The head of a northern California teachers union was videotaped dropping his daughter off for in-person learning at a private preschool, after leading an effort to keep the local public school district closed.
Berkeley Federation of Teachers president Matt Meyer was recorded bringing his two-year-old daughter to the preschool by a group of parents calling themselves Guerilla Momz. Meyer has pushed for what he called the “gold standard” of reopening for the Berkeley school district, which includes waiting for all staff to be vaccinated.
“Meet Matt Meyer. White man with dreads and president of the local teachers’ union,” the group wrote in a tweet on Saturday along with video footage of Meyer. “He’s been saying it is unsafe for *your kid* to be back at school, all the while dropping his kid off at private school.”
Students in pre-school through second grade are scheduled to return to class at the end of March, after a year of closures due to the coronavirus pandemic. Meyer said there are “no public options” for children at his daughter’s age, in a statement to Fox News on Monday.
“There are major differences in running a small preschool and a 10,000 student public school district in terms of size, facilities, public health guidance and services that legally have to be provided,” Meyer said. “We all want a safe return to school.”
Meyer also criticized Guerilla Momz for publishing a video that included his daughter, whose face is blurred out in the footage.
“We’d heard for a while that he sent his kid to private preschool and we’ve been hearing him make crazy claims at the school board meetings — it was ‘too dangerous’ for schools to open because kids wouldn’t wear masks. Meanwhile, his kid is wearing a mask at school,” the group said in a statement to local outlet KQED.
Almost a year since the coronavirus pandemic caused mass closures of schools and businesses across the U.S., many districts have yet to reopen for in-person learning and are continuing to conduct classes via videoconference.