According to a Jan. 19 Gallup poll, Americans think the presidential inauguration is more about politics than patriotism.
If you ask some parents in Williamston, Mich., the poll is spot on, considering how Explorer Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Brett Meteyer put his own politics above patriotism by refusing to show President Trump’s inaugural address.
“I am anxious about showing Mr. Trump’s inaugural address, given his past inflammatory and degrading comments about minorities, women and the disabled. I am also uneasy about Mr. Trump’s casual use of profanity, so I sought an assurance that as their teacher, I would not be exposing children to language that would not appear in G- or PG-rated movies,” Meteyer said in an email to parents.
When the email was leaked to the public, Meteyer and his school district found themselves in the middle of a firestorm.
Leaving aside the hubris involved in supposing Team Trump would send an advance copy of the speech, the email reveals a clear personal agenda being placed on captive school children.
It wasn’t the first politically-charged email Meteyer sent to parents. A Nov. 9 email surfaced in which the troubled teacher told parents Trump’s “mean” and “disrespectful” words won’t change students’ lives.
While the Williamston Community Schools district rightfully doesn’t censor or preview staff communication with parents, the fact that a politically-charged email was sent on the public’s dime should be reason enough for administrators to investigate Meteyer’s use of public resources for personal propaganda.
As a taxpayer-funded entity, the administration also has a responsibility to provide parents, and the public, a full disclosure of the district’s policies regarding staff email usage and political expression, and when the two cross an unethical line.
According to the teachers union contract, Meteyer may be pulling in about $61,000, a conservative estimate based on his time at the school (Meteyer told parents he let students watch inauguration addresses in 2005 and 2009).
Apparently, Meteyer has not been taken to task. A brief statement from the superintendent reiterated that employer-employee issues are not discussed in public. Administrators were forced to take their heads out of the sand, however, when they were overwhelmed with phone calls and emails from outraged Americans. “We are in the center of a storm right now,” proclaimed a Jan. 19 letter from the school principal to parents.
The district has tools at hand to deal with teachers like Meteyer. The principal’s letter stated that in the school setting “we want to share messages that inform and support families, but that do not carry any connotation of partisanship or judgement.”
The teacher’s contract has even more teeth: “A teacher shall not seek to advance or promote personal, political or religious views in the classroom.”
By making a big stink about not showing Trump’s speech, Meteyer was clearly promoting the message that the president has a foul mouth and can’t be trusted.
Had Meteyer been sincere, he shouldn’t have written to parents at all. He could have shown the part of the inauguration that he wanted and then turned it off. No one would have known or questioned it. He could have said he had other work that needed to be done. Instead, he wrote the email to parents as his way of protesting.
Administrators need to remember they’re stewards of our money, not defenders of personal political agendas on school time.
Kathy Hoekstra (@khoekstra) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a regulatory policy reporter with Watchdog.org. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
