AIM Texas investigation finds even more lying to parents
May 15, 2023
As part of Accuracy in Media’s ongoing investigation into school administrators across the country, Accuracy in Media uncovered even more damaging hidden-camera footage in Texas.
AIM investigators visited Leander, Texas, schools, to find out whether, like other schools in the state, educators were pushing their own politics into the classroom, regardless of what parents think.
Our investigator spoke to Deanna Perkins, a fourth-grade social studies and English language arts educator in Leander, who was confident in bragging about what she was passing along to her students without any repercussions.
“It’s a touchier subject in Texas, especially,” she said.
Perkins presented what she teaches as coming up naturally in conversations she has with her fourth graders.
“I don’t just sit there and, you know, randomly have a conversation about, ‘Oh, let’s talk about being transgender,’ right?” Perkins said.
But Perkins is opening the door to start a random conversation over and over.
She has her pronouns on her lanyard, which has led to conversations with 9-year-olds about being a “she/her” and conversations about identity, and explaining the concept of pronouns in the first place.
“There are some kids that just, obviously, they know that they’re ‘not like everybody else,”’ she said.
“‘I don’t feel like a girl, I don’t identify as a girl’, and so I want to be that safe space.”
“Even if the kids don’t know, they’re still being represented.”
She said she regularly wears her “protect trans kids” button among others. And she said that people had asked her, “You wear that to school?”
It extends beyond what she wears.
“I will post up my pride flags and I have you know… I have books available. You know, if they want to learn about Stonewall…” she said. She also mentioned how she works LGBTQ figures into her lessons.
Despite saying she isn’t, she is bringing up her own agenda by virtue of wearing her politics on her sleeve in front of curious, impressionable fourth graders. Even knowing that it is “touchier” and after several comments from her peers being surprised she wears it to school.
While she is creating a “safe space” for her fourth graders, she is also introducing complex identity and sexuality issues to children who have not gone through puberty. They are newly becoming more independent, subject to more peer pressure, and beginning to see the point of view of others, according to the CDC.
Like many other teachers AIM investigators have spoken to, she is doing what she thinks is best for the child and to create a safe space.
But what Perkins and others think is best for these children may not be what their parents want for those same children.
These investigations have made it clearer than ever that the only solution is school choice. Click here to join us in our fight. With one click, you can tell your elected officials to promote school choice in your state.