President Trump’s order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling” is drawing pushback from the American Federation of Teachers union boss Randi Weingarten, who accuses the Trump administration of “doing exactly what it accuses others of: creating division and fear in classrooms across America.” On the other hand, the measure finds favor with teacher Jessica Tapia, formerly of the Jurupa Unified School district in Riverside County. 

“The very thing I was fired over -- the tide has completely turned,” Tapia told reporters. “The very thing” was trans ideology, and there’s more to the story people should know. Hired in 2014, Tapia taught physical education at the middle and high school level. When Tapia gained tenure, the district found no cases where she failed to abide by district and state policies. 

“Instead, her termination stemmed from several of her social media posts, which students found offensive and reported for their content about transgender people and religion,” notes the Los Angeles Times. School officials demanded that Tapia curb her social media activity and agree to follow certain district policies. The teacher refused, citing her Christian beliefs “regarding sexuality and lying.” 

In 2023, the Jurupa district fired Tapia, essentially for things she wrote and adhering to her First Amendment rights. In California, firing a teacher involves a lengthy ten-step process. Compare Tapia’s swift dismissal with teacher Mark Berndt, hired by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in 1979. 

In 1983, complaints emerged that Berndt dropped his pants in front of students ages 7-10 at the Miramontes Elementary School. From 1991 to 1993, reports followed of Berndt’s indecent exposure, public masturbation, and fondling of students. Those reports launched no action against Berndt, who remained in the classroom where he blindfolded students and fed them semen-laced cookies. 

In 2011, the LAUSD agreed to pay Berndt $40,000 as part of a settlement over “immoral” and “unprofessional” behavior. In 2013 Berndt was charged with 23 counts of committing lewd acts on a child between 2005 and 2011. He pleaded no contest and drew a sentence of 25 years, and in 2014 the LAUSD paid a settlement of nearly $140 million to families of 82 of Berndt’s victims. If the parents and students thought he should have been fired back in the 1980s, it would be hard to blame them. 

Last year Jessica Tapia received a settlement of $360,000, including $75,000 for attorneys’ fees. “The settlement is not a win for Ms. Tapia,” the district contends, “but is in compromise of a disputed claim.” In reality, it’s a big win for teachers, parents, and students alike, who recently received additional support.   

On January 1, 2024 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed California Assembly Bill 1955, the “Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth Act,” which bars schools from informing parents about gender transitions by their own children. Federal judge Roger Benitez has allowed a lawsuit against AB-1955 to proceed. 

“Constitutional rights of parents to bring up a child and decide how to handle health care issues are some of America’s oldest foundational rights.” Benitez wrote. “The liberty interest at issue in this case -- the interest of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children -- is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.” The ruling is welcome but the ultimate solution demands a more basic change. 

Jessica Tapia chooses to home school her children, but for many parents that is not an option. In government monopoly education, taxpayer dollars must trickle down through multiple layers of bureaucratic sediment. The dollars should follow the scholars, as they do in higher education. But on this front California sets a poor example. 

In 1993, Republican Gov. Pete Wilson declined to support Proposition 174 and no school-choice initiative appeared under Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Recurring Gov. Jerry Brown opposed school choice, and so does Newsom, who sends his own children to upscale private schools. 

If California wants to be a true national leader, the state should dump the trans indoctrination that divides students from each other and their own parents. That done, grant all parents the ability to choose the schools their children attend, government or independent, just like Newsom. 

Lloyd Billingsley is a policy fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland, Calif.

Image: Ted Eytan