FACT CHECK: Did A Teacher Admit To Implementing A ‘Communist Lunch Program’ In This Video?
A video shared on Facebook purports to show a teacher admitting to implementing a “communist lunch program” to “promote equity.”
Verdict: False
The claim is false. The social media user who created the video admitted it’s satirical on Instagram.
Fact Check:
Congress ended a lunch program in June 2022 that ensured free meals for all students, USA Today reported. Following the end of the program, a coalition called Hunger Free Schools Ohio has proposed that the state government of Ohio fund universal free meals to all school districts, according to the Dayton Daily News.
“SHOCK VIDEO: Govt. School teacher admits to taking white kids’ ‘good’ lunches & redistributing them to black & brown kids to promote equity,” the Facebook video, viewed over 1,000 times, purports.
The claim is false. There are no credible news reports focused on the teacher and her purported lunch program or that such a program exists in the U.S. The video stems from Twitter and was posted by Kali Fontanilla, an educator and founder of Exodus Institute, an online K-12 school. Fontanilla also posted the clip to her Instagram account, noting that it was satire.
“This is satire! But a real illustration of what ‘equity’ looks like,” Fontanilla said of the clip. (RELATED: Did Georgia Schools Share Cardiac Arrest Awareness Forms Due To Increased Cardiac Related Death?)
View this post on Instagram
Fontanilla indicated the clip was satirical via the platform in response to another social media user, admitting she was “mocking wannabe communist teachers.” She also confirmed the clip was satirical in an email to Reuters.
This is not the first time misinformation regarding schools has circulated on social media. Check Your Fact recently debunked a video allegedly showing a school student in the U.S. pointing a gun at his teacher.
