A California teacher who exhibited an Antifa banner in his classroom and said he intended to make his kids into “revolutionaries” has agreed to retire in return for three years’ pay.
Parents at Sacramento’s Inderkum High School demanded that the district terminate AP Government instructor Gabriel Gipe after he was caught on film in September discussing the flag with Project Veritas, a far-right media organization. I have an Antifa banner on my [classroom] wall, which a kid complained about because it made him feel uneasy. ‘Well, this [Antifa banner] is designed to make Nazis uncomfortable, so I’m not sure what to tell you if you’re uncomfortable,’ Gipe remarked. ‘I have 180 days to convert [students] into revolutionaries,’ says the president.
He was on unpaid leave at the time and was about to be sacked by the school system for ‘obvious breaches of political activities.’
According to KCRA 3, school district administrators paid Gipe $190,000 to resign without a legal struggle in January, approximately four months later. Gipe’s yearly compensation was around $60,000. He left the job with about $100,000 after taxes.
‘We have put this behind us and moved ahead,’ stated Natomas Unified School District in a statement. What matters most right now is that we welcome our pupils back to the start of a new school year.’ According to the New York Post, the instructor also exhibited pictures of Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong in the classroom and had provided additional credit to pupils who attended rallies.
Gipe also had stamps featuring portraits of Josef Stalin, Fidel Castro, and Kim Jung Un to commemorate students’ academic achievements this year.
The Natomas Unified School System said that, although it understood the circumstances surrounding Gipe’s interview with Project Veritas, efforts were made to remove the instructor from the district. ‘Natomas Unified will take the legally mandated next actions, including placing the teacher on unpaid leave and firing the instructor.
‘One teacher’s actions and methods do not reflect the whole faculty, students, and school community.’ We apologize to anybody who has been uncomfortable in the last three years,’ the district wrote.
Gipe’s encouragements for pupils to join rallies for extra credit were also deemed ‘unprofessional and irresponsible’ by the district.
The complete, unedited portion of Project Veritas’ conversation with Gipe has been withheld. The publication has previously been accused of distributing deceptive material.
Gipe said that the media harassed him when they made a follow-up piece on him, stopping him on the street while he was walking his dog.
The decision to terminate Gipe occurred after parents protested to the school system during a board meeting on Wednesday, pressing the board to remove Gipe.
‘In my perspective, the school system has failed,’ said Luis Ortega, a local resident whose son just graduated from Inderkum High School, to the New York Post.
‘Everything has come to light, and as everyone has said, it does not stop with Mr. Gabriel Gipe.’ There are some serious concerns in the district.’ Paizly Gomez, another parent in the district, said that Gipe’s actions in the classroom were inappropriate.
‘I’m all for free speech,’ a concerned parent, Paizly Gomez, told KCRA 3. ‘I’m not going to dispute that, but your role as a teacher is academics. You are not here to discuss morality, values, or political beliefs; unless you attend a private school, such discussions are not permitted.’
According to the district’s inquiry, Gipe eventually violated 2020 standards that forbade teachers from engaging in some political activities while at school.