California teacher out after supporting Antifa ideologies

[ripcord]

Source: CalCoastNews.com

A California high school teacher who openly supported the Antifa movement, and incentivized his students to participate in some of its activism, has been placed on administrative leave and will be fired, according to the district he works for.

Gabriel Gipe taught advanced placement government at Inderkum High School in Sacramento, part of the Natomas Unified School District. Gipe became thrust into the local and national spotlight after Project Veritas, a conservative advocacy journalism group, recently published a video in which an undercover reporter spoke with teacher about his views and approach to teaching.

Gipe posts a calendar every week with political events connected to the Antifa movement and other activist circles that students can get extra credit for attending, he said in the Project Veritas video. The teacher has had students show up for protests, community events, tabling and food distribution. Students must go to the events, take photos and then write a reflection in order to receive extra credit, Gipe said.

Additionally, the government teacher requires students to take an ideology quiz revealing where they lie on a political spectrum. Then, students must give Gipe photos of themselves, and the teacher places them on a class wall, aligned left to right based on political views, he said.


Read more: https://calcoastnews.com/2021/09/california-teacher-out-after-supporting-antifa-ideologies/

---

Project Veritas strikes again.

[msongs]

1. we would criticize a teacher who did these things from a right wing point of view nt

[ripcord]

2. Unfortunately I have to agree with you

I just hate Project Veritas getting any attention.

[MyOwnPeace]

6. ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

It is difficult, but mandatory, as an educator to be 'neutral' in your classroom environment.
While I feel sorry for this guy (but then again, he should have known better - well, you know, just like those 'tourists' at the Capital on January 6!) - there was an administrator or more that missed the way this class was being run.
Shame on them all - and it paints a dark picture for those of us that DO believe in non-biased education - BUT demand the right to allow the students to learn and develop good judgmental and reasoning skills - void of any particular ideology.

[ancianita]

12. Teaching ABOUT any ideologies is not inculcating the content. People need to know the difference.

This teacher might be criticized, but he needn't lose his job just because anti-fascist activity outside of class applies a concept that is well known in post WWII Europe. After all this is an Advanced Placement level, college level, class that gets college credit after an AP exam.

As part of a year-long World Literature course, I taught seniors about the 11 out of the major 12 world religions, but never once got accused of inculcating those into my students. The religion unit didn't require attending religious celebrations or places of religious services. When I didn't teach the basics of Christianity, the students asked why; I told them it was because they were already exposed to its basics. The same went for major world philosophies (including the philosophy of religion) which they had to research and then present in panels.

This situation can fall into an argument about whether the teacher's content fits the AP curriculum or not, and if it does, whether or not the public can tell the teacher HOW to teach the content.

[LeftInTX]

16. I got the impression from Project Veritas that he only had left wing stuff on his classroom walls

Mao Tzedong poster and a big Antifa flag
To be fair, he may have had more diverse stuff up that Veritas didn't show.

[groundloop]

32. EXACTLY.... Project Veritas certainly doesn't go out of the way to be truthful

I wouldn't put it past those bastards one bit to show only part of the story in order to make the instructor look worse.

[MyOwnPeace]

29. I certainly APPRECIATE your delineation of appropriate procedures.....

and I'd be more than willing to support your approach to the curriculum as you've described.

What I saw/understood from the OP is that this teacher/instructor expected participation in some activities that were of one particular political lean. The other 'concerning' action was the 'taking an ideology quiz' - revealing where they may be on a political spectrum.

The teacher seems to have provided plenty of evidence that he has suggested/encouraged actions that lean towards one particular political spectrum - and THAT is enough to suggest that the school district needs to consider how these actions actually meet the standard of (gawd, I hate to say it THIS way) fair and unbiased educational content.

[ancianita]

35. It's not MY delineation of appropriate procedures. It is professional teaching philosophy,

taught in schools of education.

The OP doesn't note that the context of this situation is a nine month school year, and thereby implies to the public that this teacher spends the whole nine months engaging in these actitivities. Most of us who've taught advanced high school subjects know that any subject will bore students after a week, nevermind a month and certainly not a whole nine months.

