After an Elementary School Silenced Her Child, a Kansas Mom Fights Back Before the State Senate

On February 4, the ACLJ proudly stood alongside our client as she testified before the Kansas Senate Education Committee in support of Kansas’s Senate Bill 421, the Safeguarding Personal Expression at K-12 Schools (SPEAKS) Act. Her powerful testimony detailed the viewpoint discrimination and parental rights violations her family was forced to endure at Marshall Elementary School in Eureka, Kansas, and why this bill provides essential statutory protections for all Kansas families.

Our client recounted how a classroom assignment called “Find Your Voice” became an exercise in censorship when her daughter’s sixth-grade classmates named Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump as role models. The guidance counselor, visibly distraught, refused to allow their names on the board and shouted that Charlie Kirk was “not a hero.” As we previously discussed, the guidance counselor then banned all political and religious figures from the discussion while permitting other individuals, including controversial athletes engaged in political activism. The message was clear: “Find Your Voice” really meant “Find the Voice Your Teacher Approves Of.”

When our client met with school officials, the already horrible situation got even worse. The day after the meeting, the principal told the sixth-grade class that they should bring concerns to school officials first – not their parents. When our client requested that her children be excused from the counselor’s class, the school initially put them in detention, then sent them to class anyway despite clear instructions otherwise. Finally, school officials told our client and her family they would no longer accommodate them at all.

Our client presented this situation to the school board in December. They went into executive session for five minutes and did nothing. Ultimately, she was forced to withdraw all three of her children from school. As she told the Senate committee, she went to the principal who defended it; went to the school board who ignored it – exposing a system that punishes students for their beliefs and retaliates when families speak up.

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The testimony was so compelling that the chair of the Senate Education Committee directed a pointed question to the bill’s opponents: “If you listened to [her] testimony about what occurred with her daughter, if nothing changes, what is the recourse for that family other than pulling their children out of school?” That question cuts to the heart of this legislation.

Without the SPEAKS Act, Kansas families facing viewpoint discrimination have no meaningful recourse. They can complain to administrators who defend discrimination. They can appeal to school boards who ignore them. The committee chair’s question exposed what this case reveals: the current system leaves families powerless when schools violate their children’s constitutional rights.

The  SPEAKS Act would specifically prohibit K-12 schools from discriminating against students for engaging in religious, political, or ideological speech or for expressing such viewpoints in homework, artwork, presentations, or other assignments.

The legislation explicitly protects students’ rights to express viewpoints in class discussions, organize gatherings and clubs with equal access to facilities, and wear clothing displaying religious, political, or ideological messages to the same extent as other students.

Our client emphasized this isn’t a war on teachers, but a call for accountability, transparency, and respect for families. She’s right. The SPEAKS Act ensures Kansas schools are held accountable and gives families the tools to protect their children’s constitutional rights. No child should be told their religious or political views make them second-class citizens. No school should instruct children to hide concerns from their parents. And no family should be forced to withdraw their children because administrators refused to respect constitutional rights.

Kansas legislators now have an opportunity to act. We urge them to pass SB 421 and send a clear message: viewpoint discrimination has no place in Kansas schools.

No parent or family deserves to face these critical situations alone. We will continue fighting for student free speech and parental rights across America. If you are a parent or family facing a similar situation, please contact us at ACLJ.org/help.