A Nashville charter school issued a final warning to a first-grade teacher who refused to read an LGBTQ-themed book on same-sex marriage, citing religious objections. The teacher sought accommodation, but school officials denied it and threatened termination. A legal group claims this violates civil rights and state law.
Eric Rivera, a Christian first-grade teacher at KIPP Antioch College Prep Elementary in Nashville, faced a "Final Warning" from the school after declining to read a book featuring a same-sex married couple and their child as part of the language arts curriculum. According to First Liberty Institute, a legal advocacy group representing Rivera, he had no prior disciplinary issues and requested a religious accommodation upon discovering the material.
Rivera proposed that a colleague read the book to his class while he remained in the room to observe, believing this would allow the curriculum to proceed without his direct involvement. However, school officials rejected the request and called him to the principal's office, where they threatened his job. The warning letter stated that Rivera failed to teach the curriculum "with fidelity," claiming students would miss aligned content, despite the substitution ensuring the lesson was delivered.
The principal reportedly told Rivera that the concept of same-sex marriage was so central to the unit that he could not teach any part of it and should be removed from the first-grade classroom altogether. The letter ended with a threat of further discipline, including termination, and noted that a copy would be placed in his personnel file.
"Requiring a teacher [to] violate their religious beliefs in order to keep their job is blatant discrimination that violates the Civil Rights Act," said Cliff Martin, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute. He added that Rivera cares deeply about his students and sought a simple accommodation, but the school implied that those with traditional views on marriage are unfit to teach first grade.
First Liberty also accused the school of potentially breaching Tennessee law by not notifying parents about two books categorized as "LGBTQ+ Books" on Amazon, which require such disclosure. The group's demand letter to KIPP Nashville calls for removing the warning from Rivera's file, ending religious discrimination, and committing to accommodations for employees with faith-based objections to conflicting materials.
