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The Cheney School District (CSD) in Washington, a few miles from Spokane and home to Eastern Washington University, is under scrutiny from parents after a ninth-grade English teacher, Jessie Mattingly, conducted a radical lesson on gender without the school board's endorsement. Parents argue the material constitutes ideological indoctrination rather than core education.
Amy King, a local business owner and grandparent of a Cheney High School student, expressed alarm when her student described the September lesson, noting such sensitive topics should be reserved for health classes, if taught at all. King believes the district is “sneaking” left-wing values past parents, a practice she claims her family has encountered before.
Public schools are laced with people like Jessie Mattingly.
Be informed, not misled.
Most of us do not have children or grandchildren at Cheney High School.
And most teachers are not like Mr. Mattingly. But some are. They feel it's their calling to steal the minds of children from their parents and the fundamental beliefs that the parents hold.
And many of them believe they, rather than the parents, are responsible to "train up the child."
Stacy Davis Gates, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), stated in a June 2025 speech at the City Club of Chicago that "The children are always ours. Every single one of them. All over the globe."
"We should love everybody, but this is indoctrinating values that a lot of people would not agree with, and it has nothing to do with education. I thought they did have to tell us about all of that and let us know so we can opt out of those things if we want,” King told The Center Square.
RE: Transparency and parental opt-out rights.
Via Seattle Red:
The U.S. Supreme Court requires schools to provide advance notice and allow students to opt out of LGBTQ-themed lessons on religious grounds.
While CSD Assistant Superintendent Tom Arlt stated that notice was provided, parents argue the information was intentionally obscured. The initial course syllabus, signed by parents, only vaguely referenced a unit on “personal identity” and contained no mention of gender, sexual orientation, or the controversial “how to be an LGBTQ+ ally” objective.
Mattingly did upload a unit newsletter to Google Classroom, which contained references to gender and sexual orientation. However, as King points out, this method placed the burden of discovery entirely on the parent.
King told The Center Square, “Why would you look for something inappropriate in a syllabus for English class? Obviously, we have to start watching everything like a hawk. You know every parent probably just signs that thinking nothing of looking over it because it’s English class… We’ve always signed a syllabus since I can remember, and you never had to question it except maybe if it was health class.”
Parents who were only provided an email link to the newsletter would have had to actively click through and review supplemental materials, including a video explaining gender roles, to understand the unit’s true focus. The newsletter did not even include a copy of the alternate assignment offered to students who requested to opt out.
The controversial lesson emphasized the differences between gender identity and sexual orientation, stereotypes, and building empathy—goals critics argue belong outside of a Language Arts classroom. One assignment required students to choose a story reflecting a “transgender experience,” alongside male and female perspectives.
Parent to school, "We're in charge of our child, not you."
When questioned, Arlt cited a state law (RCW 28A.345.130) requiring model policies for “inclusive, age-appropriate” materials that teach about “LGBTQ people.” He then classified Mattingly’s materials as “supplemental,” thus exempting them from the rigorous board approval required for “core instructional materials” under CSD Policy 2020.
Despite this policy requiring the superintendent or designee to review materials in advance, Arlt confirmed only that the materials were “supplemental” and repeatedly declined to identify who approved the specific content.
“They don’t outright say ‘be an activist,’ yet, in the cartoon, they’re showing basically that,” King told The Center Square.
Another parent who also had concerns about Mattingly’s class declined an interview but provided copies of the materials.
Center Square notes, "Bo Begalman, chair of the Spokane County Chapter of Moms for Liberty, joined the call for action, emphasizing the importance of local school boards as the 'last safeguard for parental rights'."
“If the parents are not willing to step up or not willing to speak out, you know, nothing’s going to change,” Begalman told The Center Square. “We’re the ones that’re in control … we’re the boss, not their servant.”
"Both King and Begalman are demanding the Cheney School Board amend Policy 2020 to require direct board approval for all sensitive, non-core lessons and materials like those used by Mattingly. They also want CSD to improve notification procedures to ensure parents immediately know the nature of the lesson without having to perform external research," the Square says.
“At the minimum, we should be aware, because this has nothing to do with their actual education,” King told The Center Square. “That’s not right. They’re not supposed to be parenting my child.”
Takeaway
I looked in both Spokane's Spokesman Review and Seattle's Seattle Times for a story on this incident.
Both decided to remain silent as of yesterday.
I searched the news media and found that only TV CH. 26 (Fox) in Medford, Oregon, a newspaper in Everett, WA., and The Washington Examiner ran the story. Correct me if I missed one.
The so-called news media are always running interference for the far-Left agenda.
Each student took home a syllabus at the beginning of the year for their parents to sign. It included a brief rundown of each unit for the year, starting with a lesson around “personal identity.” However, the syllabus doesn’t mention anything regarding gender, sexual orientation, or “how to be an LGBTQ+ ally.”
"Personal Identity" is the Trojan Horse of this attempt to steal the children from their parents' beliefs.
How do they get around the Supreme Court's ruling that parents must be notified in advance of this kind of intrusion into the family?
Here's what the Seattle Public Schools webpage says:
"About Opt Out Requests."
Seattle Public Schools works to provide a wide range of educational opportunities that reflect who students are, help them build empathy for others, and prepare them to be compassionate citizens of a diverse and changing world.
There is no option to “opt students out” of learning about particular identities or groups of people. This guidance is reinforced by OSPI (state superintendent’s office), the policies of other major urban districts (including the states of California and New York), and the outcomes of federal cases around the country. We celebrate all students in SPS.
Learning about identities or groups of people is different from sexual health education. Families do have the right to opt out of Comprehensive Sexual Health Education (CSHE) under state law. Instruction about LGBTQ identities provided for purposes such as bullying prevention, or safe and welcoming environments, is not part of CSHE and thus not subject to an opt-out provision.
Please, parents and grandparents, be aware that, in many cases, public schools are indoctrinating rather than educating. This is not just one case. It is not isolated to the Cheney School District in Washington State.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.
