Tuesday, December 07, 2021


Massachusetts Educator Fired Over TikTok Videos Opposing CRT Files Lawsuit Against Superintendent, Principal

A Massachusetts teacher who had been terminated from Hanover High School for posting a number of videos to TikTok opposing critical race theory has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against her former employers, claiming they had violated her First Amendment rights.

Kari MacRae, represented by nonprofit legal organization Judicial Watch, sued Hanover Public Schools superintendent Matthew Ferron and Hanover High School principal Matthew Mattos for firing her over two TikTok videos she posted as part of a campaign to be on the Bourne School Committee that criticized critical race theory, the controversial doctrine that teaches students that white people are oppressors and people of color are oppressed.

She had worked as a math and business teacher at Hanover High School for a month before she was fired.

The court filing notes that MacRae was hired on Aug. 31 and terminated on Sept. 29. However, the TikTok videos Hanover High School cited as the basis for her firing were posted months before she was hired as part of her committee campaign.

"So pretty much the reason I ran for school board and the reason I’m taking on this responsibility is to ensure that students, at least in our town, are not being taught critical race theory," MacRae said in a video posted last spring, according to The Boston Globe. "That they’re not being taught that the country was built on racism. So they’re not being taught that they can choose whether or not they want to be a girl or a boy."

"It’s one thing to include, and it’s one thing to be inclusive. And it’s one thing to educate everybody about everything. It’s completely another thing to push your agenda," she continued in the video.

Mattos told MacRae that "continuing your employment in light of your social media posts would have a significant impact on student learning at HHS."

The lawsuit, which asks for punitive damages but does not indicate how much, asserts that Mattos and Ferron "deprived" MacRae of "her rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution" by terminating her employment.

"[MacRae's] interest in speaking out as a citizen and candidate about matters of public concern outweighs any interest [Mattos and Ferron] may have had in promoting the efficiency of the educational and other services Hanover Public Schools provides," the lawsuit reads.

The filing also alleges that MacRae "suffered loss of earning, emotional distress, loss of reputation, and harassment as a direct and proximate result of" the "violation of her constitutional rights."

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Mom Asks Judge to Dismiss Lawsuit Filed by Teachers Union When She Looked Into Content of Lessons

A mother’s fight for transparency in public schools continues in a Rhode Island courtroom.

“Parents have an absolute right to request public information about public education and what their children will learn in school,” Nicole Solas, a mother of two young children, told The Daily Signal in an email Thursday.

The state affiliate of the National Education Association, the largest teachers union in America, sued Solas, a resident of South Kingstown, which is 30 miles south of Providence, Rhode Island.

The union’s suit, filed in August, came after Solas filed more than 200 requests for public records about the curriculum being taught in her school district and what her kindergarten daughter would learn.

Solas specifically sought information about whether the South Kingstown School District was teaching students critical race theory and gender identity ideology.

Solas is fighting the lawsuit with the help of the Goldwater Institute, a conservative public policy and ligation organization based in Phoenix. Goldwater attorney Jon Riches, representing Solas, asked Wednesday that the Rhode Island Superior Court dismiss the lawsuit.

Riches argued two primary reasons before Associate Justice Linda Rekas Sloan, an appointee of Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat.

“Private parties have no legal standing to disrupt the statutory public records process,” Riches told The Daily Signal during a phone call Thursday.

Because the teachers union is a private party, he said, the National Education Association Rhode Island has “no legal basis for” interfering.

Secondly, Riches argued during the virtual hearing, Solas’ actions are protected under state law governing so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation, known as SLAPP suits. The statute protects citizens from the threat of retaliatory litigation for engaging on issues of public concern.

“We asked the court to find that the anti-SLAPP statute applies, and to award [Solas] attorneys fees and damages against the union,” Riches said.

Solas said she is “hopeful the court will prevent the union’s abusive tactics in this case, and set an example for other special interest groups that might also attempt to interfere with the public’s right to know what its government is up to.”

Carly Beauvais Iafrate, the lawyer representing the National Education Association Rhode Island, argued that the union filed the lawsuit to protect teachers’ privacy.

Iafrate argued that some information requested by Solas included teachers’ personal information.

Iafrate also said the only reason the teachers union included Solas in the lawsuit is that the law requires all parties of interest to be named.

But the union has “no legal justification to bring the lawsuit in the first case,” Riches told The Daily Signal, adding that he finds the union’s argument for why Solas was named in its lawsuit to be “highly suspicious.”

