Former New York Times editor Bari Weiss has accused her previous employer of being too ‘woke’ to cover the growing row about New York City’s schools, after a teacher and a parent objected to the curriculum in two of the city’s most elite academic institutions.
Paul Rossi, a math teacher, was told on Sunday that he had been ‘relieved of his teaching duties’ by Grace Church School in the East Village of Manhattan.
Andrew Gutmann, whose daughter attended The Brearley School, an all-girls private school in New York City, located on the Upper East Side, wrote an April 13 letter to other parents complaining about efforts to ‘brainwash’ students with ‘woke’ philosophies rather than teaching them how to think on their own.
Weiss, who was the first to publish Gutmann’s letter, on Monday denounced her former employer for ignoring their stories.
‘In a sane world, you would have read Paul Rossi’s essay or Andrew Gutmann’s letter in the paper of record,’ she wrote.
Bari Weiss’s most recent substack newsletter attacks her former employer, The New York Times
Paul Rossi (left), a teacher at Grace Church School, and Andrew Gutmann, a parent at The Brearley, have both spoken out against the ‘woke’ curricula at their respective schools
‘But such pieces will not appear in the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times or The Washington Post because those papers have mostly ignored the story of the ideological takeover of schools.
‘In part, that is because they are implicated in the story: The same ideological force transforming schools like Grace Church and Brearley has also transformed the establishment press.’
Weiss resigned in part because of what she saw as a stifling atmosphere, where free thinking was discouraged in favor of adherence to ‘woke’ mantras.
The New York Times has written about Grace Church School’s expansion plans, and in the context of parents debating whether school fees were worth it. But it does not appear to have covered Rossi’s row with the head teacher.
Weiss added: ‘The problem is that The New York Times would never have printed this at all. It’d be like the Catholic Church embracing John Calvin. The inability to tell such stories is one of the reasons I left.’
Rossi on Monday responded to Grace Church’s decision to bar him from classrooms.
Grace Church School, in the East Village, told Paul Rossi on Sunday he would no longer teach
Rossi on Monday said head George Davison privately agreed the school is now ‘demonizing white people for being born’
In a letter to the head of the school, George Davison, Rossi said he was ‘compelled to share what you have told me in our previous conversations’.
Rossi complained that Grace Church, which charges $57,000 a year, was overly focused on anti-racism training, and that it was hampering students’ education.
He said that Davison shared his views privately, writing – in an email published by campaign group Fair For All – that Davison had told him he had ‘grave doubts about some of the doctrinaire stuff that gets spouted at us, in the name of antiracism.’
Rossi also hit back at Davison’s complaint at the issue being shared in the press. Rossi said he had shared his concerns privately over several years, but was ‘repeatedly shut down’.
Rossi said Davison had admitted privately that the school was ‘demonizing white people for being born’.
Topher Nichols, the school spokesman, told DailyMail.com Monday: ‘I can confirm that Paul was relieved of his teaching duties.
‘He has been invited to spend the remainder of his contract with the school contributing to a new task force that will review best practices nationwide around belonging.’
Nichols elaborated on why Rossi was ‘relieved of his teaching duties,’ saying it was because ‘numerous students requested to be removed from his class because of his unprofessional conduct and because he demeaned them in the press.’
Last week, Rossi said he decided to come forward because he could no longer stay silent while ‘witnessing the harmful impact’ that anti-racism instruction has on children.
He said it cultivated in children ‘despondency, resentment, and moral superiority’.
Topher Nichols, the school spokesman, confirmed to DailyMail.com Monday: ‘I can confirm that Paul was relieved of his teaching duties’
