SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Natomas Unified School District announced Wednesday it plans to fire a teacher shown on an undercover video discussing antifa and saying he wanted his students to become “revolutionaries.”
District officials spent two days investigating the teacher’s alleged actions and classroom environment. Superintendent Chris Evans wrote in a letter to the public that the teacher’s educational approach was “disturbing and undermines the public’s trust.”
The Inderkum High School AP Government teacher drew national attention after speaking with an unknown person in a cafe in a 12-minute video. The video, originally published by Project Veritas, a conservative activist group that often produces undercover videos, sparked threats toward the school district and the teacher.
The Sacramento Bee is not identifying the teacher because he has received threats and it is unclear whether he consented to be recorded by Project Veritas. The teacher has not responded to requests for comment.
The teacher responded to an email sent to the district from someone claiming to be a Florida parent moving their child to Inderkum High. They asked to meet with one of the government teachers to determine if the school was a good fit for their progressive thinking, and proceeded to film clips of the meeting.
The video quotes the teacher saying, “I have 180 days to turn them (students) into revolutionaries ... Scare the s--- out of them.”
“From the evidence gathered so far, the teacher violated the district’s political action guidelines which are aligned with Board Policy and California Education Code,” read a letter from Evans. “For example, in addition to inappropriate statements from the video, the teacher posted a sign supporting a personal decision for at least (a) local political issue, and possibly more.”
The guidelines the teacher allegedly violated prohibit staff from distributing materials that advocate for or against a ballot measure; conducting political campaigns during work hours or in an instructional setting; using district funds or staff time for political campaign activity; or encouraging or discouraging political activity.
Natomas Unified removed all posters and signage from the teacher’s classroom on Wednesday morning. Evans said it’s unclear when the items were added to the classroom.
“Leaders from the site have stated they do not remember the classroom looking as it did in years prior,” he stated.
Evans said the teacher, using his own money, purchased a series of rubber stamps to mark students’ work, including stamps with images of Josef Stalin, Fidel Castro and Kim Jong Un.
Evans notes that history and social studies teachers are required to teach curriculum that could be considered controversial.
“Our teachers must, without bias, or favoring their own personal beliefs, share facts and information around differing perspectives,” Evans wrote. “This teacher crossed that line and violated that trust.”
Evans said a number of students expressed support for the teacher on social media. The district took time to also listen to students who were uncomfortable with the politics the teacher shared.
“Students are the ones caught in the middle of this,” he stated. “To those who have felt uncomfortable at any time in the past three years, we apologize.”
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