COBB COUNTY, GEORGIA: A Grade 5 teacher reportedly lost her job of a decade after reading a children’s book about “moving beyond the gender binary” to her students at Due West Elementary School in Cobb County. Katie Rinderle reportedly read Scott Stuart’s ‘My Shadow is Purple’ in early 2023 after students’ demanded it be read. However, she was then put on administrative leave before being sacked on June 6.
It has been said that a parent complained against Rinderle, accusing her of breaching House Bill 1084, passed by Georgia lawmakers in 2022. As per the Atlanta News First, the law prohibits state teachers from teaching race topics, including Critical Race Theory. However, there is reportedly no mention of gender or sexuality in it, confusing Rinderle and her attorneys about why she was terminated from her position. A school district’s spokesperson, however, noted, “This action is appropriate considering the entirety of the teacher’s behavior and history.” Besides, Georgia also does not allow children below 18 to undergo gender-affirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies.
Who is Katie Rinderle?
Rinderle has reportedly become the first known teacher in Georgia who lost her job because of the ‘Divisive Concepts Law’. She is now fighting against her terminaiton as she told the Southern Poverty Law Center, “This is about a picture book that is celebrating and validating the beautiful differences of students. I had only heard the story or the narrative that the community was revolting against me and that I was not wanted back at my school and that I did not align with the communities viewpoints or beliefs, and that was devastating to me.”
Rinderle continued, “School districts label certain topics ‘pornographic’ and ‘divisive’. Yet when I asked [school administrators] what ‘divisive concepts’ means, they said they didn’t know and told me they would research it. They never told me,” adding, “It’s so important to teach children to be supportive of each other, true to each other and to themselves. The lives, experiences, and self-identities of students should be validated and celebrated. Children are especially harmed when they are not made to feel loved, appreciated, and validated for who they are and their uniqueness.”
Rinderle's lawyer, Craig Goodmark, stated, “She still wants to know what a divisive concept is and how she violated some law that she can’t even understand. When she asked Cobb County what it is that violated this divisive concepts law they couldn’t tell her.”
The attorney added, “None of the reasons given by the district for Katie’s termination are based in fact or sufficient to justify the termination of this exceptional teacher. Georgia public schools need teachers like Katie, and Cobb County seems more interested in playing politics than educating young people. It’s a shame.”
‘We need to be supporting teachers, not vilifying them’
Meanwhile, Rinderle has received an immense amount of support from all quarters. The book's author, Stuart, told the Daily Mail, “This entire thing is so disgusting. To be very clear - there is nothing sexual or pornographic about this book. It's a book of acceptance and inclusion. We need to be supporting teachers, not vilifying them.”
Stuart also took to TikTok to take a stand for Rinderle. Stuart shared, “So a teacher has just been fired for reading one of my books. It had parents reaching out saying this kind of lesson was something they wanted in the class.”
Stuart added, “This is a teacher who gets phenomenal feedback from the principal, her students, and the parents. Her teaching is described as transformative and key to the school's success. This whole thing just really goes to show how much more interested the school system in the US is in playing politics than they are in educating kids. It's gross, it's disgusting.”
