The California teachers’ union has been “spiing” on parents calling for schools to reopen during the pandemic, emails show
- A researcher from the California Teachers Association emailed members of a parents’ group at a school in April 2021, asking for advice
- Researcher Ann Swinburn said she’s studying “the various ‘reopening’ groups across the state.”
- At the time, California schools were closed and classes were a long way off: many parents were unhappy with the arrangement and demanded changes
- Swinburn’s tweets, from a now-deleted Twitter account, show her suspicions the parents calling for classrooms to reopen were being used
- She tweeted that parents “are accustomed to a larger goal of disrupting, destabilizing and ‘burning down’ public schools (see also reopening parents)”.
A research associate at the California Teachers Association searched for “dirt” on parents calling for schools to reopen during the pandemic — suspected that they “were being used for a larger goal of disrupting, destabilizing and ‘burning down’ public schools.” .
Ann Swinburn emailed members of a parent group in San Diego in April 2021 to try to understand the motivations of those calling for a return to face-to-face classes.
Swinburn, a veteran union official, said she’s “doing some research on the various ‘reopening’ groups across the state.”
She wanted to set up a Zoom meeting with the parents to ask them if other parents are pushing to end remote learning.
It’s unclear if she’s managed to get any information about activists wanting to reopen schools.
CTA has yet to respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
Ann Swinburn, a research associate at the California Teachers Association, was looking for information about parents campaigning to reopen classrooms
Allison Stratton, one of the founders of the Parents Association in San Diego, submitted a request for the emails — telling Fox News she believes the emails show CTA spying on parents.
“We already suspected it because we see the same people show up at every school board meeting saying the same things and repeating what the union is saying,” Stratton said.
“Well, it’s no surprise.
“They worked as hard as they could against parents who wanted the school to reopen.”
Swinburn’s emails, which were released online by activist group Reopen California Schools, were sent at a time of conflict between parents who wanted their children back in classrooms and teachers’ unions who said it was unsafe.
Swinburn’s tweets from a now-deleted account showed that she was suspicious of the motivations behind this demanding reopening of classrooms.
Journalist Judd Legum tweeted in October 2021: “The sudden interest in school boards is not an organic grassroots movement of angry parents. It’s an effort orchestrated by veteran right-wing political activists who have formed a constellation of well-funded groups.’
Swinburn retweeted the comment and gave it a 100.
She also complained that “parents who really want to make systemic changes for their children” are “being used for a larger purpose of disrupting, destabilizing, and ‘burning down’ public schools.”
Reopen California Schools said the groups campaigning to get kids back to their schools are simply parents wanting a return to in-person learning.
CTA did not comment on the emails.
Lance Christian, who is running for election as California superintendent of public education, condemned the revelations.
“Conducting opposition research is a common practice in political campaigns,” he told Fox News.
“But for the teachers union to use staff to politically target mothers and fathers to protect their own children and to express their First Amendment rights is both appalling and disgusting.”
