Massachusetts teacher fired for her TikTok videos loses First Amendment federal appeal

LOCAL NEWS
Massachusetts teacher fired for her TikTok videos loses First Amendment federal appeal
‘Things hit the proverbial fan’ over posts on critical race theory and trans issues

By RICK SOBEY | rick.sobey@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
July 3, 2024 at 6:35 p.m.

A local teacher who was fired for her controversial TikTok videos has lost her First Amendment federal appeals case against the school district. ... Kari MacRae sued Hanover school officials and the district after she got the boot from Hanover High School once her social media videos surfaced in 2021.

The math and business teacher — who posted the videos about critical race theory, gender identity, and other contentious issues as a candidate for Bourne School Committee — eventually lost the First Amendment case in Massachusetts U.S. District Court. ... The free speech lawsuit was then appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit.

“Now on appeal, MacRae implores us to do some course correction and fix what she says the district court got wrong,” the appeals court wrote in its recent decision. “After taking the time to carefully review both sides’ arguments, however, we conclude that the district court got it right.”

MacRae while campaigning for the Bourne School Committee, which was before she was hired as a Hanover teacher, had liked, shared, posted, or reposted several controversial memes on TikTok. ... She said in a campaign video, “So pretty much the reason why I ran for school board and the reason why 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…

{snip}