Natomas Unified School District board meeting 9/1/21. (Photo: screen capture https://natomasusd.news)
California School Board Members Flee Meeting Regarding ‘Antifa’ Teacher
‘It is all well and good to talk up democracy — until it becomes politically inconvenient’
By Timothy Snowball, September 2, 2021 11:38 am
For the past three years, Natomas Unified School District in California has permitted an avowed socialist and member of the local “antifa” chapter to teach American Government at one of its local high schools.
And despite repeated student complaints, nothing was done.
Now their liberty-loving families are getting involved.
The current controversy stems from a video released on Aug. 31 featuring the still-employed teacher, Gabriel Gipe. The video is the work of Project Veritas, a group dedicated to exposing public and private corruption.
On tape, Gipe brags that he has 180 days to turn his students into “revolutionaries.” In addition to hanging an “antifa” flag and picture of the brutal communist dictator Mao Zedong on his classroom walls, Gipe assigns his students extra credit for attending radical leftist protests.
Gipe also requires his students to take an ideological test, which he uses to plot their positions on a chart hung on the classroom wall and then publicly shames those he deems too “right-wing.”
At the conclusion of the tape, Gipe laments that Americans have not taken up arms in order to violently overthrow the government and institute a socialist utopia.
When the video went public the outcry was, understandably, swift and severe. Gipe’s termination was quickly demanded by the Natomas community.
In a desperate move, the Natomas School Board announced that Gipe was being placed on paid leave pending termination barely an hour before a public meeting planned for Sept. 1.
The parents, students and community members who showed up to the meeting were not mollified.
Representing the Freedom Foundation, which fights corrupt government union power on behalf of workers and families across the United States, I was the first to address the Board:
“Members of the Board, I appear before you today as a product and direct beneficiary of the California public education system.
It was because of the efforts of fair and balanced teachers that I developed a passion for American history and ultimately decided to pursue a career in public service. And so, you can imagine my shock when I first encountered the video of Gabriel Gipe recently released by Project Veritas.
I was taught that being an American citizen is something I should be proud of. That for all the complexities of American history, what mattered most were the ideals upon which this country was founded. Including the principles of individual liberty and the freedom of thought.
That it mattered less what conclusions I reached than that I employed the proper critical thinking tools in order to reach them.
But apparently the curricula at public schools in California has changed since I was a student.
Teachers like Mr. Gipe appear more concerned with indoctrinating students according to their own political preferences, including through public shaming, than with teaching students how to think critically and to come to their own conclusions regarding current political questions.
How can we explain this shift?
I think this situation is best explained by the current operation of public labor unions like the Natomas Teachers Association and the larger California Teachers Association with which it is affiliated.
These entities no longer consider themselves organizations advocating for the wages, hours, and working conditions of their members, but as “social justice” organizations pushing a radical agenda to tear down and fundamentally transform American society.
The Board should immediately take all actions necessary to ensure that classrooms in this district remain free of the political agendas of individual teachers and labor unions, and that children here receive an education, rather than indoctrination.”
One by one, parents stood up and explained that the glorification of socialism and using the classroom as a recruitment for “antifa” have no place in their children’s schools. They explained their love for this country, many of them having served in the armed services, as first responders and in public service.
They declared that the problem is larger than a single teacher.
How did the School Board react? Did its members empathize with the parents and students? Did they try to understand their pain? Did they vow to correct their past errors?
Nope. They suddenly called for a five-minute break, and when no one was looking, they snuck out the back door.
The Board’s beleaguered general counsel was left to announce to a room full of concerned parents who had not yet had the chance to speak that the Board had decided to “reschedule the meeting.”
So much for taking the concerns of the community seriously. Apparently, it is all well and good to talk up democracy — until it becomes politically inconvenient.
Meanwhile, the families attending the meeting were left to discuss the issues amongst themselves and plan their next moves. Bewilderment at the Board’s sudden retreat quickly turned to disgust and anger. Many spoke of the possibility of lawsuits or getting the members recalled.
In the meantime, they plan to come back again, and again, and again until the Board takes the necessary action to ensure that students in Natomas receive an actual education, rather than an indoctrination.
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Excellent job last night,Mr. Snowball.
