A Massachusetts government school has agreed to pay a settlement to a popular football coach fired for publicly questioning Critical Race Theory propaganda in his daughter’s history class, even admitting he had reason to be concerned and banning the promotion of leftist political agendas unrelated to any lesson plan.
The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
“David Flynn, who was removed from his position as head football coach after exercising his right as a parent-citizen to raise concerns about critical race theory and Black Lives Matter propaganda in his daughter’s seventh-grade history class, settled his civil rights lawsuit against his former employers at Dedham Public Schools,” Judicial Watch, a public interest law firm that represented Flynn, announces.
Flynn publicly criticized the school district for filling his daughter’s seventh-grade “World Geography and Ancient History” class with unrelated propaganda on Critical Race Theory, “gender equality” and the “Black Lives Matter” movement, noting the materials were completely unrelated to geography or history and were largely political and biased in nature.
He was then fired by district officials for “express(ing) significant philosophical differences with the direction, goals, and values of the school district.”
They now admit his concerns were “valid.”
“This a remarkable victory for Coach Flynn, as his federal civil rights lawsuit resulted in the Dedham School District admitting that he was absolutely right to be concerned about the district’s introducing a new, controversial CRT-style curriculum without parental notice or involvement,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.
“And, Coach Flynn also appreciates that the teachers will no longer be able to use virtual learning to push Black Lives Matter symbols. It shouldn’t have taken a federal civil rights lawsuit for the school district to do the right thing. We hope other school officials take note they must treat parental curriculum concerns with respect and avoid radical indoctrination of children,” Fitton added.
“The past two years have been difficult for me and my family. I thank my family, friends, and everyone else who reached out for their continued support,” said Coach Flynn.
“With Judicial Watch’s help, I can move on from this challenging situation knowing that by raising my concerns through the appropriate channels I made a difference for the students and families of Dedham Public Schools. I hope other parents can learn from this and not back down from fighting for what is best for their families,” said Flynn.
“As part of the settlement, the Superintendent of Dedham Public Schools, Michael Welch, acknowledged ‘the important and valid issues’ raised by Flynn and specific changes in school policies because of Flynn’s complaint, including banning teachers from promoting Black Lives Matter to students online,” Judicial Watch notes.
In a letter to Flynn, Dedman Superintendent Michael J. Welch writes:
Dear Dave,
I hope you and your family are well. I am writing this letter to acknowledge the important and valid issues you raised regarding the Dedham Public Schools and the subsequent lawsuit you filed in federal court. I am pleased that we are able to amicably settle this matter after the recently filed appeal of the court’s decision.
First and foremost, I want to acknowledge and validate the concerns you initially raised regarding your daughter’s experiences at Dedham Middle School. You had every right to inquire about these issues, and you followed the appropriate steps in attempting to learn more. You correctly pointed out that the 7th grade social studies curriculum had significantly changed and parents were not informed of these changes. In probing this matter further, you discovered that the district’s website did not accurately reflect the new curriculum content, and parents were unable to understand what was being taught. Your legitimate questions prompted additional conversations at the School Committee level that ultimately led to the establishment of a Curriculum Advisory Committee that now brings together parents, community members, and district educators to broadly review and more thoroughly communicate curriculum changes and concerns. Curriculum updates are a necessary and important part of the work of school districts, and effectively communicating these improvements is a critical component of this process.
Your initial inquiry triggered a larger internal conversation about the district’s oversight in the teaching of these new curriculum units. More specifically, the sequencing of the curriculum’s identity unit and the virtual use of a Black Lives Matter emoji t-shirt by a teacher sparked a series of intense conversations about teacher autonomy and the importance of balanced messaging and viewpoints in the classroom. As you pointed out, positive intentions can often have unintended negative impacts on students. Ultimately, I directed staff to remove these t-shirt emojis and instructed them to not wear these in the classroom in the future.
Finally, I understand that after you raised these concerns at the classroom level, you left that initial conversation expecting to hear directly from the building principal. It appears this was unclear within the school and you did not hear back in a timely manner. I am sorry for this breakdown. Effective two-way dialogue among parents and school staff is the foundation of mutual trust. While we pride ourselves on this connection, in this particular instance this fueled frustration and identified room for improvement.
I regret that these initial justifiable concerns ultimately led to where we are today. As you have indicated, I appreciate your recognition of the opportunity to have improved the trajectory of this sequence. With this settlement, I hope we are able to put any divisions behind us and begin the important work of healing through better conversations and listening.
I recognize the school district’s opportunity to improve based upon the issues you have identified, and I thank you for raising them. As educators, I believe we can always learn from our experiences. Thank you for your many years of dedicated commitment to the development of student-athletes in Dedham.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Welch
Superintendent
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
READ NEXT: Educators Admit Ignoring State’s Critical Race Theory Law >>
“As part of the settlement, the Superintendent of Dedham Public Schools, Michael Welch, acknowledged ‘the important and valid issues’ raised by Flynn and specific changes in school policies because of Flynn’s complaint, including banning teachers from promoting Black Lives Matter to students online,” Judicial Watch notes.”
That is odd. Why would they limit teacher’s promotion ONLY of Black Lives Matter and ONLY online?
What I read is that the district commissioner thinks that BLM and CRT propoganda are improvements to the school curriculum. Nowhere did I see that they would stop teaching it, only that they promised to communicate it better and more openly. If that is the case, the district has learned nothing!
Why do I get the feeling that the Superintendent was gagging on the words he was forced to write?
this school has no values. any so called teacher that teaches this lying crap needs to be kicked out and any school needs to be shut down.
All hail to this coach! SOMEBODY needs to stand up to this Marxist takeover of the schools and he did it. Go back and read Ayn Rand: when a totalitarian cadre wants to take over, what they try to sell is EQUALITY. Equality is the thin end of the wedge that opens the door and lets them in.
Sadly this radical left wing teaching has been going on for many years now in our school systems, from 1st grade through college level.These Marxist just keep pushing and pushing to brainwash our children into their warped way of thinking, and unless we have more people to stand up against these people, like this coach has done, they will continue in their attempt to convert our young people to their way of thinking. This country, especially this current administration, is bending over backwards to appease everyone but the majority of the citizens in this country, and that’s who has to pay for all this so called equality. This nation is sitting on a powder keg, and it’s getting ready to explode. When it does, it’s going to tear this country apart, even worse than that first civil war back in the 1850’s. As the old saying goes, keep your powder dry because you’re going to need it.
It’s not propaganda if it is what you believe. Check the definition of the philosophy of Positivism and it may help you understand what the Democrats and “Progressives” really are and why they can condemn God and the U.S. Constitution. It is also why the Dems speak in lockstep all using the same language 10 minutes after a topic arises. They even have some prepared in advance. When the USSR came apart they hired out-of-work strategists. I think parts of Islam did too. If you how the Soviets pervert facts and the truth and paid attention to how both began to operate and propagandize after 1991 you know where I’m headed. I started reading about the Soviets when I was 10 and 65 years later still review them. And other communists in general.