The outrageous painting of a unit or short-time period snap shot of this teacher, is not any fair look at his body of work; it's not the context of his years's previously examined and approved long term and short term and weekly plans, lessons and activities.

" Seems " is the right word for the untrained eye who observes much less than any professional observer in a class.
"Evidence" of classroom decor and student activities in a unit prove the professional program for the whole year? I doubt it.

Teachers are regularly observed by their peers as part of their yearly evaluation and rating process. None of that was mentioned. Teachers get all kinds of feedback from their dept chairs, colleagues, parents at parent-teacher meetings, and their instructional leader and final evaluator, the principal.

My question is, why is one teacher's firing a matter of national news.

Any cop can follow a traffic judge, catch him breaking a rule of the road at some point and try to ruin his career.
That's what Project Veritas tried, and that's what this was.

[Bluethroughu]

33. I have a problem with scratch the surface teaching.

This teacher made one mistake, posting the pictures of students in divided categories. I think he should have been repremanded for only that.

He is trying to encourage community service, and critical thinking, two critical features of a productive happy healthy society, something the US is lacking because of conservative exceptionalism taught for the last 40 years in public and private schools. Switzerland doesn't exist in the classroom, only facts do.

There is no Antifa, there are anti-fascists. Those are the same kind of people that saved the world from the group of degenerates that have certainly inspired the GOP.

[kelly1mm]

36. If he had allowed students extra credit for Proud

Boys rallies or QAnon activities as well as Antifa and similar activities then it would be fine. If you only allow one it is a problem. If he had ONLY allowed extra credit for Proud Boys activities would that be OK?

[Bluethroughu]

43. Black lives matter activities are NOT on the same level as Proud Boys or

White supremacists or incels.

Antifa was coined by rump because he knew the RWNJs wouldn't look any further than a name. Anti-fascists are good people fighting against fascism.

He didn't tell the kids to go to the Black Block and bust out windows.

He said food drives, groups advocating for an issue, and organizing. This is what you do in a healthy democracy.

The teacher should not be at fault because his beliefs are of the moral majority.

Do you believe kids should pray the gay away in school and have the poor black kids wait on the others for a free lunch? Should we teach those policies that the GOP has tried to pass around the country, how about the good guys on both sides?

[kelly1mm]

47. I think that if you are saying that groups such as antifa

Are allowed for extra credit in class then other groups such as proud boys and QAnon should be allowed. Perferably none of the above would be allowed for extra credit.

[Tiger8]

77. Why not teach about ALL major forms of activism?

Give students an unbiased education on politics - and most will land somewhere left of center.

Ask them thought provoking questions....

1. Why does a wealthy or high income person vote Democratic, despite promises to raise their taxes?
2. Why does a poor person vote Republican, despite promises to cut food stamps and health care?
3. Why does a black guy join Proud Boys and carry a confederate flag at the 1/6 insurrection?
4. How do family background, economics, culture, propaganda, media bias, religious indoctrination, grooming affect a person's political views?

My extra credit project would be to write a 3-5 page term paper on the following:

Compare and contrast the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and Green Party policy positions on Climate Change. Who benefits by each position....and who pays the cost? What do scientists say about Climate? How does the media influence public opinion on climate change?

Smart kids want to develop their critical thinking skills - and NOT to be indoctrinated.

[Scrivener7]

3. Except there is no such thing as an "Antifa movement."

There is a little tiny group in Oregon.

It isn't a movement.

The rest of the stuff that is named "Antifa" by RWNJs and the media is simply people who have lost their tempers at right wing assholery.

[DURHAM D]

4. That was my thought.

Was he just making up shit?

He does seem a little (maybe a lot) crazy.

[Scrivener7]

5. Or is Calcoast News a bogus publication?

The comments seem full of RWNJs.

[LeftInTX]

18. I saw his interview. It was 12 miinutes long.

He's wearing an antifa shirt while he's being interviewed.