I am sure you are a busy guy these days.
The parents did an excellent job articulating the importance of getting rid of the Antifa teachers infiltrating California schools.
Years ago a bay area news channel interviewed their members who stand by these teachers.
There is a small teacher union that I believe is connected to the American Federation of Teachers that caters to this kind of political indoctrination. Which is affiliated with “By Any Means Necessary” (BAMN).
Does the name Yvonne Felarca ring a bell? She was an Antifa school teacher who was arrested for assaulting conservative Berkeley students back in 2017. Look her up and follow the breadcrumbs to that union, you will find many like Gabriel Gripe working throughout California.
I hope the parents of Natomas file a CPRA with the school district to get all of Mr. Gripe’s communications from the last 3 years. It may lead to other firings. These are dangerous and sometimes violent people as Yvonne Felarca exhibited in 2016-2017.
Thank you for standing up for the children.
The inmates from the asylum are now teaching in our public schools. Enough already, the Teachers Unions/School Boards need to be called out repeatedly and held accountable.
Any Senior class members from the past 3 years that were in this class should have their diplomas voided. None of them had the courage or backbone to report this guy.
I’ve been saying this for decades! The Teachers Union has a strangle-hold on public education and has undermined this country for two generations (at least). Do what Reagan did to the Air Traffic Controllers – get rid of them!
Wow- how much bs in a single post. Member of an organization that doesn’t exists????
If antifassholes don’t exist, why, then, does the moron recruit for them? Lol
This “teacher” himself is probably one of those lost trouble-making souls who was recruited to bring this crap into the classroom and — who knows — may even be paid big bucks to recruit kids from the public schools. By all appearances, antifa are the “police” enforcement arm that seeks to violently suppress the free speech of citizens in hopes of keeping the leftist Dem politicians’ infrastructure in power.
Rubbish. Apparently you’ve never seen news broadcasts from Portland Oregon. Go back to your cubicle at the Ministry of Truth.
Right? “Local chapter of antifa”, indeed. Where is it located? Who is in charge?
… it doesn’t exist.
Oh they exist you’re probably one of them! We need cameras in the classroom to see these crackhead school teachers curriculums. American history is our cultural right and no antifa nut job should be teaching in any school USA ????????
I’m glad that Project Veritas reported this story, the teachers union always have been corrupt. They need to be disbanded. No more cheats in our school systems.
I stopped taking this seriously when I read, “member of the local “antifa” chapter.”
There are no local antifa chapters; it’s not an organisation. Antifa is literally short for anti-fascist. If you are against fascism then you too are antifa.
Fascism is a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition”
You are the only person with a brain on the page, and I’m including the author as well as the commenters. Thank you for being a rational and informed person.
Seems as if Portland and Seattle have local chapters…your definition seems more in line with the 1920 & 30’s, I think. Meet the Philosopher Behind the Ideology of Anti-Fascists …
Search domain intellectualtakeout.orghttps://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/meet-philosopher-behind-ideology-anti-fascists/
Since Antifa routinely use violence and intimidation to prevent political opponents from assembling and publicly defend these tactics as a means to their ends, their fascist tendencies are self-evident. To most, this connection is clear. To Antifa and some leftist scholars, it is not.
You MUST be joking, right Chris? The Antifa today is nothing like you just described. You may want to take their agenda seriously and educate yourself!
Antifa is double speak for a fascist organization pretends to be fighting fascism. I think you are part of the problem.
Antifa is double speak for a fascist organization that pretends to be fighting fascism. I think you are part of the problem.
Our current administration fits that definition!
Everything you said is technically correct but the problem is the people claiming they are “antifa” are not anti fascism, they are to stupid to realize they are actually supporting fascism.
So awesome to see parents finally standing up. These far left wing radicals need to be stopped. They are mentally ill.
how ironic that the antifascists are the actual fascists … Lori and Chris are too ashamed to be proud of Antifa
Seems as if Portland and Seattle have local chapters…your definition seems more in line with the 1920 & 30’s, I think. Meet the Philosopher Behind the Ideology of Anti-Fascists …
Search domain intellectualtakeout.orghttps://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/meet-philosopher-behind-ideology-anti-fascists/
Since Antifa routinely use violence and intimidation to prevent political opponents from assembling and publicly defend these tactics as a means to their ends, their fascist tendencies are self-evident. To most, this connection is clear. To Antifa and some leftist scholars, it is not.
