She's always fighting for Colorado kids and kids all over the country. She was just a mom, just a mom hanging out when she found out that her daughter was being asked to join a club and then being told she was trands, and on and on, And we're going to get to that in a second. With Aaron Lee with Protect Kids Colorado. Aaron, good to see again.
First of all, hey me, any, thanks for having me.
So we have so much to talk about. We started out on Monday communicating you were to conference. I'm like, oh, we have to talk about what's in the DPS contract. Well, since then, the DPS contract has been ratified by the teachers. But what was so egregious about what was in that contract that got the ire of not just Protect Kids Colorado, but other parental organizations.
Yeah, well, I through Defending Education, we followed a formal letter asking them to remove all of the mandated diversity, equity and inclusion. So, if you were to do a word search on this bargaining agreement, the number one you used.
Word as equity.
It is throughout the entire thing mandatory training for equity, mandatory hiring standards which are very clearly biased and discriminatory mandating that you must hire a certain amount of people of color, really just forcing DEI.
Into the classroom.
And this is a school district where less than thirty percent of the kids can read and do mathic grade level. Yet they're focusing all of their attention and money. Really, our taxpayer dollars are going towards DEI rather than learning.
In the contract, how much was about hiring teachers that have a proven track record of success, like really excellent teachers, or or accountability for teachers that may not be performing at the highest level.
How much of that is in there as I read it? Nothing?
And as we're seeing school districts like DPS taking away merit based ranking for students, they're also not worried about merit and they're hiring practices just equity and DEI.
One of the most frustrating thoughts that is so pervasive among those who are just completely wedded to DEI is that if you just get a teacher in front of a student that looks like them, right flying that brown students can only learn from brown teachers. Black students can only learn from black teachers. Now, don't get me wrong, I would love to have role models of every stripe in every school. You know, upstanding people from all walks
of life. But the notion that a black or brown kid can't learn from a great white teacher is just stupid. It's just dumb, and it's insulting and it's racist, frankly, and it sounds like they just codified that all into their contract.
They did.
Yeah, we specifically asked them to take out Article thirty one, which was focused on equity hiring and training. They have mandatory DEI training, mandatory DEI hiring requirements, and we asked them to remove that.
They did not.
They went and ratified this agreement in with that still intact. One thing they did do was replace references to race and color with the term marginalized groups instead.
So different.
It's semantics gate, you know, a game of semantics. But the end result is the same.
And this is not all the Denver Public Schools has been up to. They have now found themselves in the cross pairs of the Trump administration. You would think for everything we just talked about the fact that the teachers union contract is riddled with the word equity more than any other word in the contract. But no, the Trump administration is now paying closer attention because of bathrooms.
Tell me what is going on there?
Yeah, well, one thing I should have mentioned is that, yes, it's horrible that DEI is littered throughout, but they're breaking law.
It's unconstitutional for them to force DEI the way that they are.
So DPS early on in the Trump administration, back in January, actually back in winter break, they refurbished their female bathroom at East High School into an all gender bathroom, but left the male bathroom intact. So they eliminated the only single sex space for females and left the male bathroom. So males can use any bathroom, females can only use one that'll also allows males in. And so the Trump administration sent them a very strongly worded letter and opened
a Title nine investigation on Denver Public schools. And now yesterday they have the findings of their investigation and they are in no uncertain terms demanding that DPS change these policies that allow males to use female single sex spaces or else.
So what I find remarkable, Aaron, is where are the parents here? This is I you know, I realized that a lot of parents, especially single parents, they're working, they're doing all of these things. But dang, make a phone call, like, pick up the phone.
And say it's not okay.
This should not be okay that girls now don't have an option to pee at school if they're uncomfortable being in a bathroom.
With a boy. That's ridiculous.
And please, for that person who's about to text me, why is he 'tcomfortable the way that the back.
I don't care why she's uncomfortable.
She deserves to have a space where she can go urinate without feeling like she is under attack, and like it or not, that's just the way things are.
Well, this is just so stupid.
So what is Has the school district responded to your knowledge that?
No, it seems like they're doubling down. It's my understanding.
They actually added another all gender bathroom instead of backtracking on eliminating the female spaces. And it's important to point out that, you know, I believe transgenderism facilitates misogyny.
They didn't eliminate the male bathroom.
They eliminated the female single sex space. And to your point, where are the dads like parents in general? Yes, but why are these board meetings not packed out with angry fathers wanting to protect their daughters. As we saw in Loudon County, Virginia, the whole state election was shifted by girls being raped in their bathroom by trans identified males. So there clearly are real serious ramifications of allowing males
into these female spaces. We're not asking for a whole lot, and it's not discriminatory to say that Title nine should be upheld.
Aaron Lee is my guest with Protect Kids Colorado. Now, Aaron, I want to Aaron was just a mom whose daughter found herself being invited to what was supposed to be an art club meeting turned out to be a gender identity situation and created havoc for her daughter, and Aaron
found herself thrust into the spotlight a little bit. But boy, I'm going to say, you have really strapped on the battle armer rhetorically speaking, and I am just amazed at how you continue to just engage and engage and engage. Let's talk about the fact that Aaron Lee is now going to have a case heard at the Supreme Court.
Hopefully we have filed our certain petition to the Supreme Court for them to take up the case. There are four secret school transitions that have been or will be filed, and so I hope that ours is the one that's heard, or at least there's a consolidation and we're considered. But I think this issue will be decided at the Supreme Court, probably in the spring session. They'll decide and fall whether
or not to hear them. But they've really taken a liking to the transgender issue and recognize there such a great area around parents'.
Rights, and the basis of my lawsuit is.
Really common sense to do parents have the right to direct the care, custody and control of their children?
Ye?
Or does that right belong to the state And as we know, that is an inalienable right that belongs to parents.
Well, I agree, aarin. So when will you know if they're taking up your case?
So hopefully September or October when they call conference, they will make that decision. But again, you know, it's a big deal for it to be sitting there. Pam Bondi actually was our lead attorney before she took another job, So there's a lot of eyes on this issue and on this case. And it wouldn't just set precedent here in Colorado, that would set precedent in the entire country that schools must pass a policy that parents will be notified when their child is transitioned.
Like I wasn't.
Yeah, I think for sure. I realized that the people who say, you know, we're protecting the kids, that is an assumption that every parent is the kind of parent who would react badly and abusively to a child, And that assumption is flat out wrong. So I'm glad you guys are fighting this. What else were we going to talk about, because I gotta take a break. What was the other thing?
Erin?
We were stacking them all up before we did this.
Uh, well, our thirteenth twelve lawsuit, so defending EDCPAN and PKCEE. We filed this letter to DPS, but we also filed a federal lawsuit against house built thirteen twelve.
Well, you know what, We're going to talk about that later when the lawsuit moves further along. We'll talk about that later. But keep doing what you're doing protect kids. Colorado is a wonderful organization. If you as a parent or a grandparent, even if your kids are out of the schools, you need to understand that some of the stuff that's going on is absolutely crazy and they're helping protect our kids.
Erin, Thanks so much for your time today, Thanks for having me