Comments are always full of RWNJs

[Socal31]

8. Errr...

Nobody buys this, I dont understand why it still persists.

Of all the hills to sacrifice one's credibility on, "Antifa isnt a movement" is probably the most useless.

[Jedi Guy]

11. "I dont understand why it still persists."

It's simple, really. It persists because it allows for plausible deniability. Whenever some Antifa or aligned group does something stupid/violent/illegal, it allows people to say, "Oh, they're not really Antifa, because Antifa isn't a thing." It's just setting up the defense and making it easier to dissociate the bad actors from the group.

[Scrivener7]

31. Sure. Because you say so. Watch out! Antifa is under your bed!

[Jedi Guy]

63. So it's your assertion that there is no "Antifa movement"?

And the only people calling themselves "Antifa" are a small group in Oregon? Really? That's the most utterly ridiculous assertion I can remember hearing/reading in the last few months. Congrats, I guess.

[Scrivener7]

67. Who is their leader? Where is their base? How do they identify themselves?

[Jedi Guy]

80. None of which is required for a movement. N/T

[Scrivener7]

84. .

[Jedi Guy]

85. Yeah, the laughing emoji is pretty appropriate, given how silly your assertion is.

Though I suppose the jester emoji would be even more so.

[billh58]

72. Who are Antifa?

* Antifa is a decentralized, leaderless movement composed of loose collections of groups, networks and individuals.

* Persistent disinformation campaigns about antifa distort public perception of the movement.

* Antifa’s professed purpose is to vigorously opposing fascism. While some extreme actors who claim to be affiliated with antifa do engage in violence or vandalism at rallies and events, this is not the norm.

* Because there is no unifying body for antifa, it is impossible to know how many adherents are currently active. Different localities have antifa populations of different strengths, but antifa adherents are also sometimes willing to travel hundreds of miles to oppose a white supremacist event.

https://www.adl.org/antifa

antifascist
[ˌan(t)ēˈfaSHəst, ˌanˌtīˈfaSHəst]

NOUN

a person who is opposed to fascism or to extreme right-wing authoritarianism.
"a thousand antifascists marched through the streets"

Anti-fascism is more of a personal philosophy and is not an organized movement with a "membership."

[Jedi Guy]

81. "Antifa is a decentralized, leaderless MOVEMENT..." N/T

[billh58]

87. Nice bit of selective

misquote: the key words are "decentralized leaderless movement," and "persistent disinformation campaigns about antifa distort public perception of the movement." Although I don't identify as an anti-fascist, I do agree with their goals and political views, but I really don't want to continue this pissing match.

I will be placing you on ignore, so I won't see any response. Please enjoy the rest of the Labor Day weekend.

[Jedi Guy]

88. Ignore me or not, I don't particularly care.

But defining it as a "decentralized leaderless movement" in an attempt to prove that it's not a movement is laughable.

[DashOneBravo]

61. Yep

[reACTIONary]

23. Not at all true. There are...

.... antifa organizations and black bloc groups in almost all major cities. But I think Seattle and Portland do top the list.

[MichMan]

7. He deserves to be fired if this is true

"Additionally, the government teacher requires students to take an ideology quiz revealing where they lie on a political spectrum. Then, students must give Gipe photos of themselves, and the teacher places them on a class wall, aligned left to right based on political views, he said."

How could any student possibly expect to be graded fairly if they don't agree with his views?

[NH Ethylene]

44. That's REALLY bad!

Teachers have no business pushing their political views onto students. They also have no business causing discomfort and embarrassment by asking about and displaying students' political leanings.

I actually went to the principal of my son's high school and complained about a teacher presenting his political views in class. (Of course, they were Republican views, but it doesn't matter what the philosophy is, it's wrong to do.) I was livid!

[cinematicdiversions]

69. Honestly this can be a problem in many disciplines.

Your Lit teacher thinks Wuthering Heights was about working-class struggle, better not hand in a paper pointing out the rampant incest instead.



That said posting pictures of students on the wall with thier political alignments fits very well with the Mao Zedong poster. An irony probably lost on this blockhead.

