Teachers are willing to talk about race, survey finds. LGBTQ issues? Not so much
According to a Pew Research Center report, schoolteachers are more comfortable discussing the issues of race and history of slavery than sexual orientation and gender issues.
In survey results recently released by Pew, 64% of public K-12 teachers said students should be taught that the legacy of slavery still affects Black Americans today, while 23% said it should be taught as a part of American history that does not affect Black Americans today and 8% should not be taught about it in school at all.
In contrast, 33% of teachers said students should be taught that a person's gender can be different from the one assigned at birth, 14% said gender is determined from the sex they were assigned at birth and 50% said it should not be taught in schools at all.
The lack of discussion of sexual orientation upsets Asbury Park's Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn. "If we are not talking about LGBT issues in school, should my son not talk about the fact that he is raised by women? That his mothers are obviously lesbians? That he is surrounded by a community of LGBTQ people?"
"I don’t believe gender identity should be taught in school," said Angelique Volpe, who serves on the Colts Neck Board of Education. "Basic academics should be at the forefront of our education system. I believe the idea of gender ideology is designed to warp our kids' minds and to put a wedge between parents and their children."
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Topics related to racism and racial inequality come up in the classroom more often than LGBTQ+ issues. The survey found 68% of teachers who’ve been teaching for more than a year say the topics of sexual orientation and gender identity rarely or never came up in their classroom in the 2022-23 school year. But 56% of teachers say the topics of racism and racial inequality came up at least sometimes in their classroom, with 21% saying they came up often or extremely often.
According to the Pew data, 41% of teachers say these debates on race and LGBTQ+ issues have had a negative impact on their ability to do their job. Four percent say these debates have had a positive impact, while 53% say the impact has been neither positive nor negative or there has been no impact.
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy group. The Center does not take policy positions and conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, computational social science research and other data-driven research. The findings in this report come from surveys of over 2,500 teachers, 1,400 students and 5,000 American adults taken this past fall.
You can read the full report at the bottom of this story.
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'The world that actually exists'
"Conversations about race, gender, and sexuality can be held at age-appropriate levels. If parents aren't having those conversations at home, they're not really preparing their kids for going out into the world that actually exists at this time," Quinn said. "My son is in the third grade, and the conversations are being had among kids even if the teacher isn't present to guide them."
Quinn began her tenure on the city council in July 2013, just a few months after she and her wife, Heather Jensen, were among the first same-sex couples to be married in the state that October.
The survey found 60% of public K-12 teachers say parents should not be able to opt their children out of learning about racism or racial inequality in school, even if the way these topics are taught conflicts with the parents’ beliefs, while 25% said they should be able to opt out.
In contrast, 48% of teachers say parents should be able to opt out their children from learning about sexual orientation or gender identity, while 33% say parents should not be able to do this.
"It is disappointing," said Neptune Township Committeeman Keith Cafferty, who has a child who is non-binary. "I hope that (teachers) are saying it because of outside pressure, not because they feel that (LGBTQ issues) are a bad thing to teach. Personally, I think it is important that this subject matter is taught in school. It should be. It should not be left up to parents alone. The state and the government need to make sure it is in the curriculum."
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'Raise our children how we see fit'
"Parents should have complete rights to opt their children out of any gender identity classes and racism classes," said Volpe, who stressed she was speaking for herself, not the Colts Neck school board. "It is a constitutional right to raise our children how we see fit. The school or the government should not force our kids to learn topics that may go against one’s personal or religious beliefs."
She said the history of slavery should be taught in schools, adding that "as a nation, we've evolved and recognized that while slavery is a dark chapter in our history, we've progressed and African Americans have achieved remarkable feats despite the detrimental effects of slavery."
"Racism exists," said Quinn. "Teach it or don't teach it, it doesn't take away from the very fact that racism exists, (and) LGBTQ people exist," Quinn said.
She added she didn't understand "why parents would have an option on that."
"A lot of this goes to how America was formed," Cafferty said. "We have very puritanical roots that have sex and sexuality a taboo subject. I really wish we were more open about it as a country. It is making people feel uncomfortable when it shouldn't."
"I am fine with age-appropriate levels, I am fine with talking about the constructs of gender, the patriarchy at a later age, or racism at a later age or slavery at a little bit of a later age," Quinn said. "But to suggest we don't teach these things is obscene to me."
"There are only two genders," Volpe argued. "It’s male and female. I am strongly against teachers influencing children and supporting the myth that there are more than two genders. You are assigned your gender at birth," Volpe said.
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Partisan differences
Teachers’ views on what students should learn about race and LGBTQ issues differ by political affiliation. Among Democratic and Democratic-leaning teachers, Pew reported 85% say students should learn that the legacy of slavery still affects the position of Black people in American society today. Compare that with 35% of Republican and Republican-leaning teachers who say the same.
Democratic teachers are far more likely than Republican teachers to say students should learn that a person’s gender can be different from the sex they were assigned at birth, at a rate of 53% versus 5%.
"I strongly believe that Democrats continue to push the race card in this country," said Volpe. "They also continue the narrative that slavery still affects African Americans in this country. I strongly disagree. African Americans have the same opportunities as all other citizens in our country."
Cafferty saw the fight coming from the other side. He thinks that "those who are anti (LGBTQ) and making it a core rallying cry, are the ones causing the larger problem.
"We should as a country be better," he continued. "I don't want to see us lose ground because of those who are making it an ideology to be against (the LGBTQ community)," Cafferty said.
Pew reported more teens say they are comfortable learning about racism and racial inequality than say they are comfortable learning about LGBTQ issues in school, 38% versus 29%, among those who say these topics have come up in their classes.
Black teens (33%) are more likely than white (19%) or Hispanic (17%) teens to say they feel uncomfortable when topics related to racism and racial inequality come up in class, Pew reported.
When asked what they would prefer to learn in school about the legacy of slavery, 48% of teens say they’d rather learn that it still affects the position of Black people in American society today. Forty percent would rather learn that slavery is part of American history but no longer affects the position of Black people in American society today.
According to Pew, 25% of teens say they would rather learn that whether someone is a boy or a girl can be different from the sex they were assigned at birth. While 26% say they would prefer to learn that whether someone is a boy or a girl is determined by the sex assigned at birth. A plurality at 48% say they would prefer not to learn about gender identity in school.
Volpe was pleased to hear a plurality of students don't want gender identity discussed in school. "LGBTQ issues are better suited for home or community settings, and that schools should prioritize core academic subjects," she said.
Charles Daye is the metro reporter for Asbury Park and Neptune, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. Contact him: [email protected] @CharlesDayeAPP
Pew survey by Dennis Carmody on Scribd
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Teachers OK talking race in school, but far fewer take on LGBTQ issues