Freedom Foundations does exist as an organization, and it is doing a lot of heavy lifting for this cause. Worth supporting their strong public education campaign that confronts these very troubling local education issues – esp. teacher union control of school boards, public education curriculum, the entire Democrat party, and virtually all of the state offices and legislature in Sacramento.
All in the hands of a single outside group – the California teachers union – with their flush war chest funded by our very own tax dollars via $1000 a year plus teacher union dues.
Teachers need to know they can immediately opt out of this skimming of their paychecks because the teachers unions are destroying the very jobs and the institution they claim to protect. Freedom Foundation can handle this opt-out online with all the information any teacher needs who no longer wants to participate in this outside group’s activities. Teacher union membership is no longer mandatory. Find out how – go to the Freedom Foundation and keep that extra $1000 a year for yourself. .
Go home scab, real and moral workers don’t tolerate union busters, go back to serving your vampiric lords of immense wealth who want nothing more to destroy organized labor and exctract the value of working people.
put down the crack pipe…
Wow… this whole “publication” is just straight up propaganda. Dear God please don’t take this any more seriously than you would an article from The Onion.
Absolutely Right
The teacher should be brought up in Child abuse charges and fired immediately. Since the school board violated their oath and abandoned their position I recommend immediate replacement.
Mr. Snowball I mean no disrespect at all but I think you’re a generation behind me, this has been in the works for a long long time. I’d refer you to 1) some very good work by Samuel Blumenfeld & Alex Newman titled Crimes of the Educators and something I discovered my Father came across from 1932 in a book by William Z. Foster on page 316, the middle paragraph, I’ll leave a link with a question, How much of their stated goals have they accomplished? https://archive.org/details/towardsovietamer00fostrich/page/316/mode/2up
What’s next, the impossible?
Try to limit another citizen’s ability to think freely?
Speak freely? or try to force the appearance of it like in China?
Vote agenda 21 out of our counties as fast as they voted it in.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors Proposal (aka the UN’s/Soros) to stop free speech from mentally disturbing them anymore. https://jonathanturley.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/D4-Board-Letter-Declaring-Health-Misinformation-BL-Signed.pdf
BEFORE ANY OF THIS SIMMERS DOWN, DEMAND — DEMAND, DEMAND, DEMAND — a full, comprehensive position statement from the teacher union(s)!!!!! Make them put their position on paper, signed and sealed, for the world to read and digest. Right now, they’re in hiding, and for good reason…they’re hoping that the teacher and the politics will take the heat, and they won’t be thought of. TOO LATE — they’ve been thought of! NOW, DEMAND a formal position statement before they have a chance to weasel out of it!!!
You are the real weasel by attacking trade and labor unions.
The Board Members called a 5-min break, then slipped out the back door? This is dereliction and abandonment of duty! DOX THE MO-FO’S and hunt them down where they live!!! Protest in the street in front of their homes and work places, and tail them wherever they go! Call their phones, swamp their email, HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE for doing their jobs or, failing that, RESIGN IMMEDIATELY! TAKE NO PRISONERS or this will just keep happening.
Antifa are FASCISM embodied. They are lying sacks of excrement in addition to being violent cowardly little wimps who can only attack elderly people in packs of 20. Put them up against real men or women and they go fetal and cry.
They are highly organized but they keep the organization secret. Kinda like a lot of communist country secret police.
You are an idiot
The amount of obvious lies and pure ideology in this article is astounding. Go home superpatriot, and stay there, society doesn’t need morons like you manipulating working people with your unfounded accusations. You speak of indoctrination, but you are the indoctrinator.
Look up Michael Parenti and Slavoj Zizek if you have a brain.
A lot of union hack trolls today. Gee I wonder why?
What would an antifa goon know about work except that they have never done it? Have you noticed these violent little 3 year olds only do their thing in cities like Portland where they have police protection? Whenever they venture out on their own they go running back with their tails between their legs? Ordinary people don’t take this crap.
