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Senate education committee rejects bill shielding teachers who decline to use students’ preferred pronouns
Summary
After nearly three hours of testimony, the Senate Education Committee voted down House Bill 17‑49, which would have protected teachers from discipline for refusing to use students' preferred pronouns. Mental‑health professionals warned the measure could harm transgender students; faith and free‑speech groups supported the bill.
Representative L. Bentley introduced House Bill 17‑49 to establish that a public school employee may not be compelled to use a pronoun, title or other identifier inconsistent with a student’s biological sex and to protect employees from discipline for declining such speech. The sponsor said the measure is narrowly focused on teachers’ First Amendment rights and does not repeal anti‑discrimination laws.
The committee imposed a two‑minute limit for public testimony and then heard from more than a dozen witnesses. Stacy O’Brien, a 17‑year Arkansas classroom teacher, said students ‘‘put enormous, fragile trust in their…
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