Video Screengrab by I Resolve Movement / YouTube
CV NEWS FEED // Two Oregon teachers have appealed a lawsuit against their school district, following a 2023 district court ruling that their termination over their opposition to school transgender policies did not violate their right to free speech.
Rachel Sager and Katie Medart launched a grassroots movement called “I Resolve” in 2021 to offer “reasonable, loving, and tolerant” solutions to the school districts’ transgender policies, which, they argued, violated teachers’ consciences and infringed on parental rights.
Both teachers, who taught at North Middle School in the Grants Pass School District 7, were suspended and then terminated by the school district over the campaign.
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) reported that Sager and Medart sued the school district, claiming that their termination violated their First Amendment right to free speech, as well as their Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection. In 2023, a district court ruled that their termination was not unconstitutional, as their activism broke school district policies.
Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom and Pacific Justice Institute, Sager and Medart appealed to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court heard oral arguments on June 3, and a decision on whether or not to reinstate the lawsuit is still pending.
According to OPB, both teachers were rehired and reinstated thanks to a new school board majority.
ADF Legal Counsel Mathew Hoffman, who argued before the court, said that the case hinges upon the teachers’ right to free speech.
“Educators are free to express opinions on fundamental issues of public concern—like gender identity education policy—that implicate the freedoms of teachers, parents, and students,” he stated in a news release just a few days before the oral arguments.
He continued:
Educators don’t give up their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate, and public schools can’t retaliate against speech with which they disagree. Advocating for solutions they believe in should not cost teachers their jobs, especially when it comes to education policy, a topic on which they are uniquely qualified to speak.
“Educators who advocate for common sense and parental involvement should be applauded, not punished,” Brad Dacus, president and founder of Pacific Justice Institute, added. “We are privileged to stand alongside these brave educators and continue fighting for them at the Ninth Circuit.”