This can’t get any more biased…”Tim Snowball is a civil rights attorney with Freedom Foundation, where his practice is focused on protecting the First Amendment rights of government workers to make their own decisions about whether to join or support pubic sector unions.” This guy obviously has an agenda. The irony of someone saying that this teacher has an agenda while having an agenda. Freedom Foundation is a conservative think tank that says they fight for workers rights while working to dismantle workers rights by saying it’s our freedom and working to weaken labor unions.
I’m a teachers union labor leader and a government teacher. It is completely wrong for imposing an obvious political slant, morally and ethically. Every profession has a few bad eggs that bring shame to the profession. Labor unions are there to protect workers rights and students as well in regards to teachers unions. It was us who spoke out for student safety for school reopenings. It certainly wasn’t people who knew absolutely nothing about what goes on at school, or people who suddenly think they are experts just because they’ve been students before. You don’t see me trying to fly a plane just because I’ve been in one or diagnosing myself because I’ve been in the doctor’s office. We have members from across the political spectrum.
While I can not speak for Antifa doctrine specifically,
These type of actions have been going on in the public high school systems for years. I first got wind of this during the protection of marriage act (I think prop 8 in CA) where only one side of the argument was being presented to high school students. It used to be a bit more subtle…but its been going on since at least the 90s
Fake news. You can’t possibly believe this horse tripe.
It’s not the teachers union that’s the problem. Well, making it difficult to fire bad teachers is a union problem I will concede. This particular teacher’s agenda aligns with what has been pushed by district leaders for close to a decade. It’s coming top down from district/state/federal bureaucrats, not from the teachers union.
Most teachers don’t even actively participate in the union. There are no union meetings where union leaders direct its members to push things like CRT, equity, social justice and the like. However, I have sat in many a district meeting over the last 5-7 years where these agendas have been pushed hard. You can look at the districts mission statements and you can find the language out in the open. Many California districts very recently have created a brand new administrative position titled, “Director of Equity.” Look it up on your local district’s website, I bet they have that position in yours now. This didn’t come from the union’s direction. What’s ironic is that in my district they eliminated at least 5 secretarial positions, all staffed by women of color mind you, to create the Director of Equity administrator position. Aim your ire over school boards, superintendents, county and state education bureaucrats, and it would be more accurate.
You people make me proud to be Canadian. Fascism is alive and well in the US and so is ignorance and stupidity.
You can’t tell the difference between Canada, Australia and Nazi Germany anymore. Where have you been?
I get the impression that most people have a misunderstanding of what antifa is. Here’s a particularly well-written explanation:
https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/article/5-facts-about-antifa/
You sure your last name is snowball and not snowflake?
You should be ashamed of yourself for falling for a project Veritas video. I’d say you don’t deserve to be an American Citizen, but about half the country is as dumb as you.
Antifa and their supporters are about to enter a nightmare world where there is law and order, peace, prosperity and joy but not for them. Jail is what awaits them and it will be very soon.
The author claims the source video in question comes from Project Veritas, a group ‘dedicated to exposing public and private corruption’. I feel compelled to point at that, regardless of what this teacher did or didn’t do, Project Veritas is objectively considered an untrustworthy organization. They are known for engaging in entrapment, and the spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories. Both the organization and it’s founder, James O’Keefe, have been banned off most major social media platforms for repeated violations of private information policies. One anecdote for context – the New York Times reported in May 2021 that multiple operatives from Project Veritas were involved in a scheme to discredit F.B.I. employees and other officials who they viewed to be enemies of President Trump (Project Veritas is bankrolled by the Donald J. Trump Fund). This is one example of dozens of influence operations the group has engaged in over the past decade. My point in all this is that while any teacher who espoused political views to the degree alleged shouldn’t be teaching (wether left/right leaning), but the original source of reporting (according to this articles author) quite literally makes a living off of conduction smear campaigns. I’m a registered independent, so this isn’t about left/right politics to me, it’s about objective facts.
Hank. Anyone telling the truth about leftists and their agenda will be banned. This is a badge of honor for telling the truth and standing up to the hate machine. Of course the leftists will brand him untrustworthy because he does not tell lies like they do.
You are reactionary kullak
No wonder Antifa/communists hide slither and lie, but you can’t hide in the dark like Nosferatu forever