Idaho bans "Everyone is Welcome Here" in school
Idaho is trying to quash anything remotely related to past protests or DEI.
Emma Epperly writing for Idaho EdNews, reports that Idaho's attorney general has ruled that "Everyone is Welcome Here" signs can no longer be displayed in public schools under a new state law restricting political messaging in classrooms.
House Bill 41 prohibits flags or banners depicting political viewpoints in Idaho's public schools. The Idaho Department of Education sought guidance from the attorney general's office on whether specific signs displayed by West Ada School District teacher Sarah Inama violated the new law.
The attorney general's office determined that Inama's "Everyone is Welcome Here" sign constituted a political statement, citing the sign's origins in a Minnesota movement that began after Donald Trump's 2016 election.
The opinion noted that the Idaho Democratic Party sells similar signs as fundraising items.However, Inama disputes several key facts in the attorney general's opinion. She told Idaho EdNews she wasn't even teaching in 2017 as claimed, and didn't display the signs until 2020 or 2021.
She purchased her sign at a local craft store and did not know of the Minnesota connection."To say that 'Everyone is Welcome' in a public school system is not political, it's the law," Inama argued. She also noted that both state and federal law requires public schools to accept all children without discrimination.
