Shawnee Mission teacher alleges district forces ‘woke’ curriculum

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — One Johnson County school teacher said classroom instructors have become miserable.

That high school teacher, Caedran Sullivan, is drawing criticism after writing an op-ed piece for the conservative news site The Lion, saying Shawnee Mission School District teachers are being forced to promote left-wing politics to students.

“There is frustration inside the building. It’s pretty miserable in many cases,” Sullivan told FOX News on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Sullivan told FOX4 she’s frustrated that teachers are forced to attend diversity training sessions. In her piece published in The Lion, she claims teachers are expected to deliver messages rooted in “critical race theory” and white privilege. 

She spoke out against the district for “repeated white shaming” and a “woke ideology.” 

“The decisiveness of the (diversity, equity and inclusion) message is prompting a culture of contempt in the building, which is intolerable for many of us who work there and have worked there for a long time,” Sullivan said Thursday.

Sullivan said she was prompted to speak out when district leaders required that teachers use specific pronouns for transgender students and to refrain from telling parents about it.

The Shawnee Mission School District insists that is not their policy or practice.

Sullivan added she’s received an outpouring of support since speaking out.

“If you challenge any of the narrative in the DEI, you’re just attacked. I just don’t think that’s right. I think we should be able to discuss these contentious issues,” Sullivan said.

David Smith, spokesperson for the Shawnee Mission School District, said Sullivan won’t face discipline for expressing her opinion. People FOX4 spoke with in nearby Prairie Village have split opinions on SMSD teachers sharing strong viewpoints.

“If she wants to express it, whether it be negative or positive, she has a right to. That’s basically it. It’s an opinion. We all have one,” Julie Gottschalk said.

“She’s trying to be the first one to come out and say it, but I don’t agree that all Kansas teachers are miserable. I don’t think that’s true,” Wilson McGinness said.

Sullivan also claimed when she asked school librarians to include conservative voices of color, they’ve refused. She specifically mentioned author Bob Woodson as a voice she wants included.

Smith said teachers have the right to their own opinions. Smith said the district works individually with transgender students and their loved ones on a case-by-case basis.