Teachers’ union ‘spied’ on parents who wanted school reopened during pandemic


In an effort to prove that parents who demanded the reopening of schools during the epidemic were being “used toward a greater purpose to disrupt, destabilise, and “burn down” public schools,” a research assistant at the California Teachers Association dug out “dirt” on them.

In an effort to comprehend the driving forces behind individuals calling for a return to in-person instruction, Ann Swinburn sent emails to parents in a San Diego parent group in April 2021.

Swinburn, a seasoned union activist, claimed to be doing research on the numerous “reopen” organisations in the state.

To ask parents about other parents’ efforts to cease remote learning, she planned to have a Zoom conference with them.

It’s unclear whether she was able to learn anything about those pushing for the reopening of schools.

One of the Parents Association’s founders in San Diego, Allison Stratton, made a request for the emails and told Fox News that she thought they proved CTA was spying on parents.

We already suspected it, according to Stratton, since the same individuals often appear at school board meetings and repeat the same arguments made by the union.

So, it comes as no surprise.

“They were making every effort to oppose the parents who wanted the school to reopen.”

Swinburn’s emails, which were made public online by the activist organisation Reopen California Schools, were written at a time when teachers’ unions and parents were at odds about whether it was safe for kids to return to school.

Swinburn expressed her scepticism about the intentions of people calling for the reopening of classes in tweets from a now-deleted account.

In a tweet from October 2021, journalist Judd Legum stated: “The increased interest in school boards is not an organic grassroots movement of upset parents.

It is a coordinated operation by seasoned right-wing political operators who have put together a network of well-funded organisations.

Swinburn tweeted the comment again with the hashtag “100.”

She also criticised the use of “parents who sincerely want to achieve systemic change for their kids” in order to “disrupt, destabilise, and “burn down” public schools.”

According to Reopen California Classrooms, the organisations agitating to get kids back in their schools were just parents who want a return to face-to-face instruction.

CTA is silent over the emails.

Lance Christian, a candidate for the position of superintendent of public instruction in California, denounced the disclosures.

He told Fox News that “doing opposition research is a typical tactic in political campaigns.”

But it is shocking and repulsive that the teachers’ union has staff members dedicated to politically harassing parents who are standing up for their own children and using their first amendment rights.


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