Katie Rinderle

Katie Rinderle is an American former elementary school teacher in Cobb County, Georgia. She is the first known public school teacher fired under Georgia's 2022 student protection laws for choosing a controversial book to read to the students of the gifted program of her school. the Protect the Students' Rights Act (or "divisive concepts" law), the Parents' Bill of Rights, and the Harmful to Minors Law.[1][2][3] Particularly, the school district argues she violated the Divisive Concepts Law (House Bill 1084).[4][5][6][7]

Katie Rinderle
OccupationPublic elementary school teacher
Years active2013–2023
Known forFirst teacher fired under Georgia's House Bill 1084

Career

Rinderle taught for ten years and worked at Due West Elementary School in Cobb County, Georgia.[1][7] In 2022, she took a new role as the school's gifted lead specialist for first through fifth grades.

Termination

On 13 February 2023, Rinderle read the children's book My Shadow is Purple to her class.[1][3] The book features a nonbinary character, and it was voted to be read by her students.[4][8][7] According to the Cobb County School Board, Rinderle read the book during a time block that was supposed to be dedicated to mathematics instruction and enrichment, but Rinderle denies this allegation.[9]

A mother of one of her fifth grade students, who is also a middle school teacher, complained to the principal and assistant principal of the school and to the area superintendent.[1] She claimed that the material contained "inappropriate topics."[10] Rinderle was called to the principal's office twice the next day, where she questioned why the book was available in the school’s recent Scholastic Book Fair if it was not deemed ‘appropriate'.[1]

On 13 March 2023, Rinderle was put on paid administrative leave. The district held three recorded investigatory conferences with Rinderle, the director of employee relations, the principal, the lead investigator, and a representative from the Georgia Association of Educators, Rinderle's union.[1][11]

Less than a month after reading the book, she was given the option to resign or be fired. She refused to resign and was terminated 6 June 2023.[1][6][12] This was done with partial support from the investigative team, though the president of the Cobb County Association of Educators, Jeff Hubbard, said "The decision for termination ultimately rests with the superintendent of the school system...So, Superintendent [Chris] Ragsdale made the decision to terminate Ms. Rinderle’s contract.”[13] Rinderle is currently appealing her termination.[1][14][10] Her hearing is scheduled for 3 August 2023.[1][7]

Responses to termination

Rinderle's attorney Craig Goodmark stated, "Teachers are censoring themselves because they don't know what is and what isn't a divisive concept... Students are missing out on discussions because of that, and the classroom is going to be fundamentally altered because of the censorship rules."[5]

The author of My Shadow is Purple, Scott Stuart, responded to the case,[15] arguing that Rinderle's termination is an example of "how much more interested the school system in the US is in playing politics than they are in educating kids."[4][6][16][17]

The president of the Cobb County Association of Educators, Jeff Hubbard, said of Rinderle's case that "It's very chilling in the fact that teachers now are having to watch what they say on anything because if one person gets offended and runs to the right people; that person can lose their career."[5]

References
  1. Sonnenberg, Rhonda (22 Jun 2023). "Georgia teacher fired for reading children's book about acceptance in class". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on 28 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  2. Owen, Greg (2023-06-23). "5th grade Georgia teacher fired for reading "divisive" book about acceptance". LGBTQ Nation. Archived from the original on 28 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  3. Billson, Chantelle (2023-06-26). "Children's author defends teacher set to be fired for reading inclusive book to class". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 27 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  4. Francis, Chantelle; News.com.au (2023-06-26). "Teacher faces sacking after reading book with non-binary character to class". Archived from the original on 27 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  5. Dixon, Kristal (26 Jun 2023). "Cobb teacher fights to keep job after parent complains about book". Axios Atlanta. Archived from the original on 27 Jun 2023. Retrieved 28 Jun 2023.
  6. Kishore, Divya (26 Jun 2023). "Who is Katie Rinderle?: Georgia elementary school teacher fired for reading book about non-binary child in class". MEAWW. Archived from the original on 26 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  7. Reardon, Doug (2023-06-23). "Cobb County teacher may lose her job over book read in classroom". Atlanta News First. Archived from the original on 24 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  8. Leoffler, Kim (2023-06-24). "Cobb County teacher's job in jeopardy over children's book about gender". FOX 5 Atlanta. Archived from the original on 25 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  9. Tamsett, Maxine (2023-06-30). "Georgia school district intends to fire teacher after she read book about gender identity to fifth grade class, document shows". CNN. Retrieved 2023-07-01.
  10. Bass, Carly (2023-06-26). "Teacher could be fired for reading Aussie children's book to class: 'It's disgusting'". Yahoo News. Archived from the original on 27 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  11. Riggall, Hunter (2023-06-23). "Lawyer: Cobb elementary teacher fired over reading of gender-themed book". Marietta Daily Journal. Archived from the original on 27 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  12. Riggall, Hunter (2023-06-23). "Lawyer: Cobb elementary teacher fired over reading of gender-themed book". Morgan County Citizen. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  13. "Cobb Teacher fired for reading gender-themed-book in class – SPOTLIGHT South Cobb News". Spotlight: South Cobb News. 26 Jun 2023. Archived from the original on 28 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  14. Griffin, Veronica (2023-06-24). "Cobb County teacher fighting to save her job after reading book to students". WSB-TV Channel 2 – Atlanta. Archived from the original on 24 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  15. Thomas, Shibu (2023-06-26). "Aussie Author Speaks Up For US Teacher Sacked Over Children's Book About Gender". Star Observer. Archived from the original on 28 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  16. Hirst, Jordan (2023-06-26). "Aussie author defends teacher facing sack over non-binary book". QNews. Archived from the original on 28 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  17. Fittock, Sarah (2023-06-26). "Teacher sacked over book she read to class: 'Disgusting'". 7NEWS. Archived from the original on 26 Jun 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
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