2022 Kentucky Teacher of the Year testifies before U.S. House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

2022 Kentucky Trainer of the Yr Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. testified earlier than the U.S. Home Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in Washington, D.C., on Could 19.

The committee requested Carver to testify throughout the listening to, “Free Speech Underneath Assault (Half II): Curriculum Sabotage and Classroom Censorship,” which was known as to look at ongoing efforts to ban dialogue in Ok-12 lecture rooms about American historical past, race and LGBTQ+ points.

Carver obtained the chance to serve a semester-long sabbatical with the Kentucky Division of Training because the Kentucky Trainer of the Yr. He has spent the previous a number of months advocating for traditionally underserved teams and dealing to make sure all college students really feel secure in colleges.

Carver informed committee members that as a homosexual trainer, he’s used to discrimination, however he has “weathered the storm” for 17 years as a result of his presence saves lives.

“College is traumatic; LGBTQ college students are attempting to outlive it,” he mentioned. “They typically don’t. Yr after yr, I obtain suicidal goodbye texts from college students at evening. We’ve all the time saved them, however now I panic when my cellphone goes off after 10 (p.m.).” 

Carver mentioned 45% of LGBTQ youth significantly thought of suicide this yr. Forty p.c of transgender individuals try suicide, almost all earlier than age 25. He mentioned “only one affirming grownup cuts suicide makes an attempt nearly in half.”

Carver known as for representatives to go the Equality Act, the Protected Faculties Enchancment Act, and make discrimination towards LGBTQ individuals unlawful to guard all college students from harassment.

“Sturdy public colleges are a difficulty of nationwide safety and ethical urgency, and political assaults are exacerbating trainer shortages, harming our democracy, and, above all, hurting our kids,” he mentioned. “We’re not asking for particular therapy. We’re asking for basic human decency, dignity, freedom from concern and the identical alternative to thrive as everybody else.”

The listening to additionally included testimony from:

• Elle Caldon, a Texas pupil
• Claire Mengel, an Ohio pupil
• Krisha Ramani, a Michigan pupil
• Jennifer Cousins, a Florida dad or mum
• Suzanne Nossel, chief government officer of PEN America, a nonprofit that works to defend free expression
• Timothy Snyder, the Richard C. Levin professor of historical past at Yale College
• James Whitfield, former principal at Colleyville Heritage Excessive College in Texas
• Virginia Gentles, the director of the Training Freedom Middle on the Unbiased Ladies’s Discussion board

The complete listening to could be considered on the U.S. Home Committee on Oversight and Reform YouTube web page, which oversees the subcommittee.