A Hanover High School teacher is out of the job for expressing her conservative viewpoints on TikTok — but she says she will fight back
Kari MacRae was fired by the Hanover Public School District last week as a result of her account. In a widely-circulated May 2021 video, she expressed opposition to Critical Race Theory and transgenderism shortly after being elected to the Bourne School Committee.
In the video, MacRae explained why she ran for school committee:
So pretty much the reason I ran for school board and the reason I’m taking on this responsibility is to ensure that students, at least in our town, are not being taught critical race theory. That they’re not being taught that the country was built on racism. So they’re not being taught that they can choose whether or not they want to be a girl or a boy. It’s one thing to include and it’s one thing to be inclusive. And it’s one thing to educate everybody about everything. It’s completely another thing to push your agenda. With me on the school board, that won’t happen in our town.
The video resurfaced last month and the Bourne Educators Association called on MacRae to resign from the Bourne School Committee. She refused, although she offered an apology to those who were offended by the video.
“I decided to run for the school committee to give back to my community that I love, and have been a citizen of my whole life,” MacRae toldThe Cape Cod Times on September 17. “Since being sworn in on May 19th, I have been engaged, excited, and have learned so much. I now feel that I have let some down.”
MacRae spoke to NewBostonPost about her firing by telephone on Friday morning. She said she thinks she was wrongfully terminated and is speaking to lawyers about the matter.
“I think the biggest thing that really upset me was the fact that these posts were made before I was hired,” MacRae said. “There was nothing that I had done in any of my seven years of teaching that justifies firing me. I’ve had no problems whatsoever in teaching.
“I teach in a night school program. It’s the same program I’ve taught in year after year and it’s high-risk students, members of the LGBT community, kids who were being bullied, kids with special needs, kids who weren’t having their needs met in the public day school,” she added. “We graduate these kids and they’re comfortable in a small setting without being judged. It really upsets me because I’ve spent seven years teaching high-need students and they’re saying that I might not teach them the right way.”
Macrae said she started teaching in Hanover in September 2021. She previously taught in the Brockton Public Schools system.
She said that she thinks it will be tough to find another job working as a public school teacher, but she wants to stand up to make sure this doesn’t happen to other teachers in the future.
“I’m coming to the understanding based on talking to lawyers and other officials that, yes, they can fire you for no reason, but they can’t fire you for speaking,” she said. “That’s a violation of your First Amendment rights. This happens to too many people and they don’t stand up and fight. We need people to step up and hold individuals accountable.”
MacRae said that over the past several weeks, she has been happy to see how many people have come to her support.
“I think it’s huge to have the support, honestly,” she said. “When it first broke out, I felt defeated. I understand that a couple of posts I shared that were going around the Internet were distasteful and I should’ve expressed my concerns on matters without sharing a quick meme. That is a lesson I’ve learned. I also think we need to be able to speak our minds, but then you get fired.”
She said that some of those supporters include people who work in the public schools in Bourne who are afraid to express their views publicly.
Massachusetts Republican Party chairman Jim Lyons offered his support for MacRae in a press release issued on Thursday night.
“Kari is a conservative mother who was driven to do something about the left-wing indoctrination happening inside our public schools,” Lyons said. “She is now out of a job simply because her personal and political views don’t align with the Radical Left’s. Parents should take note. This is a blatant First Amendment violation, and this is the kind of punishment that should concern anyone, regardless of party affiliation.”
Hanover Public Schools superintendent Matthew Ferron could not be reached for comment on Friday.
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