Ivey forces resignation of Education secretary over “woke” Pre-K book

Dr. Barbara Cooper, secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education, has resigned under pressure from Gov. Kay Ivey for the inclusion of a “woke” pre-K educator resource book in the state’s curriculum.

Ivey’s office said it was brought to Ivey’s attention last week that the book included content “that is simply not in line with what the Ivey Administration or the people of Alabama stand for or believe.”

Ivey’s office did not name the book in her initial release, but a spokesperson for the governor’s office told APR the book in question is the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Developmentally Appropriate Practice Book, 4th Edition. The book is designed as a resource for teachers, not students.

According to Ivey’s release, the book “invokes ideas for teachers that there are ‘larger systemic forces that perpetuate systems of White privilege’ or that ‘the United States is built on systemic and structural…