Legislators call on education department to follow Trump order removing gender ideology from schools

A group of Republican legislators are calling on Commissioner Willie Jett of the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to cease implementation of new state academic standards they say conflict with an executive order (EO) signed by President Donald Trump.

Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order that seeks to suspend federal funding from K-12 schools that promote gender ideology or discriminatory equity ideology in school curriculum or teacher training.

“Imprinting anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies on our Nation’s children not only violates longstanding anti-discrimination civil rights law in many cases, but usurps basic parental authority,” says the order.

At the same time, Minnesota’s education department has been in the process of crafting new statewide academic standards which are set to take effect next year.

However, Republicans are now warning that the new English Language Arts standards conflict with Trump’s executive order. As such, more than a dozen GOP state officials wrote to MDE Commissioner Jett last week.

According to the legislators, the new standards “require third graders to use non-binary pronouns, such as ‘they/them,’ in their writing. They also direct kindergartners to read books specifically chosen to highlight the experiences of two ethnic groups, rather than allowing for a broader or more balanced selection of reading materials.”

In turn, the group requested that the implementation of these standards be suspended as they would violate Trump’s executive order and jeopardize federal funding for Minnesota schools.

“Historically, we have taught our children gender-neutral pronouns when describing groups. Nonbinary, however, is a radical gender ideology and is completely different in its intention. These standards mandate ideological conformity rather than academic development,” they wrote.

Referencing an Alpha News story about a recent “2SLGBTQIA+” teacher training, the GOP lawmakers also warned that school staff are receiving training on gender ideology which diverts resources from student outcomes and undermines the rights of parents.

“We request that you provide school districts with clear direction on how to comply with the EO issued by President Trump and that they use their time and resources to provide professional development that improves education,” says the letter to Commissioner Jett.

Alpha News reached out to MDE for this story but did not immediately hear back.

“We know you share our goal to provide Minnesota’s learners with an excellent education,” the group wrote to Jett. “By following President Trump’s leadership, we can ensure that our schools return to their core mission — educating students in an environment that respects parental rights and prioritizes academic achievement.”

Sen. Glenn Gruenhagen, R-Glencoe, led the letter and was joined by Sens. Eric Lucero, Jason Rarick, Paul Utke, Julia Coleman, Warren Limmer, Mark Koran, Steve Drazkowski, Nathan Wesenberg, Steve Green, Gene Dornick, Eric Pratt, and Reps. Jimmy Gordon and Marj Fogelman.

Jett, for his part, recently pushed back on a U.S. Department of Education request to certify that no local school districts use “illegal” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices.

Although Jett said MDE “has long followed federal law in implementing federal programs,” he argued that there is “nothing unlawful in the principles underlying programs that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Luke Sprinkel

Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.