Survey: A third of public school teachers want schools to teach progressive gender ideology, and most want more say over classroom instruction

The Pew Research Center surveyed K-12 teachers, teenage students and the American public about controversial school topics and whether parents should be allowed to opt out.

The survey focused on two especially contentious issues: racism and human sexuality and gender.

Nearly two-thirds of teachers (64%) thought students should be taught that slavery still affects Black Americans today. 

One in three teachers “think students should learn that someone can be a boy or a girl even if that is different from the sex they were assigned at birth.” Just 14% think schools should teach that gender is determined by sex assigned at birth, and half of the teachers thought schools should avoid the topic of determining gender altogether. 

However, according to a 2022 Pew survey, parents are less likely to say that slavery still affects Black Americans and more likely to say that gender is assigned at birth. 

Additionally, teachers were more adamant than the general public that parents shouldn’t be able to opt their children out of controversial lessons. 

But despite teachers’ insistence on covering those topics, teens report feeling uncomfortable when racism, sexual orientation and gender identity are discussed.  

In particular, one-third of black teens say they feel uncomfortable when racism or racial inequality is addressed in class 

Neither white nor Hispanic students report the same level of discomfort. 

One-third of all teens don’t like when sexual orientation or gender identity is taught either.  

And while many parents are grateful for the recent increase in classroom transparency, teachers are less enthused. 

Over 40% of educators say their ability to do their job has been negatively impacted by the nationwide debates surrounding these controversial topics. Just 4% said it has positively affected their jobs. 

In fact, teachers want less government and parental involvement in the classroom. 

Most educators (58%) think state governments have too much say in what public schools teach. Many say the same of the federal government (45%), the local school board (38%) and parents (32%).  

The only people teachers think should have more say over classroom instruction are the teachers (71%) and students (41%).