Georgia Teacher Fired for Reading Gender Identity Book To Fifth-Grade Students
A Georgia teacher was fired for reading a book about gender identity to her fifth-grade class.
The Cobb County School Board voted 4-3 on Thursday night to fire fifth-grade teacher Katie Rinderle over the book âMy Shadow is Purpleâ which she purchased at the schoolâs book fair.
Rinderle had been on paid leave until the school board made its decision. Her dismissal is effective immediately, 11 Alive News reported.
Rinderle read the book to her fifth-grade students, ages 9 and 10, at Due West Elementary school in March.
She said her students chose the book from several options for her to read â even though they are old enough to read.
âMy Shadow is Purpleâ features a non-binary boy character whose âshadowâ wears a dress. The book focuses on challenging societyâs gender norms.
After reading to her class, Rinderle and the students discussed the bookâs subject.
âThatâs what our conversation was really focusing on ⌠the power of not only embracing your unique differences and abilities, but then valuing those in others and learning from those,â Rinderle said in a video from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Less than a month after giving her students an assignment on gender identity, a parent complained to the Cobb County School District.
The school district said her choice of book violated Georgiaâs Divisive Concepts Law, which was passed in 2022. The law gives parents more control over whatâs taught in the classroom.
Rinderleâs attorney, Craig Goodmark, said teachers statewide donât know whatâs legal under the new law.
âThe legislature has teachers in fear for their jobs, they donât know what they can say and what they canât say,â he told 11 Alive News.
âItâs impossible for a teacher to know whatâs in the minds of parents when she starts her lesson,â he added.
âAnd for parents to be able, with a political agenda from outside the classroom, to come in and have a teacher fired, is simply unfair, itâs not right, and itâs terrible for Georgiaâs education system.â
Rinderleâs termination hearing was held on Aug. 10. A disciplinary panel recommended that she keep her job. But the Cobb County School District rejected their recommendation, according to Fox 5 News.
Goodmark said he and a teacherâs union will consider appealing the termination and/or filing a wrongful termination lawsuit.
He added that Rinderleâs teacherâs license is not affected and she could go to work for another school district.
Watch the video below.