The suit is nothing more than “pure harassment and intimidation tactics,” Riches said.

The National Education Association Rhode Island did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.

Sloan appeared to have a good understanding of the law and the issues at hand, Riches said, adding that he is optimistic that the judge will conclude the union’s lawsuit is baseless.

Sloan is expected to announce her ruling sometime before Dec. 20.

Even if her motion to dismiss the lawsuit is denied, Solas said, “we will continue to defend this case to the end to protect our right, and other parents’ right, to receive public information.”

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Penn State Employees Who Refuse Vaccination Face Reeducation

Despite a federal judge declaring President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate unconstitutional, Penn State University will keep its Jan. 4 deadline requiring employees to get vaccinated, and some employees who choose not to get vaccinated will be given education and counseling.

“Many of you know (the mandate) is being challenged in the courts so we don’t know the outcome of that process yet, but we are planning around it prevailing, and so implementing that mandate,” Penn State Provost Nicholas P. Jones said Tuesday in the University Faculty Senate meeting. “We’ve got to prepare because there’s not a lot of runway between now and January the fourth.”

The University is navigating two versions of the mandate. The federal contractor mandate applies to nine campuses and the College of Medicine, Wyatt DuBois, assistant director of University Public Relations told The Epoch Times in an email. Employees covered under the federal contractor mandate must upload proof to the university that they have received their final vaccine dose by Jan. 4 or be granted a disability/medical- or religious-related exemption. For those with an exemption, “accommodations will include a requirement to test weekly in the university testing protocol program,” DuBois said.

Employees at all other Penn State locations are subject to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on vaccination and testing, which applies to employers with 100 or more employees. “Under the OSHA ETS, disability/medical- and/or religious-related accommodations are not required for an employee to be put into the testing protocol. So, employees at these locations must receive their final vaccine dose by Jan. 4 or test weekly for COVID-19,” DuBois said.

In other words, those under the OSHA rules won’t lose their jobs if they don’t get vaccinated, but those under the federal contractor mandate who are not granted an exemption could lose their job.

Penn State issued updated details of its vaccine compliance process Monday, with slightly different consequences for noncompliance applied to different classes of employees.

Non-compliant faculty must meet with an executive within 48 hours “to discuss their intent to be fully compliant. Further administrative actions will be discussed individually during the meeting, and will include expectations for progress toward compliance, potential for unpaid administrative leave, and other disciplinary steps up to, and potentially including, termination,” Penn State’s updated mandate explainer said.

Students on wage payroll who demonstrate no steps toward compliance, such as partial vaccination or an in-progress accommodation request, by Jan. 4 will not be scheduled to work until further notice and will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate next steps including disciplinary actions.

Technical service employees will get a “five-workday period of education, including providing noncompliant employees with information regarding the benefits of vaccination and ways to obtain the vaccine. After the period of education, technical service employees will have one calendar week “to demonstrate progress toward becoming fully vaccinated or they will be placed on a two-week unpaid suspension. Continued noncompliance following the suspension will result in termination of employment. Employees will be permitted to voluntarily resign, or if eligible, retire before facing involuntary termination of employment.”

Already, some members of Penn State’s recently formed employee group of medical freedom advocates, Lions for Liberty, have reported uncomfortable conversations with their supervisors about vaccination status and their intentions to comply.

What will a five-day reeducation period look like?

“Regarding the five-day education period for some employees, it is intended as an additional defined period of time when the university can provide information related to COVID-19 vaccination to those employees who still have questions and concerns at that time,” DuBois said. “The university has a host of information already available to its employees, which they are encouraged to review, and this five-day period of time offers an additional opportunity to provide employees with information and resources to learn more about vaccination. ‘Five days’ is not intended to mean that employees will be in an education session during that entire time, but rather that that is when additional education and information will be provided to these employees, if necessary.”

Reeducation may be a new trend.

In a White House press briefing last week, Jeffrey Zients, White House coronavirus response coordinator, indicated that some folks may just need a little more convincing, and education may be a path to more vaccination compliance.

“To be clear, the goal of vaccination requirements is to protect workers, not to punish them,” Zients said. “We continue to see more and more federal employees getting their shots. And for the small percentage of employees who have not yet complied, agencies are beginning the education and counseling process. Looking at the federal workforce vaccination data makes one thing obvious: vaccination requirements work. They encourage more people to get vaccinated. Vaccination requirements are good for workers and the economy. They protect our communities and country, and they will accelerate our path out of the pandemic.”

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My other blogs: Main ones below

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)

http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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