Public schools in Lexington, Massachusetts, make no secret of their left-leaning bias. James Bartlett*, a father with three children in the district’s school system, knew he had to step in after the district publicly stated it would defy a series of executive orders issued by President Donald Trump aimed at dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion curriculum in taxpayer-funded schools. 

On February 4th, Lexington Superintendent Julie L. Hackett issued a statement responding to the executive orders, after the Massachusetts attorney general joined 12 other state attorneys general in a statement opposing them. 

“Our diversity, equity, and inclusion and PK-12 DEI curriculum work in Lexington Public Schools will carry on, and we will continue to prioritize DEI professional learning experiences,” Hackett wrote.

In response, Bartlett filed a complaint through the Department of Education’s (DoE) “End DEI Portal.” 

“It’s just so wrong. Their arrogance is what really gets to me, you know,” Bartlett told IW Features of the school system’s defiance. “They don’t care. Like, that’s what they’re going to do, and they just double down, even when there’s something like executive orders. They feel like they’re protected.”

In his complaint to the Education Department, Bartlett expressed a concern that many families in liberal states share: “Please help us, they have ZERO intention of scaling back, in fact I fear that they are only planning on doubling-down on these practices.”

Bartlett and his family have experienced the consequences of the district’s radical policies firsthand. Over the past few years, he said his children have been subjected not only to politically charged curriculum and classroom signage in Lexington’s public schools, but to personal attacks for their political beliefs. His son, for example, had to endure “vile and racist remarks” when he wore a MAGA hat to Diamond Middle School. 

Additionally at Diamond Middle School, Bartlett said his son was reprimanded after drawing a small “MAGA” banner on an assignment, with school officials claiming his son had violated policies against making personal political statements. However, these policies apparently didn’t apply to the teacher who hung a Black Lives Matter and Pride flag prominently in a classroom, Bartlett said. 

And just this month, the high school one of Bartlett’s children attends displayed a sign celebrating “transgender visibility” and listing pronouns “she, he, and they.”

The superintendent’s own webpage proudly announces that the school district’s “strategic plan” has a focus on “equity.” A webpage with more information on this commitment contains a “tribal land acknowledgment,” and a subsection admits that “a keen understanding of the systemic nature of racism in our country guides the work we do with all students.” 

The website quotes critical race theory (CRT) activist Ibram X. Kendi and favorably describes critical race theory as “a set of tenets that encourages the reflection of how race in particular intersects with history and social justice.”

School curricula also is loaded with gender ideology, Bartlett said, such as a book about “gender fluidity” and cross-dressing that reportedly was assigned in an English class. 

But perhaps the most egregious example of left-wing bias is in Estabrook Elementary School’s “Serious Talks” curriculum, which teaches students from kindergarten to fifth grade about transgenderism, race, and sexuality. 

The 1st-grade curriculum includes an exercise where students are “separated into random groups” for an activity that helps students understand “privilege” by comparing stacks of blocks. Students are assigned books about being transgender, such as “I am Jazz,” a children’s book about the famous transgender-identified child Jazz Jennings. First graders are also encouraged to think of ways that “they can be activists” and complete an “activist project,” Bartlett revealed. 

Bartlett says the school administration has been secretive about this curriculum, which has been the subject of controversy since 2023. An online petition calling for a stop to the curriculum amassed almost 2,000 signatures, causing the superintendent to announce that families cannot opt out of it because “the work that we have been doing in Lexington for the past decade is integrated into all facets of our curriculum that focuses on kindness and inclusion.”

Bartlett described the school’s response to parental complaints this way: “And in fact, not only are we not going to stop, but the reason we’re not going to stop is because … we’re just pushing this into everything.”

Even though Bartlett sent an email to the superintendent after filing the complaint with the DoE, he says he has yet to hear anything from the school about his and other parents’ concerns. 

“There’s just been no reaction,” he said. “And I take that as them just not feeling a threat. That’s the bottom line.”

IW Features reached out to Lexington Public Schools for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

While Bartlett said he has not heard back from the Trump administration about his school district’s refusal to comply with their orders either, he said he hopes the administration takes seriously its promise to start slashing funding from defiant districts. He said Lexington likely receives federal funding for various building projects — funding that could be used to encourage Lexington Public Schools to keep DEI out of his children’s education.

“I have multiple children in the district. My family has been in this town for over 100 years,” Bartlett said. “We’ve had a lot of history here, and you know, I’m just concerned. I have deep appreciation for the town, but I definitely don’t like what’s going on right now.”

*Name has been changed to protect storyteller’s identity.