Connecticut Teachers’ Union Circles the Wagons after Undercover Video Reveals Anti-Catholic Discrimination
The Connecticut chapter of the largest teachers’ union in the country urged its district leaders to stonewall “unvetted” reporters who ask about a viral video which shows a Greenwich assistant principal admitting to discriminating against Catholic, conservative, and elderly job applicants.
After the video was released by Project Veritas on Wednesday, Greenwich Public Schools notified families and staff Wednesday evening that Cos Cob Elementary assistant principal Jeremy Boland was placed on administrative leave while an investigation is underway.
“We have been alerted that Project Veritas has dropped a hit piece using an administrator in Greenwich. While a teacher was not used(so far) the narrative is that of hiring liberal teachers to indoctrinate students, so it is not kind to educators,” Kate Dias, president of the Connecticut Education Association wrote in an email obtained by National Review.
“Please do not search this,” Dias said of the Project Veritas exposé. “Veritas does not need our hits to drive traffic to the site. We will get a clean copy of the video tomorrow from NEA and will share it out as soon as it received.”
She instructed union leaders not to speak to reporters “that have not been vetted,” insisting that they “should not comment on the Greenwich video at all.”
“We know that Veritas uses this tactic to trap educators and union members into making incriminating statements. Don’t feed the beast,” she said. Dias implored union heads to spread the word that undercover journalists from the independent outlet are “lurking around.”
“Keep meetings closed and ensure your members are the only people present,” she said. “Remind your members that they could be the next victim of a hit piece if they aren’t fully aware of who they make comments to and what they say.
Boland told the Project Veritas reporter that he oversees the hiring of faculty and rejects applicants who espouse conservative or Catholic beliefs, are older than 30, or sympathize with concerns about parental rights in education. Instead, he recruits progressive instructors so that they may incorporate their ideology into classroom curricula in a “subtle” way.
“You don’t hire them,” he said of Catholic teaching candidates. “Because if someone is raised hardcore Catholic, it’s like they’re brainwashed. You can never change their mindset. So, when you ask them to consider something new, like a new opportunity, or ‘you have to think about this differently,’ they’re stuck — just rigid.”
“Believe it or not, the open-minded, more progressive teachers are actually more savvy about delivering a Democratic message without really ever having to mention politics,” Borland said.
Constitution State Educators, which says it supports the right of teachers to leave the CEA and to join non-union alternatives, issued a statement slamming the Greenwich discrimination.
“In Greenwich we’ve now seen plain proof of what many of us deep-down already knew–too many teachers are mistreated because of their private religious or personal beliefs. This would be bad enough if it affected only teachers, but what’s unforgivable is that these videotaped comments reveal that the real target is our students and we just happen to be in the way,” the organization said.
”Teachers might hope that the union to which they pay $800-$1000 in dues would condemn what’s happened in Greenwich, but what does the CEA do instead? It defends a school administrator who openly admits to discriminating against teachers. How much more backwards and upside-down can the union get? It’s no wonder so many teachers have sent in their letters to leave the union this summer, and it’s why you can bet a whole lot more will be writing those letters now,” it added.