Let the students radicalize themselves. Teach them to think critically instead of filling thier heads with propaganda. Cause you know that can and will backfire. We need more people who can think for themselves. Authoritarian dipshits like this guy are not helping.

[ancianita]

9. AP Government is a college level course that explores all kinds of concept ranges. Veritas refuses

to respect the college level content of this course because it's in a high school. I get the tension.


But this teacher's job should not hinge on one unit. No one broke the law. No irreparable harm has been done.
His job shouldn't be subject to every single unit someone doesn't like.
His job as a professional should be reviewd by be a joint decision of the AP students' parents, and the instructional leader of the school -- the principal. That is the chain of professional due process to be taken. You can't just use hearsay to yank a teacher out of the classroom.

We wouldn't do what's being done here with an AP teacher teaching right wing concepts. Because we understand something about the range of ideas that a good education requires.

[Jedi Guy]

10. "We wouldn't do what's being done here with an AP teacher teaching right wing concepts."

Uh, okay.

[ancianita]

13. Uh, yeah.

Don't just empty post, explain why we'd be justified in driving a teacher out of a job because they teach right wing concepts. Please proceed.

[Jedi Guy]

17. Oh please.

We both know that if the political alignment were reversed, the DU thread about it would be on fire with people calling for the teacher to be canned. And the school district in question would do to that teacher exactly what this one is doing to the teacher from the article.

This teacher essentially staked out his classroom as a space where only students on the left of the political spectrum are going to be comfortable. Students who hold right-wing views can't have any reasonable expectation that they'll be graded fairly, as someone upthread pointed out. Students with left-wing views have access to extra credit assignments that the right-wing students don't, which is blatantly unfair.

The quiz to determine political ideology is horseshit, too. If I were in that class, I'd outright refuse to take the quiz and tell him to get fucked. A student's political beliefs are none of his business and not relevant in any way to the course, even if it's an AP civics course. The purpose of the course is to teach students to understand the structure and function of the government.

Teachers should keep their political beliefs out of the classroom, regardless of where they fall on the ideological spectrum. Period, end of story.

[ancianita]

34. You

and I see DU differently, and there are enough educators and college grads here to know the purpose of education is different from the purpose of this site, and that how this site operates is no standard for schools or their education professionals, nevermind an AP Government class.

Are you a high school teacher? Ever been an administrator? Even studied education law? Do you know this state's curriculum for AP Government?

The rest of your paragraphs are interpretations. Your opinion is duly noted.

[Jedi Guy]

41. So you'd be okay with it if he was spouting Proud Boys rhetoric?

Or the Trump party line? I somehow really, really doubt that.

I don't need to be a high school teacher, administrator, education lawyer, or expert on curricula to know bullshit when I see it. This teacher's behavior is bullshit. He needs to keep his political opinions out of the classroom, or keep himself out of the classroom. That's all there is to it.

[ancianita]

42. It's not up to me. It's up to those who review his long term, unit and weekly lesson plans.

If I were a teacher of AP Government, I'd MAKE it okay to teach ABOUT Proud Boys under several contexts approved by my state's curriculum board; say,

-- constitutional amendments on limits of laws, or about free association;
-- law enforcement structures, local to federal
-- legal structures, formal and informal institutions, state and federal level
-- propaganda, theory and practice
-- rhetoric in debate, rules of debate
-- rules of formal argument ...

Not because I want specifically to proselytize about antifa or Proud Boys, but because in some unit contexts it's bound to get brought up, so I'd better have my prep done on the history, structure and activities of those two entities, just to keep the facts straight and help put their understandings in past and present contexts of the units.


There is teaching ABOUT the rhetoric of Proud Boys or Trump without "spouting" it. That you can't tell the difference between talking about something -- meta thinking -- and preaching something says more about you, what you think you know and don't have to know, than what is okay in a classroom.

If we were to politicize everything -- from Proud Boys to sex ed to antifa to coronaviruses to pandemics -- no one could learn anything. Worse, when all knowledge is commodified and "need to know," the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and overall, no one ends up knowing enough to govern a democracy or vote in one.

