Bill Melugin, a reporter for a local Los Angeles new station FOXLA has obtained communications between union leaders and teachers warning them not to post vacation pictures.
“Friendly reminder: If you are planning any trips for Spring Break, please keep that off of Social Media. It is hard to argue that it is unsafe for in-person instruction, if parents and the public see vacation photos and international travel,” a post from the group read, according to FOX 11 of Los Angeles reporter Bill Melugin.
NEW: In a leaked post from a private Facebook group for UTLA union members only, teachers are warned not to post on social media if they go on spring break vacations because the optics would be bad for them while UTLA is refusing to return to “unsafe” in-person schooling @FOXLA pic.twitter.com/KxQc7k450T
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) March 9, 2021
The teachers who are claiming it’s too dangerous to return to in person instruction are being directed to make sure they don’t post anything on social media that shows them traveling. The screenshot of the post came from a 5,700 member Facebook group titled, “UTLA FB Group – Members Only.”
“Amen,” responded one group member to the post. “Or better yet, don’t travel on spring break and set an example,” wrote another.
The warning came after UTLA members voted to reject what the union claimed was “unsafe” conditions unless certain demands are met.
Over five days of voting, 24,580 ballots were cast, with 91% (22,480) voting yes and 9% (2,100) voting no.
The leaked communications are fueling the efforts to recall Governor Gavin Newsom.
“The union’s decision to condone international vacations while keeping students and educators from returning to classrooms is so hypocritical you would think [Gov.] Gavin Newsom thought of it himself,” John Burke, the communications director for Kevin Faulconer for Governor, told Fox News. “Our spineless governor refuses to stand up to them and do what’s right for our students. It’s time to recall Newsom.”
The UTLA is demanding that before schools can reopen that LA county moves out of the state’ purple tier, ensure that all staff members have the ability to be vaccinated, and certain “coronavirus safety measures be put in place.
In response to the reporting done by FOX 11 the union said, “We have a diverse membership and they are able to post their views on personal Facebook pages and in this Facebook group – however, UTLA does not monitor nor is responsible for the content. We do not want to discourage a robust dialogue for members in the public square of opinion.”
Earlier this year Sarah Chambers, a teacher union executive in Chicago was busted after she pictures she posted on social media showed her on vacation in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
“We have an entire private Airbnb house to ourselves,” she bragged during her trip to the tropical island on December 31, 2020.
On Twitter, a Chicago Teachers Union leader rallied teachers to refuse to go back to the classroom to ‘stay safe.’
On Instagram, on the same day, she posted pictures poolside in Puerto Rico. https://t.co/eiC4CqH1k2 @WGNNews
— Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyTV) January 1, 2021
The Chicago teachers union website still shows Sarah Chamber as a voting member of the executive board.
