amendment rights within schools. As established in Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” Moreover, the Court has emphasized that students “may not be regarded as closed-circuit recipients of only that which the State chooses to communicate.”

The teacher’s conduct violates school policies that prohibit political activity during work hours and violates the First Amendment. The teacher allows students with similar political viewpoints to raise their hands and respond to the political issues in her classroom, but she has specifically interrupted and silenced our client for expressing her conservative and pro-Trump viewpoints on several occasions. Thus, the teacher specifically discriminates against our client for expressing her different views. The teacher is propagating and allowing others to share one set of views on political topics but silencing and stifling our client’s differing views.

We sent a legal demand letter calling for the school district to stop this conduct immediately. The school district has until February 17, 2025, to respond. The ACLJ, with its extensive experience arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in First Amendment cases, stands ready to take this fight to the highest levels of our judicial system if necessary.

This case illustrates a disturbing trend in American education where conservative Christian students face systematic suppression of their views. The classroom should be a place for education and the free exchange of ideas, not a platform for political indoctrination or the silencing of conservative and pro-Trump voices.

The ACLJ remains committed to defending students like our client who face unconstitutional suppression of their religious and political beliefs. We will continue to fight against government overreach and protect the fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution. This case serves as a crucial reminder that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and we must remain steadfast in defending our constitutional rights against those who would undermine them.