[Jedi Guy]

50. Yeah, no. That won't wash.

He had an Antifa flag hanging on the wall in his classroom. He's sending students to Antifa events for extra credit. Does he have any insignia for groups opposed to Antifa displayed? Does he send students to events for those groups for extra credit? If so, it's not mentioned in the article, and based on his words, it's highly doubtful. That alone makes the situation very, very clear.

He's not teaching about Antifa, he's flat out advocating for it. In the video, he said "I have 180 days to turn them into revolutionaries... by scaring the fuck out of them." He's not presenting both sides and their ideologies/agendas and leaving students to make up their own minds, he's clearly injecting his personal politics and beliefs into the classroom and advocating for a particular point of view.

And once again, that quiz is horseshit, as is his ordering students based on where they fall on the political spectrum. All that's going to do is encourage animosity between students and make people uncomfortable. Students with conservative beliefs probably feel like they're walking into enemy territory by going into that classroom, and that should never be the case in an educational setting.

That sort of behavior does not belong in the classroom, your twisting and turning notwithstanding. If he can't keep his politics to himself, then he should seek a different career. The school district agrees, as they said he violated guidelines.

Lastly, spare me the lame attempt at psychoanalyzing me, all you're doing with that is trying to deflect.

[ancianita]

68. Fine.

I'm not trying to convince you that the guy isn't proselytizing. I'm saying
-- that the report from Project Veritas, based on a non-peer or professional observation of the guy's class and some out-of-context quotes as "evidence," from a conservative district school in a conservative region of an otherwise blue state, 5th largest GDP on the planet, with Democrats being besieged by Koch money and recall bs,
-- why that's questionable from a professional standards and practices that exist in all 50 states,

It should have occurred to you by now that media amplification of one teacher teaching antifa stuff -- when antifa never organizes, and never through schools -- is an alt-right media propaganda hit that makes the Right's case that the Left are domestic terrorists, too. And you believe it.

Just based on what you present, he still doesn't get fired without other due process considerations which is pretty much the case in any state, IDGAFf what you say I'm doing.

The guy could be nuts. Still. He's done no damage to the students. A working class hero is something to be.

[Jedi Guy]

70. Good grief, where to start...

I recognize that the interview came from Project Veritas. However, in the interview he wore an Antifa shirt. I'll grant you that it doesn't appear that the interview took place on school grounds, but it may have. There's a picture of an Antifa flag hanging on the wall in what he admitted to be his classroom. And I fail to see how the quotes from the interview could be taken out of context. He flat out admitted to proselytizing his students, so how you can even attempt to say he might not be doing that very thing boggles the mind.

This is not some sinister conspiracy by a conservative school district in a conservative region of the state to fire an innocent educator. If he wears his ideology on his sleeve for all the world to see and is this blatant in his wish to bring students around to his way of thinking, why the hell would a conservative school district hire this goober to begin with or tolerate his behavior at all? Also, it may be a conservative area of the state, but how do you know the political leanings of the administrators in the district? Do you know them personally?

The district conducted a professional review of his conduct in the classroom and found his conduct in violation of district guidelines. They didn't just watch the video and fire him with no further investigation, so again, it boggles the mind that you're asserting otherwise. They talked to students, some of whom expressed discomfort with his conduct. How do you know that no damage was done? Were you there? Have you spoken to the students in question?

I never said "the Left" are domestic terrorists. Christ, I never even said that Antifa are domestic terrorists. You put those words in my mouth all on your own. And Antifa clearly does organize on a local, if not national, level. Otherwise they'd never hold events or get anything done. Loose organization is still organization.

The bottom line is that what this teacher did is not okay in an educational setting. It would not be okay if a teacher on the political right were doing it, either. Why you're twisting yourself into a pretzel trying to excuse his bullshit is beyond me, particularly because I doubt like hell you'd be doing it if he'd been on the right of the political spectrum.

He fucked up, both in the classroom and by hanging himself with his own words in the interview. He has no business being in a classroom if he can't keep his political beliefs to himself. A teacher who proselytizes students with his or her own beliefs should not be a teacher.

