Project Veritas has revealed a highly disturbing video of how Long Island teachers are taking Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which contains LGBTQ+ elements, into their own hands, and using tenure as a shield against any type of reprimand. While undercover at EdCamp Long Island (EdCampLI), a grassroots movement bringing teachers together to “share their ideas and expertise,” a Project Veritas journalist uncovered teachers expressing an aggressive activism on behalf of the LGBTQ+ movement, with a particular emphasis on transgenderism. Their unwavering commitment to pushing the LGBTQ+ agenda onto children as young as two years old is dangerous, sad, and seriously disturbing.  

The most significant discovery of this work from Project Veritas is that it is teachers who are the warriors of the LGBTQ+ movement, ensuring its agenda is woven throughout all curricula from preschool through high school. It is also important to point out that members of the Board of Education were not mentioned once.

The most prominent teacher spearheading the LGBTQ+ agenda in the video is Elisa Waters, founder of LGBTeach, and Middle School Spanish and Social Justice Teacher at Jericho Middle School. Waters shows the incredible power that teachers have in the classroom and how they can use much to their advantage to engage in their activism. Beginning with a teacher’s ability to push the LGBTQ+ agenda onto students is Waters’ age-old reference to tenure. Tenure is when a teacher of at least three years or more cannot be fired if charged with incompetence or wrongdoing without first having a fair hearing. Waters relies heavily on tenured teachers to carry out the mission of turning students into LGBTQ+ activists and members. Still, for untenured teachers, Waters encourages them to carry out their activism, but to do so with caution. 

“I always tell untenured teachers, ‘you’re gonna have more longevity making change if you maybe play it a little safer for a little longer, lean on your tenured colleagues to do some of this work because we need you, but if anything happens to you right now, then what? I’m not saying don’t do the work, but do it with caution because if you’re sitting here right now, it means in 3 to 4 years when you get that tenure, then you can do even more work,'” said Waters. 

A cornerstone belief of the radical left, and a significant factor in their success, is their understanding that change happens over a period of time, and they are willing to take that time, however long, in order to be successful. The radical left knew decades ago that coming in hot with their plan to radicalize youth was not an option, but their slow integration into the educational field was a tactic that proved worthwhile. Waters reminds young, untenured teachers that they have plenty of time to engage in outspoken activism in their career, and just because they can’t be so outspoken early on does not mean that they can’t still promote their agenda through a more silent, but still effective, approach. 

While untenured teachers begin their descent into radical left activism, Waters also reminds them to rely on the teachers who can be their outspoken voice. Referencing the “plethora of queer flags” that she has in her classroom, Waters asserted that she will never remove them and will rely on her tenure to protect her from not having to do so, avoiding any termination of her position.

Excited about discussing the sexuality of children, Waters declared that kids are coming out as young as two years old. She added that elementary teachers are her favorite group to mold because she wants to encourage them (though it is more of a demand than encouragement) to have these conversations with young children, noting that it helps her out so that she doesn’t have as much work to do pressing the LGBTQ+ lifestyle onto her middle level students. 

Waters appears to be itching for students to enter her classroom identifying as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. With Waters’ extreme activism in the classroom, it would not be surprising if straight “cis” students feel ostracized and discriminated against as they seem to have no representation there. 

Still, the most alarming phrase spoken by Waters was “you never lose time on curriculum if you’re doing what’s best for kids.” This line followed a suggestion for teachers to discuss pronouns with students and have them write a narrative about themselves to discover which pronouns they prefer. The encouragement to deviate from the curriculum is not new at all, it is often called embracing a “teachable moment,” and these come up more often than one may expect. The issue brought about by this line goes beyond the teacher’s ability to incorporate material that is not necessarily written in the curriculum. While conservative and moderate teachers may have relied upon teaching only what is designated in their state’s curriculum, the pressure to deviate from it means that excuse can no longer be used. This approach also drives a dagger through the curriculum transparency movement, which was not very sound to begin with, as deviations from the curriculum will not be written down for parents to review. 

Beyond the work of Waters in Jericho schools is that of teachers and administrators in other districts. From the Manhasset School District, a district with questionable integrity to begin with, Assistant Superintendent and edCampLI founder, Don Gately, shared that he treads carefully to avoid pushback from “extremely conservative and right wing” parents, not like that would stop him, but it would help decrease the amount of calls. 

In the East Williston Union Free School District, Joseph Wiener, principal of The Wheatley School and EdCampLI cofounder, went so far as to suggest that teachers who do not deviate from the state’s core curriculum to embrace these “teachable moments” are actually “working against” the school district.

Through their undercover work, Project Veritas proved that the real people with power in education are the teachers. Whether they need to do their work a little more quietly and subtly, or those willing to tout their radicalism loud and clear, teachers are the ones that make it all possible. Now, conservative and moderate teachers may be mandated by administrators to bring a radical leftist trend into their classroom at some point, but a little cleverness and creativity can help diminish its presence whether it be something physically in the classroom or in lessons themselves. 

Still, the willingness of these Long Island teachers to deviate from curriculum, to fight to talk about the sexuality and sexual preferences of children two years old and up, and the advice they are giving to new teachers to be silent activists is alarming. Everything revealed from the Project Veritas video shows the depth of the real problems plaguing education, and why quietly swarming the field with conservative and moderate teachers is our best chance at putting an end to the radical left’s control and influence. Like the radical left, we need to have patience, tread carefully, and work behind the scenes in whatever way necessary to protect children.