Harriet Tubman posters, origami paper cranes and rainbows have disappeared from the halls of an American school at NATO headquarters in Belgium.
Teachers are violating new rules from Washington as they worried they would be seen as a sign of black, Japanese and gay cultures.
But after educators learned that the Secretary of Defense's wife is due to visit campus on Thursday, they rushed to comply with the administration's orders, so that the four people involved in preparing for the visit stay. I asked. Anonymous from fear of retaliation, including unemployment.
As her husband meets NATO leaders, Jennifer Rauchet Hegses was originally part of the Department of Defense education system, and is a campus-wide teaching student from the US military and NATO families. We were planning to visit several schools. She eventually cut off that schedule and visited only her primary school and nearby Canadian schools.
However, mere expectations of her visit were sufficient to send scrambles to implement instructions to the educators, according to the four people involved in the preparation. This is an example of the gusts of decisions emanating from President Trump's Washington sending ripples around the Department of Defense education system. And the world.
Changes have already been made at schools across the department's system. A February 7 email was sent to school instructors, providing a broad overview of the book that the New York Times will stop “cultural adherence,” instructing teachers to drop pronouns from email signatures, and removes them. I went from the classroom.
Over the past two weeks, the system has been led by a leadership material to comply with President Trump's recent executive orders focusing on taking diversity, equity and comprehensive initiatives from schools, federal programs and the military. I have reviewed the library.
At NATO School, the Black History Month material was discarded at the school preparing Mrs. Hegses in the town of Mons, Belgium. Art display with vague references to the rainbow – symbols of gay pride – has been removed. Carts in the middle school library held books related to sexual identity and gender issues, including titles such as “Alliance” and “Gracefully Grayson.” .
But even if they wiped out classrooms and hallways to remove what might attract attention, there were things that administrators couldn't control: teachers, parents, and teachers who oppose government rules.
At the Department of Defense Middle School in Stuttgart, Germany, students left in protest when Jessica Tuckaberry, the communications director of the European department's education system, visited early in the week.
Three people involved in preparing for Mrs. Hegses's subsequent visit to Mons pointed out why her schedule may have changed so that she only visited primary schools. .
When asked why Mrs. Hegses changed schedules, Mrs. Tuckabury said that because “time is limited,” the decision was made to visit only one school, not just a few, but Mrs. Hegses with the children. He said it was intended to allow for more meaningful interactions.
Adjusting the schedule did not block the protest. Dozens of older students and parents gathered in the courtyard in the middle of Monsquas on Thursday, with people who were there saying, and photos reviewed by the New York Times, showing a demonstration of misfortune with recent measures I did.
Asked about the school protest, a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss aspects of Hegses' travel, emailed students that they might feel strongly about certain policies, and the system itself said He said he respects his right to express himself. Follow the school guidelines.
Officials noted that Hegses' wife was not involved in shaping the policy.
Hegses was making waves in Europe this week, speaking on Wednesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels, where Trump hopes Europe will take more economic and military responsibility for Ukraine's defense in the war with Russia. The border before 2014, which he said he was hoping to return to Ukraine, was a “unrealistic purpose.” He also suggested that Ukraine's participation in NATO was not a realistic result of the peace agreement.
On Thursday, Mr. Hegses attended a meeting of the NATO Minister of Defense in Brussels.
On Mons' campus, educators are trying to understand how to comply with Trump's instructions given the school has such diverse and international student organizations.
Librarians primarily based on ambiguous directives directing to remove material related to gender identity, or, as the administrator said, “the topic of discriminatory fairness ideology.” You're trying to figure out if you need to remove the book from the shelf.
And after a January 31 email from the performance from the Secretary of Defense on January 31, when the teacher said such a celebration would “divide the power,” the Black History Month display of Women's History Month and the Knicks plan is being removed.
The email, reviewed by The New York Times, said, “put one group ahead of another — erodes camaraderie and threatens mission execution.”
