Berkeley teachers’ union boss called hypocrite for taking 2-year-old daughter to in-person preschool

The boss of a teachers’ union in California is getting a crash course in backlash after he was caught on video taking his two-year-old daughter to a private, in-person preschool.

Matt Meyer, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, has been a vocal advocate for keeping public schools closed until all teachers are offered vaccinations against COVID-19.

The new video, shared online Saturday by a Twitter and YouTube user going by the name Guerilla Momz, identifies Meyer but blurs his daughter’s face as he walks her through the security gate of the unidentified school.

“Thousands of our children are suffering learning loss, social isolation and mental health breakdowns,” subtitles to the video state.

“Meet Matt Meyer,” another subtitle states before segueing into a clip of Meyer from an undated Zoom call arguing that “real-life children do not keep their masks on.”

“He takes his child to private school every weekday while blocking Berkeley from opening schools because ‘it is not safe,’” another title card states.

In a text message to KQED on Sunday, Meyer called the video an intrusion into his child’s privacy and “super inappropriate.”

“I have my two-year-old in preschool. Unfortunately, there are not public schools for kids her age. We are excited that we will be reopening soon with a plan that our members and the district supports,” Meyer told the PBS outlet.

KQED did not identify the preschool by name but reported its website says for every one teacher, there are four to five children.

According to the union’s website, a tentative plan with the Berkeley Unified School District calls for a March 29 “hybrid reopening” of preschool through second grade classrooms — so long as teachers are offered vaccinations.

Berkeley parent Mara Kolesas, a former PTA Berkeley Council president, told KQED she supports the reopening of schools but thinks the ambush video of Meyer and his daughter crossed a line.

“I do not agree with it at all,” Kolesas said, saying private preschools and public schools are too different for such a simple comparison.

“For me, you don’t need to attack people personally, you need to address it politically. When you start getting personal, you mix up dimensions, and you don’t get to discuss the real thing,” she said.

“Here, the real thing is (Meyer) put fear before science, and the right of teachers before the right of kids. That’s the issue,” she added.