Court Win Inspires 'Teachers Don't Lie'

With a new school year on the horizon, Christian teachers in America’s education system are increasingly realizing the cultural expectation and pressure to disregard their religious beliefs – at all costs.

The cost to stand for those religious beliefs was exorbitant for a Christian educator in California’s Jurupa Unified School District (JUSD). There in Riverside County, Jessica Tapia taught physical education at Jurupa Valley High School, until she was fired over her religious convictions in January 2023.

With aid from legal counsel Bethany Onishenko of Advocates for Faith and Freedom (AFF), a nonprofit legal ministry dedicated to protecting religious liberty, Tapia filed suit against JUSD in May 2023.

Onishenko told The Stand, “Tapia’s students actually found her social media posts on her private social media page in which she was speaking up during Pride Month as well as posting Scriptures, and they sent her posts into her school district.”

The district immediately met with Tapia and placed her on leave, pending an investigation. To resume her teaching position, the district eventually presented her with a list of requirements.

“In those directives,” explained Onishenko, “she would have to use the preferred pronouns of students, and she would have to lie to parents if a student came to her about wanting to change genders. She was required to lie.”

Paying the price

But Tapia refused to lie to parents or students, and for her firm stance on truth, she was fired.

“What happened to me could have happened to anyone,” explained Tapia. “I want teachers to be confident that the best thing we can do for students is educate in truth, not deception. That is why I stood up for my beliefs even when the world seemed to be against me.”

In early May 2024, almost a year to the day after her battle for truth began, Tapia was awarded $285,000 in a settlement with JUSD, with an additional $75,000 for her legal fees.

Onishenko and the team at AFF were thrilled with Tapia’s victory, but they realized many more teachers could be facing similar situations.

“We want to embolden teachers,” said Onishenko, “to stand against similar agendas … in schools across the country. So we started the Teachers Don’t Lie campaign in hopes that we can equip teachers with knowledge of their constitutional rights.”

Continuing the fight

Currently working with AFF on the Teachers Don’t Lie campaign, Tapia continues to stand.

“As educators prepare for the new school year,” she said, “they need to remember to remain vigilant and stand firm in their beliefs. I will continue in this fight through our new campaign, called Teachers Don’t Lie, to ensure that no teacher ever has to go through what I did alone.”

According to the initiative’s website, the mission of Teachers Don’t Lie is “to support teachers of faith who are feeling the weight of the darkness that has infiltrated the education system” and to affirm these teachers’ rights “to be in the public education system without sacrificing their convictions and the truth.”

Both Tapia and Onishenko encourage teachers to visit the Teachers Don’t Lie website (faith-freedom.com/teachers-dont-lie) to connect with this new initiative and to contact AFF’s legal team, if needed. But most of all, they urge teachers to stand firm on the truth of their religious beliefs.

As Onishenko ultimately concluded, “The darkness is not overcome until light shines in it.”

(Digital Editor's Note: This article was published first in the August 2024 print edition of The Stand. Click HERE for a free six-month subscription.)