A Christian former teacher who was fired after refusing to comply with her school district’s transgender policies celebrated President Donald Trump’s executive order Wednesday targeting gender ideology in K-12 schools, calling the moment “surreal.”
“I’m on cloud nine,” Jessica Tapia told Fox News Digital.
“The very thing I was fired over —the tide has completely turned. Now, it’s the teacher who participates in socially transitioning a student that is going to be in trouble. Not the other way around, like it’s been for the last several years,” she added.
Trump’s executive order, entitled “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,” calls to eliminate federal funding or support “for illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.”
President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The order, which also targets critical race theory in schools, directs state and local attorneys general to work with the U.S. Attorney General to enforce the law and take action against teachers who violate the law by “sexually exploiting minors,” “unlawfully practicing medicine by offering diagnoses and treatment without the requisite license; or otherwise unlawfully facilitating the social transition of a minor student,” it says.
Tapia, a former tenured physical education teacher in California’s Jurupa Unified School District, was fired in January 2023 after she refused to comply with the district’s gender policy, which, she says, directed teachers to hide children’s gender transition from their parents and use students’ preferred pronouns.
Tapia explained that the district was initially made aware of her opposition to gender ideology by posts on her social media account discussing her faith and conservative beliefs. After being pulled out of her classroom and into several meetings, the district said it could not grant her religious accomodation request and terminated her.
She filed a lawsuit against her former employer in May 2023, alleging she was deprived of her free exercise of religion and freedom of speech. Tapia reached a $360,000 settlement with the district a year later.
SIMI VALLEY, CA – SEPTEMBER 26: Jessica Tapia of “Our Watch,” speaks at the California Policy Center and PERK (Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids) event, “A Line in the Sand A Rally for Parental Rights” at Rancho Madera Communty Park in Simi Valley, CA on Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The Jurupa Unified School District did not admit any fault or wrongdoing, saying of the settlement last year, “The settlement is not a win for Ms. Tapia but is in compromise of a disputed claim.”
“The settlement certainly does not state or prove any illegal action or discrimination by the District. The District continues to deny any illegal action or discrimination against Ms. Tapia,” a statement from the district read.
Tapia, who now homeschools her young children, has become an advocate for other teachers, parents and students who see their moral convictions at odds with these sorts of policies in schools.
“I’ve heard from thousands of people all across the nation of how grateful they are for the stand I took,” she told Fox News Digital.
Jessica Tapia claims Jurupa Unified School District ordered her to lie to parents regarding their children’s gender transitions. (Fox News)
She continues to share her story and counsel other teachers going through similar ordeals, encouraging them that it’s worth it to “stand firm in the truth,” no matter the cost.
Finding out about Trump’s executive order on Wednesday was a surreal moment for the former teacher, who lost her job exactly two years ago.
“Just to see Trump come in and immediately make these changes served as such affirmation for me, like, ‘You really did do the right thing,'” Tapia said. “It’s hard to find the words for how I felt learning about that. Almost surreal, honestly, because again, it’s like now the tide has turned so completely.”
Tapia said she was thrilled that more teachers and parents would be protected under the law.
“Teachers have been walking away in droves, leaving education because of what it’s become. And so hope is definitely rising,” she continued.
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Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, reacts in front of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. April 26, 2023. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)
Trump’s order was met with criticism from the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers’ labor union in the nation.
AFT President Randi Weingarten accused Trump of unfairly tarnishing teachers and making their jobs more difficult with the executive order.
“Today is a sad day because the Trump administration is doing exactly what it accuses others of: creating division and fear in classrooms across America,” Weingarten wrote in a press release.
