Indoctrination Watch
“The U.S. Department of Education is committed to ensuring all students have access to meaningful learning free of divisive ideologies and indoctrination. This submission form is an outlet for students, parents, teachers, and the broader community to report illegal discriminatory practices at institutions of learning. The Department of Education will utilize community submissions to identify potential areas for investigation.”
That’s a goal humanists can get on board with, but unfortunately the Department of Education has a different kind of “ideologies and indoctrination” in mind – they’re afraid of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in America’s schools; the language above is the heading of a new informant portal launched by the Department of Education called “EndDEI.ed.gov.”
Evidence shows that supportive and inclusive learning environments lead to better outcomes for all students, regardless of whether or not students directly benefit.
So, instead of snitching on educators who do their actual jobs to support students, let’s give the Administration what they’re asking for: verifiable reports of education agencies deploying divisive ideology that’s discriminatory and harmful– like putting bibles in schools.
Humanists, help us flood the Trump Administration’s form with a unified message that turns their own language against them. Louisiana and Oklahoma are trying to enact policies that force public schools to display the ten commandments or teach the bible. These efforts are illegal and discriminatory divisive ideologies intended to indoctrinate America’s youth.
This portal is not a useful way to submit complaints of discrimination in the hope of support or a local change. (The Office of Civil Rights maintains a separate system for complaints.) The portal also is not safe for individual people to share information about themselves, their families, or their communities that could make them a target. Privacy should not be assumed. Lastly, the portal is not a good venue for sharing great examples of schools proactively working to protect students and provide inclusive education.
Ready to help? Here’s the text. Copy and paste it directly into the portal, accessible here:
School or School District: States of Louisiana and Oklahoma
Zip Code: (Pick a number) 70001 through 71497, or 73001 through 74966
Please describe in as much detail as possible the discriminatory practice taking place:
Since June of 2024, educators, lawmakers, and education agencies in Oklahoma and Louisiana have attempted to subject students to discriminatory and illegal practices that push divisive ideologies in an attempt to indoctrinate America’s youth. These aggressions require immediate investigation by the Department of Education.
In Oklahoma, Ryan Walters, the State Superintendent of Public Education, issued a memo on June 27, 2024 requiring all Oklahoma schools to “incorporate the Bible, which includes the Ten Commandments, as an instructional support into the curriculum across specified grade levels, e.g., grades 5 through 12” with immediate effect. Further guidance from Walters requires middle school classrooms to compare biblical myths “with the myths of other cultures”, and requires high school students to write essays on the christian bible’s “role in literature, history, and culture.” The guidance’s assertion that “maintaining neutrality and objectivity is crucial” is laughable; any requirement that a specific religious text be forced into curricula fails objectivity or neutrality, it is a clear form of indoctrination, promoting a divisive ideology. Oklahoma is in the middle of a legal battle to defend its indoctrination agenda and the Oklahoma Supreme Court recently (March 11, 2025) rightly blocked the state’s attempt to purchase christian bibles. While this case is ongoing, I urge the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the Oklahoma Department of Education’s attempted indoctrination of students.
In Louisiana, the state has attempted to force teachers to display a version of the ten commandments in every public classroom through H.B. 71, signed into law on June 19, 2024. If allowed to be enacted, all families, regardless of their faith, will be forced to explain why their schools are promoting this specific version of the abrahamic faiths’ ten commandments. Like Oklahoma, Louisiana State is currently embroiled in a lawsuit to defend its agenda against Christian, Jewish, nonreligious, and other families. The coercive ideology present in the state’s attempt to thwart the religious freedom of families in the state is abhorrent. Insisting that school’s violate parental rights to guide the religious and moral upbringing of their children is a clear violation, warranting immediate action by the Department of Education in service of its commitment “to ensuring all students have access to meaningful learning free of divisive ideologies and indoctrination.”
Thank you for your commitment to America’s students.