Idaho Teacher Speaks Out After She's Forced To Remove 'Everyone Is Welcome Here' Signs From Classroom

A middle school teacher in Idaho is speaking out after she was forced by school officials to remove a poster from her classroom that pushed her "personal opinion."

The "personal opinion" in question? "Everyone is welcome here." How much do you want to guess the school would have had no problem if the sign had said something racist or homophobic?

The school, in the city of Meridian, claims that Inama's sign violated school policies mandating that all classroom decor be "content neutral"—or not push any agenda, basically.

Inama told local news station KTVB:

“They told me that they were in violation of district policy because, in today’s political environment, they’re considered a personal opinion."

That is ludicrous on its face, so after some consideration, Inama decided to go public on the basis that she believes the poster's message is a core tenet of public education.

- YouTubeyoutu.be

Marcus Myers, the school district’s chief academic officer, told KTVB that the problem with the poster is that it does not respect differing opinions.

Which is even more ludicrous on its face, but doubly so given that, according to Inama, the district itself has posters encouraging students to "welcome others and embrace diversity."

Which really sort of begs the question of whether Mr. Myers is lying, in the tank for the Trump Administration's temper tantrums about "DEI," or just a particularly dimwitted coward.

HuffPost reached out to the district to give Myers an opportunity to shed light on those questions, but the website says neither he nor his colleagues responded.

In any case, Inama told KTVB that she is deeply worried by the message the district's move is sending.

“I just feel like as a teacher ... I would do anything to protect my students. I love all of them unconditionally."

That is of course not what is communicated by the sign's removal. Inama has basically been forced by her boss to let her students know that not all of them are, in fact, "welcome here."

On social media, Inama's story sparked outrage, along with many people who applauded her for speaking out.

The district told The Idaho Statesman that their justification for their demands about Inama's poster stem from Idaho House Bill 41, which bans "flags or banners that present political, religious, or ideological views, including but not limited to political parties, race, gender, sexual orientation, or political ideologies."

But the bill has not been signed into law yet by the governor and will not take effect during this school year if and when it is.

How the poster's message even qualifies as "political, religious, or ideological views" under any sane interpretation thereof in the first place is anybody's guess, and according to the Idaho Statesman, the school district has thus far failed to explain it.

Inama has since put the sign back up and intimated to the paper that she may be willing to lose her job over her convictions if need be.

She has since been "overwhelmed" with support from the community, students and parents.

Your move, Myers.