Over $16K of AL classroom resources trashed under GOP gov’s instruction: report

Under Alabama Republican Governor Kay Ivey's leadership, approximately $16,500 of early childhood education instructional materials containing "so-called 'woke' content" were trashed by Alabama Department of Education officials this year, Truthout reports.

More specifically, according to the report, the materials were designed to "help educators positively navigate concepts like race, sexuality and gender identity in classrooms."

Truthout reports, "Upon receiving a complaint from a state legislator — who criticized the discussion of white privilege, systemic racism and LGBTQ families within the text — Ivey's office contacted" then-director of the Alabama Department of Childhood Education, Barbara Cooper, who bought "the manual intended for pre-K educators and entitled 'Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Education" written by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

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Cooper, per the report, "agreed to denounce the manuals as being inconsistent with Alabama's laws, describing them as 'unacceptable' for use within the state. Nevertheless, Ivey forced Cooper's resignation in mid-April, and her last day in office was on May 1."

NAEYC officials wrote in a public letter, "Our nation has a long history of educators, parents, and policymakers who have put their lives and livelihoods on the line in support of progress for children and families; Dr. Barbara Cooper, one of NAEYC’s Governing Board members who was forced out of her state leadership position in Alabama over the use of NAEYC's Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) book, is the latest but likely not the last."

Additionally, the report notes an NAEYC spokesperson told AL.com, "'While not a curriculum, [the manual] is a responsive, educator-developed, educator-informed and research-based resource that has been honed over multiple generations to support teachers in helping all children thrive."

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Truthout's full report is available at this link.