Posted:
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
A Message from President Robert Richardelli
School districts across the country have been dragged into partisan fights over curriculum, teachers' personal views and actions, and what districts do to make students feel included. Oftentimes when an organization is under a spotlight, people will try to take advantage of that spotlight for their own personal gain. That is why we want to warn all of our members to keep an eye out for unusual behavior in schools and be careful what you say.
Recently a group known as Project Veritas released a video from the Jericho school district in which they secretly recorded and selectively edited teachers in the district who were working with LGBTQ students in the district. This video was selectively edited to play into a narrative that teachers are pushing a radical agenda on our students. This group has been around for over a decade making these types of videos and has focused on a number of high-profile organizations including Planned Parenthood, NPR, ACORN, and Pfizer.
Their simple purpose with this video is to discredit union educators. We recommend that all teachers be vigilant with what they say publically, especially around work-related topics, and remember that no matter what you say, assume you are being recorded. Be careful what you say in the classroom and be wary if someone you don't know or who doesn't work for the district suddenly wants to meet with you, especially if they want to discuss controversial topics.
If anyone does reach out to you with a request like this, please notify your building rep or an executive board member immediately.