[ancianita]

73. Reread and calm down.

No damn body said you said the left are domestic terrorists or antifa or any other damn thing. Antifa does NOT organize on a local level AS ANTIFA. You just don't GET what antifa is; just because you heard that they organize doesn't make it true and I'm not going to disabuse you of your belief. You believed a right wing accuser's bullshit about a target. They are not credible. But you buy it so that makes him the bullshitter. Fine.

I'm going by what the OP said.

When you really think about why and when this report came out, you'll get less emotional and personal about the content, and realize that the reason national "stories" get amplified about the alleged worst of a liberal demographic to divide people who support liberals. I support liberal teachers because truth has a liberal bias. There is a message war going on against the Left. Maybe Veritas nailed one this time. You can believe them all you want, but they don't get to make implications about teachers or the Left or antifa because of this report.

Cool bottom line you got but what's okay or not re what teachers do is not up to public opinion; what's okay or not is only up to those who decide curricula in each state, local parents and principals. Schools of education teach education law, history, methods, curricula all the time. And teachers fuck up now and then, but overall, the profession helps produce the greatest asset of any nation -- educated people.

So you go ahead and be right. I'm not going to see this Veritas's the school district's or your way because there's way too much context left out.

[Jedi Guy]

74. So they don't organize under the name "Antifa." So what?

Last edited Sat Sep 4, 2021, 06:59 PM - Edit history (1)

They're still a loosely organized conglomeration of disparate groups with some ideologies in common, so they can be grouped under the "Antifa" umbrella as a practical matter, if not in name. It's a distinction without a difference.

I believed the evidence presented because of the district's reaction. If Veritas' account was nothing but a pack of lies, don't you think the district would come out to defend their educator? Of course they would, because false allegations make them look bad too by calling their judgment into question. Instead, they're firing the teacher. Why? Because he's guilty of the allegations, so taking corrective action salvages their reputation. If the district had responded that Veritas was full of shit, I'd believe the district over Veritas in a New York minute.

No, what's okay or not okay (in a broad sense) in classrooms is very much up to public opinion. Individual states may differ on curricula and requirements, but as a practical matter, what's permitted or not in schools behavior-wise can certainly be influenced by public opinion, on local or higher levels. For instance, school dress codes vary significantly from one district to another based on what the local populace finds acceptable or not. Teachers' behavior is no different.

Nowhere did I attack teachers in general, so I'm not sure why you decided to trot out the "produces the greatest asset" bit. My dad was a teacher. Incidentally, he's a hardcore conservative, but he kept his politics out of his classroom, despite teaching a subject where politics is integral to the subject matter. As opposed to this goober, who thought it was his right to try to convert his students to his way of thinking.

There's no missing context. Watch the video, for crying out loud. He straight up said, "I have 180 days to turn them into revolutionaries" and when asked how he does that, he said, "by scaring the fuck out of them." I don't see how you can make the "out of context" claim with a straight face. He admitted, point blank, to proselytizing his students. The "out of context" excuse is weak tea and you know it, so just stop.

[NH Ethylene]

45. I agree with this 100% n/t

[reACTIONary]

25. It's not whether we would be justified to do it...

... its whether it would be done, justified or not. I think there is a high probability the outrage would be just as intense and have the same results.

[LeftInTX]

21. Shouldn't a diversity of views be taught in AP?

With emphasis on where the viewpoints are coming from and the roots of those viewpoints?

Two of my kids took AP government...

[ripcord]

22. Teachers can't put their politics onto their students by state code.

There is this also

“I have an Antifa flag on my [classroom] wall and a student complained about that — he said it made him feel uncomfortable. Well, this [Antifa flag] is meant to make fascists feel uncomfortable, so if you feel uncomfortable, I don’t really know what to tell you. Maybe you shouldn’t be aligning with the values that this [Antifa flag] is antithetical to,” Gipe told an interviewer from the group in apparent hidden-camera footage.

Do you really believe this is how you treat students?

