'Teachers for Choice' Rally for Kennedy

By Deb Sur, The Kennedy Beacon

In February 2022, New York Mayor Eric Adams’ administration fired more than 1400 government workers who refused the vaccine mandate, including 36 from the NYPD, 25 from the Fire Department, and 914 from the Department of Education. 

Fired teachers and other school employees, many of whom refused to comply because of their religions, believe they were blacklisted by the administration, with a special “code” indicating their defiance in their files. If true, that could severely impact their professional opportunities in the future. 

On August 14, 2023, nearly 300 people gathered in front of Richmond County Supreme Courthouse, on New York’s Staten Island, to support the Teachers for Choice lawsuit, DiCapua v. City of New York. Backed by the Children’s Health Defense, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of New York City teachers who were fired for non-compliance and want their jobs back and subsequent backpay. 

Although the city lifted the vaccine mandate in February 2023, allowing seventeen hundred and eighty workers to re-enter the workforce by being able to re-apply for jobs, they were not guaranteed backpay, fixed jobs, or the same specific titles and positions from which they had been ousted.

Crowds at the event displayed solidarity with each other and enthusiastic support for presidential hopeful, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They wore badges and handed out flyers detailing Kennedy’s vision for medical freedom. Michael Kane, a former teacher and the founder of Teachers for Choice, addressed his comrade in arms. 

From masking up to go to work or grocery stores, to getting swabbed and tested to be able to “feed families,” Kane said he drew the line at the height of the pandemic when COVID-19 vaccinations became government mandates. 

He praised Kennedy for being the only “prominent person who put his money where his mouth was and stood behind us.” His support at a ‘New York for Freedom’ rally in 2021 was an inspiration to workers fired from their jobs for not adhering to the COVID-19 vaccine guidelines. 

Kennedy’s support came with a personal price. As he questioned the efficiency of vaccines and whether adequate testing had been done, he was increasingly labeled “anti-vaxxer” by mainstream media. 

This same tired trope has become fuel for the mainstream media’s and the DNC’s efforts to derail Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign. For questioning vaccine orthodoxy, Kennedy has been systematically silenced and de-platformed by major social media sites in what appears like coordinated efforts to prevent him from being heard.

Back at the New York rally, Kane, who joined the American Values Super PAC in July 2023, explained the electoral process while raising awareness about Kennedy’s campaign, particularly among medical freedom activists. 

As Kane spoke about the importance of Kennedy’s candidacy, the crowd cheered, and one person called Kennedy “a champion of traditional democratic values.”

One teacher, who attended the event with her daughter, held a placard that she had been fired after 28 years of working in NYC schools. 

“As a lifelong registered Democrat,” she said that she was “thrilled” at the “possibility” of Kennedy becoming president because he would be instrumental in uniting the country that has been so “divided.”

“We have so many issues breaking everybody apart,” she continued. “We need someone to unify us… Robert Kennedy gets the nod, I will absolutely vote for him.”

Images used with permission from Teachers for Choice.