Tudor Dixon demands Michigan superintendent resign over educational training videos

Michigan's Republican candidate for governor, Tudor Dixon, called on Tuesday on the state superintendent to resign following the release of state-endorsed training videos that advised teachers on how to accommodate transgender students even in the face of parental objections.

"Today, I called for the resignation of State Superintendent Michael Rice," Dixon tweeted. "He doubled down when sickening training videos were exposed. He is unfit for office. Parents will not have information hidden from them."

The Daily Wire highlighted conservative activist Christopher Rufo's publication of Michigan Department of Education (MDE) training videos instructing teachers on how to address students' suicidal thoughts with their parents without disclosing their sexuality or gender identity to the parents.

"If you're sort of into that area of like, 'you're going to hurt yourself or somebody else,' and you have a duty to report — I mean, the law is really clear about that — you can also talk to parents, though, about like that 'your kid is having suicidal thoughts,' without outing them, without saying why," LGBTQ+ Students Project head Kim Phillips-Knope says in one video.

"You can say, 'We have some concerns, your child has shared this' ... I would one-thousand percent recommend working with the student to let them guide that process," she continues. Other videos encouraged teachers to use a child's chosen pronouns.

Dixon specifically singled out Rice for "doubling down" on the content of the videos, which the Daily Wire inferred to be a reference to Rice's Monday op-ed in which he called on school staff to "bridge the gap" between suicidal students and parents who did not support their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Debates over parental rights in education continue to rage across the country. The MDE's approach of circumventing parents on some issues stands in contrast to the approach of similar institutions in Republican states. Earlier this week, Virginia announced it would reverse similar guidance to that of Michigan and instead require parental consent for public schools to accommodate a students' preferred gender identity.