American Federation of Teachers Union warns members about Proj | Project Veritas

American Federation of Teachers Union warns members about Project Veritas’ Secret Curriculum Series in letter accusing Veritas of “trying to paint” public schools as “places of indoctrination."

"Dear AFT Leader,

Once again, the conservative activist group Project Veritas is targeting public education with out-of-context and deceptively edited videos.

The group is trying to churn up the culture wars in schools, announcing that they have videos about public education's "secret" curriculum. They want to smear teachers and school staff, trying to paint them as nefarious and public schools as places of indoctrination.

In its first video of this series, a Project Veritas operative secretly recorded an assistant principal while going on dates with him. Using dating apps to find targets is the new preferred tactic of Project is the new preferred tactic of Project Veritas and its founder James O'Keefe, as was detailed in a recent lawsuit: "James O'Keefe instructed those doing the hiring that he wanted young, attractive female journalists to be hired to go on undercover dates-coming to headquarters dressed provocatively. O'Keefe openly referred to these employees as "PYTs" (pretty young things)."

In its second video, Project Veritas posts snippets of a conversation with a staffer at a private school in New York. We understand from its boasting that more videos may be forthcoming. A few years ago, Project Veritas hired someone to infiltrate AFT Michigan. That operative misrepresented herself in order to secure an internship and access to the union. We fought back and are still in litigation over this conduct.

Fortunately, major media outlets understand Project Veritas' reputation. It has been banned from many platforms, including Twitter. So far, these videos are not gaining traction. We're going to keep monitoring.

At this point there's nothing for you to do, except remain watchful. But if you or a member encounter someone who could be secretly recording you, be careful. Keep in mind that this is O'Keefe's new tactic, and remind yourself and your members to be aware. Trust but verify is my rule.

If you start to see a lot of people sharing Project Veritas videos or you get questions about it from local press, please flag them for us. Our team will help you with this. Finally, have a wonderful Labor Day.

In unity,

Randi Weingarten

AFT President"