[Jedi Guy]

51. Who cares? It's just a conservative student. They don't matter. N/T

[reACTIONary]

59. Actually, they do matter..

... of course, first and foremost, as human beings who intrinsically deserve dignity and respect.

But also, more pragmatically, remember what they say in the military.... "The enemy has a vote".

[Jedi Guy]

60. I was being sarcastic, lol. I think this teacher is a jerk, based on what's in the article.

And he has no business being in a classroom if he's so casually willing to stake out his classroom as hostile territory for any student who has different beliefs.

[reACTIONary]

64. Thanks for the clarification! nt

[Jedi Guy]

65. Sorry, should've added the sarcasm tag. N/T

[Slammer]

86. treating students

He just called a student a "fascist".

I probably agree with 90-95% of what this guy believes. But him having an ANTIFA flag in his classroom makes me uncomfortable.

Apparently that makes me a "fascist" as well?

BTW, I'm not particularly comfortable with American flags being in classrooms. And don't get me started on the profound anti-Americanism of the Pledge of Allegiance and why the founders of the country chose to not have a pledge of allegiance in an era when they were quite common.

[kelly1mm]

38. What diversity? Was he teaching proud boys

And QAnon next week?

[LeftInTX]

39. Good grief...

You teach your students that there are two major political parties in the country...You teach them the history of the parties. You teach them the constitution etc etc etc.....

[NH Ethylene]

46. That is fine, but the students should not be able to guess what the teacher's personal view is.

Because if they can, then that teacher is using his position of power to influence them.

As I said in another post, this happened to my son when he was in high school. The teacher was pushing his Republican views onto the students. I went in and complained.

[LeftInTX]

52. Exactly

[SharonClark]

14. Wait, there's more...

The Sacramento Bee reported that someone claiming to be the parent of a student moving to Sacramento from Florida emailed the district requesting to meet with the government teacher to determine if he was suitably progressive, and Gipe apparently agreed to the meeting.

It's not known if Gipe knew that he was being filmed, though Project Veritas is known for its hidden-camera tactics. The group came to prominence in 2009 for videos produced at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), where O'Keefe appeared to ask for help with illegal activities. Critics accused Project Veritas of deceptively editing the videos. ACORN was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the Attorney General of California.

source: https://www.newsweek.com/school-district-fire-antifa-praising-teacher-who-wanted-kids-become-revolutionaries-1625241

[kelly1mm]

40. So parents have a right to interview teachers to determine

If they are sufficiently conservative (or liberal or progressive) enough?

[NH Ethylene]

48. It doesn't matter what the teacher's personal views are,

As long as he keeps them to himself.

I know of a Jehovah's Witness who taught elementary school for many years. There was never so much as a whiff of impropriety. He never uttered a word about his beliefs to his classes.

[kelly1mm]

49. Agree. This Teacher failed that test. Nt

[ancianita]

20. I doubt it.

[truthisfreedom]

19. This does not help anyone.

What a terrible idea.

[yaesu]

24. the made up word antifa for a madeup group that doesn't exist Now, I'm sure the majority of .

Americans are anti-fascist, I know my uncle was fighting nazi Germany.

[LeftInTX]

28. Antifa is not made up...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antifa_(United_States)

[moose65]

56. No, it's not made up

But it’s a belief system, not an organized group. There are many different Antifa groups. They don’t have one leader and one membership roster.

Being vegetarian or vegan is also a belief system, but there isn’t one group of vegetarians and vegans who elect one leader. “Oh no, bus loads of The Vegan are coming” 😆

[stillcool]

26. nothing about this story rings true for me...

perhaps it's a wait and see thing, but Antifa? The Antifa Movement? Project Veritas? Lots of reprints of this article in publications I've never heard of ...well, Fox, Daily Mirror, kind of stuff. We'll see.

[maxsolomon]

62. PV took out ACORN with the help of weak-kneed Dems.

that they're trolling about getting HS teachers fired in Sac is a measure of how craven and irrelevant they are.

