MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia public school teacher took the stand Thursday trying to reverse her firing after officials said she improperly read a book on gender fluidity to her fifth grade class.
Katie Rinderle had been a teacher for 10 years when she got into trouble in March for reading the picture book “My Shadow Is Purple” at Due West Elementary School in suburban Atlanta’s Cobb County.
The case has drawn wide attention as a test of what public school teachers can teach in class, how much a school system can control teachers and whether parents can veto instruction they dislike. It comes amid a nationwide conservative backlash to books and teaching about LGBTQ+ subjects in school.
“This termination is unrelated to education,” Craig Goodmark, the lawyer defending Rinderle, argued Thursday. “It exists to create political scapegoats for the elected leadership of this district. Reading a children’s book to children is not against the law.”
Officials in Cobb County, Georgia’s second-largest school district, argue Rinderle broke the school district’s rules against teaching on controversial subjects and fired her after parents complained.
“Introducing the topic of gender identity and gender fluidity into a class of elementary grade students was inappropriate and violated the school district policies,” Sherry Culves, a lawyer for the school district argued Thursday.
Rinderle countered that reading the book wasn’t wrong, testifying that she believed it “to be appropriate” and not a “sensitive topic.” She argued Thursday that the book carries a broader message for gifted students, talking “about their many interests and feeling that they should be able to choose any of their interests and explore all of their interests.”
Cobb County adopted a rule barring teaching on controversial issues in 2022, after Georgia lawmakers earlier that year enacted laws barring the teaching of “divisive concepts” and creating a parents’ bill of rights. The divisive concepts law, although it addresses teaching on race, bars teachers from “espousing personal political beliefs.” The bill of rights guarantees that parents have “the right to direct the upbringing and the moral or religious training of his or her minor child.”
“The Cobb County School District is very serious about the classroom being a neutral place for students to learn,” Culves said. “One-sided instruction on political, religious or social beliefs does not belong in our classrooms.”
Goodmark argued that a prohibition of “controversial issues” is so vague that teachers can never be sure what’s banned, saying the case should be dismissed.
The hearing took place under a Georgia law that protects teachers from unjustified firing. A panel of three retired school principals will make a recommendation on whether to fire or retain Rinderle, but the school board in the 106,000-student district will make the final decision. Rinderle could appeal any firing to the state Board of Education and ultimately into court.
Culves called Rinderle as the district’s first witness, trying to establish that Rinderle was evasive and uncooperative. Cobb County says it wants to fire Rinderle in part because administrators find her “uncoachable.”
“The school district has lost confidence in her, and part of that is her refusal to understand and acknowledge what she’s done,” Culves said. She cited Rinderle’s failure to take responsibility for her actions and to apologize to parents and the school principal as further reasons why the district has lost confidence.
Under questioning from Culves, Rinderle repeatedly said she didn’t know what parents believed or what topics might be considered offensive.
“Can you understand why a family might want the chance to discuss the topic of gender identity, gender fluidity or gender beyond binary with their children at home first, before it is introduced by a public school teacher?” Culves asked at one point.
Culves argued that district policies meant Rinderle should have gotten her principal to approve the book in advance and should have given parents a chance to opt their children out. Rinderle said students voted for her to read the book, which she bought at the school’s book fair, and that it wasn’t common practice to get picture books approved.
District officials argued that Rinderle should have known that books were a sensitive area after parents had earlier complained when she read “Stacey’s Extraordinary Words,” a picture book about a spelling bee by Stacey Abrams, who was then running for Georgia governor as a Democrat. But Rinderle said her principal read the book, told her there was “nothing wrong with it,” and said she would handle complaints.
NC State does have 1 scholarship available, and could still add a player out of the Transfer Portal. With that being said, the roster for the Men’s Basketball team is pretty much set for the 2024-25 season.
Non-graduates had to enter the Transfer Portal by April 30th, and Graduates had to enter by May 1st. Jayden Taylor and Michael O’Connell both made public announcements that they were returning, but the closure of entrance to the Portal means that Breon Pass, Ben Middlebrooks, Dennis Parker Jr. and MJ Rice are all set to return next season.
In a world where the Transfer Portal has all but become free agency in College Basketball, with some players switching schools on an annual basis, it’s encouraging that Kevin Keatts not only recruited a Top-10 Transfer Class, but also recruited a majority of the eligible players to stay. Three players that could transfer entered the Portal (I’m not counting Mohamed Diarra in these numbers, who opted to go pro), while 6 opted to continue running with the Wolfpack.
As a result, below is a breakdown of the roster for the NC State Men’s Basketball team heading into 2024-25, realizing the Wolfpack could still add one player (this team is deep).
1 year of Eligibility
Guard Michael O’Connell
Guard Marcus Hill
Guard Breon Pass
Guard/Forward Jayden Taylor
Forward/Guard Dontrez Styles
Forward Ben Middlebrooks
Center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield
2 Years of Eligibility
Guard/Forward MJ Rice
Guard Mike James
Guard Jordan Snell (Walk-On)
Guard KJ Keatts (Walk-On)
3 Years of Eligibility
Guard/Forward Dennis Parker Jr.
4 Years of Eligibility
Guard Paul McNeil
Guard Trey Parker
Despite being committed to USC, defensive lineman Isaiah Gibson still hears from the University of Georgia.Gibson, a Rivals250 and prospect in the Class of 2025 from Warner Robins High School (GA),…
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COLUMBIA – Georgia scored 10 runs in the final two innings of play to sweep the University of South Carolina baseball team, 14-6, Saturday afternoon (May 11) at Founders Park.
Carolina took a 4-1 lead in the third after Gavin Casas homered and the Gamecocks received help from a pair of errors. Georgia tied the game at four with a pair of runs in the sixth and one in the seventh, but Carolina then took a 6-4 lead in the seventh on Ethan Petry’s two-out double.
Georgia took the lead for good in the eighth on pinch hitter Logan Jordan’s grand slam. The Bulldogs added two runs in that inning and scored four in the ninth, highlighted by a Corey Collins home run.
Austin Brinling had three hits to lead the Carolina offense. Petry, Blake Jackson and Casas had two hits apiece. The loss went to Dylan Eskew on the mound. He allowed three runs and two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Garrett Gainey earned the start and struck out seven in 5.1 innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs.
POSTGAME NOTES
UP NEXT Carolina wraps up the regular season with a three-game set at Tennessee starting on Thursday night (May 16) in Knoxville. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed on SEC Network Plus.
Copyright 2024 WCSC. All rights reserved.
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