[Mr.Bill]

27. I wouldn't take any action at all

about anything based in a Project Veritas video.

[catrose]

76. Exactly

[Steelrolled]

37. Hard to imagine someone could be that dense...

if I didn't see it every day. Guy needs to look for a job at a private schools. They come in many flavors.

[LeftInTX]

53. Yes, he needs to find a school that fits his niche

[Joinfortmill]

54. Posting students' photos/names with ideology views probably not the best idea.

[treestar]

55. Oh Geez

Maybe there is some other school district that will hire him based on the notoriety.

Reality it, there are people with all sorts of views. Why protect the students from that? Narrow minded right wing stupidity.

[3Hotdogs]

57. In N.J., a teacher dismissal has at least two appeals. State B.o.E., then courts.

I doubt that dismissal would have been upheld.


Depending on the California teacher's union's power, The guy will be back in the classroom.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

58. Not in k12 California.

The teachers lack academic freedom.

[Turbineguy]

66. Wow! My HS Econ teacher would be in trouble.

He was in the Normandy invasion.

[Downtown Hound]

71. I'm an antifa supporter, and this teacher sounds like an idiot

If you're going to support a subversive political organization, DO NOT PUT IT ON BLAST at your place of work. There are other ways you can influence young minds. Remember the first two rules of fight club? The same thing applies here.

There's a reason why antifa wears masks. Fascists have historically been vindictive people, who don't take kindly to those who oppose them.

I once got a text out of the blue, don't know who sent it, don't know why they sent it, don't know where it was sent from, asking me what my opinions on antifa were. My opinions of them are mostly very positive, but instead of saying that, I deleted the text and blocked the number. The first rule of fight club is "do not talk about fight club." The first rule of anti-fascism is to survive and not be ruined, and live to fight again another day. Don't be stupid and make it easy for the bastards.

[Devil Child]

78. Good n/t

[llashram]

79. McCarthyism 2.0

Last edited Mon Sep 6, 2021, 10:57 AM - Edit history (1)

McCarthyism 2.0. With these types of muzzling of free speech rights and teaching. Plus the cruel, oppressive brutal muzzling of a woman's right in making decisions about her own body in Texas it's obvious, the RWer's want to rule not govern. It ain't the communists anymore, it the treading on the necks of all decent and true Americans who believe in democracy and our continuing work on our evolution as a democracy.

It is war.

[Jedi Guy]

82. Teachers do not have the right to indoctrinate their students with their own political beliefs.

This is not a free speech issue, and casting it in that light is wildly disingenuous.

[llashram]

89. whatever you say

the larger issue is missed. But so many buy into the notion that this is not RWer's muzzling teachers, doctors, lawyers. But believe what you may. How many 'teachers are RW and subtle in their instructing of minds that are being filled for the first time with their garbage? And if they are in RW controlled area's, they are getting away with it. Go tell your opinion to them. They are the ones spreading untruths, not teachers such as in this OP.

[Jedi Guy]

90. It's not okay for any teacher to do it, regardless of their politics.

It's one thing to teach kids about politics, quite another for a teacher to present his or her own politics and attempt to convert students to that way of thinking. This teacher did the latter, by his own admission. Had his politics been reversed, I doubt you or anyone else here would be excusing that behavior. But it's okay because you agree with his views, right?

Also, what do doctors and lawyers have to do with this? They're not educating kids.

[Initech]

83. Project Vertias can go eat a steaming bag of rancid dog feces.

[GoodRaisin]

91. His students were participating in community events and food distribution.

I'd say that's a teacher.

I see nothing wrong with anything he was doing as long as he isn't choosing sides or advocating participation in any violent demonstrations. I'm perfectly fine with teaching the political spectrum. Someone needs to teach this to students, it increases their awareness of the world they live in. Place them on the spectrum and then let them debate one another. Make them think. This is how people learn. If more schools would teach this we wouldn't have such an ignorant population. It would be easy to include this in an overall civics/government/history curriculum.

The key is that the teacher needs to be a facilitator and a moderator while doing this, not a liberal or a conservative with a personal agenda.