The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-02)

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE K B5

BY HANNAH NATANSON

Arlington Public Schools has
suspended a substitute teacher
who, during a Spanish class, ex-
pressed approval of Russian Pres-
ident Vladimir Putin’s decision to
invade Ukraine and urged stu-
dents to read Russian-run propa-
ganda outlets.
The substitute, John Stanton,
65, made the comments during
an eighth-grade Spanish lesson
on Friday at Swanson Middle
School. Stanton said in an inter-
view Tuesday that he spoke about
Russia and Ukraine for the first
10 minutes of a 90-minute class
and that he hoped to offer stu-
dents an opposing viewpoint that
he said is rarely heard.
Stanton said he told the stu-
dents to read as many news
sources as possible — including
Sputnik News, a Russian news
agency that a 2017 report com-
piled by the FBI, CIA and NSA
declared a “state-run propaganda
machine.” He said he also drew a
map of Ukraine and marked areas

where Russian forces had invad-

ed.

“I said, ‘Here’s what’s going

on,’ ” Stanton said. But “the state-

ment I think that got me was I

said, ‘I personally support the

logic of Putin,’ and what I meant

by that is, he made a rational

decision from his perception.”

Arlington Public Schools

spokesman Frank Bellavia de-

clined to discuss Stanton’s com-

ments on Russia or his employ-

ment status on Tuesday, calling it

a personnel matter.

The Friday lesson prompted

parents of a student in the class to

write to the School Board raising

concerns about Stanton. In the

email, a copy of which was shared

with The Washington Post, the

parents wrote that Stanton “told

students he supported Russia,

asked whether anyone in the class

‘hated Russia,’ and complained

about rising gas prices, presum-

ably as an effect of the current

crisis.” The email noted there was

a Ukrainian student in the class.

The parents wrote that Stan-

ton’s comments amounted to “ad-

vocacy of political positions, and

Russian propaganda” and called

the remarks “wholly inappropri-

ate.”

On Tuesday, Stanton received a

letter from Arlington school offi-

cials notifying him that he was

suspended because of “an allega-

tion of comments made to stu-

dents during instructional hours

regarding sensitive world events

with Russia and Ukraine.” In the

letter, a copy of which was ob-

tained by The Post, Arlington

officials wrote that Stanton can

petition for reinstatement within

five days, but Stanton said he has

no desire or plans to do so.

Stanton said that he has been

subbing for Arlington for three

years, and that he took the job

because he is retired and wanted

to supplement his income. Before

that, he said, he had a varied

career.

He emailed The Post a two-

page résumé that listed roles as a

researcher at the American En-

terprise Institute, as host of

an unspecified 1980s “political/

cultural radio program” in D.C.

and as an “independent journal-

ist” who provided commentary

on national security and political

issues to U.S. news outlets includ-

ing CNN, ABC and this newspa-

per’s Foreign Policy magazine.

Stanton said he still writes for

outlets such as Pravda, which was

the Soviet Union’s chief propa-

ganda platform.

In a Pravda opinion piece pub-

lished Feb. 28, Stanton wrote that

the United States owns “every

country in the NATO alliance”

and called the Russia-Ukraine

conflict “great news for the West’s

defense contractors” who will

earn “billions of profit.” He also

wrote that “any support aired by

anyone on the West for the Rus-

sian position gets mauled and

derided by pro-West pundits” and

that “self-censorship by Western

media will only get more wicked.”

From 2016 to 2018, Stanton

said, he worked as a reporter for

Sputnik News in D.C. A 2018 “PBS

NewsHour” article identified

Stanton as a Sputnik News “wire

reporter” covering the Pentagon

and quoted a Sputnik spokes-

woman, Beverly Hunt, confirm-

ing that Stanton was employed

there.

The “NewsHour” piece said

Stanton was fired by Sputnik

News because he provided infor-

mation about the news outlet to

an unnamed third-party client.

Stanton said in an interview that

the client was “a U.S. government

intelligence agency.” He declined

to specify which agency or to

provide proof of his employment

there.

“I was extracting as much in-

formation as possible from their

[Sputnik News] computer sys-

tems, taking pictures of the staff,

collecting information,” Stanton

said.

Bellavia did not directly an-

swer questions asking how Stan-

ton came to be hired by Arlington

Public Schools and whether he

underwent a background check

at any point during the hiring

process.

Instead, Bellavia wrote in an

email that “we pull from a pool of

subs and they don’t have to have

any background in the subject

area they are subbing in.”

Stanton said he understands

why some feel that a lesson on the

Russia-Ukraine conflict is not an

appropriate topic for a Spanish

class. But he also said that, if he

had another chance, he’d give the

same speech again.

“If I reached one student — and

there was one student that told

the kids ‘Be quiet,’ because he

wanted to learn,” Stanton said. “If

for one student that is the case

then I would do it again.”

VIRGINIA

Arlington suspends substitute teacher whose lesson supported Russia’s war

Over the course of the pandem-

ic, officials and researchers have

found that it was generally hard-

er for workers of color to access

unemployment benefits, she said.

Anecdotally, individuals with dis-

abilities, literacy challenges or

without access to technology also

have more trouble navigating the

programs.

Even as Congress expanded the

number of workers eligible for

benefits, some data has shown

that a smaller percentage of un-

employed Black workers received

benefits compared to White

workers in certain periods of the

pandemic.

Evermore added that some

workers who are eligible for un-

employment insurance don’t

qualify because they falsely as-

sume they’re ineligible or because

messaging hasn’t reached them.

“A lot of barriers to access are

generally a lot more unintention-

al,” Evermore said.

person for Virginia Gov. Glenn

Youngkin (R) responded to re-

quests for comment on how the

agency would be using its grant.

The first-of-its-kind grant pro-

gram is a continuation of more

than $2 billion in funding allocat-

ed to the Department of Labor

and made available to U.S. states

and jurisdictions through the

American Rescue Plan.

Last year, the Labor Depart-

ment awarded $140 million in

grants to help states enhance

fraud protection in their unem-

ployment systems.

Evermore said states could use

the funds to increase public

awareness of programs and im-

prove processes for distributing

benefits so more people can read-

ily access them. In the District

and Virginia, like in many states,

unemployment claimants have

lamented excruciating waits for

payments and confusion on how

to access benefits.

would be using its grant to boost
communication, improve access
in other languages and incorpo-
rate “human centered design”
that would make its online inter-
faces easier to navigate. The de-
partment will also look to remove
“unnecessary or duplicative hur-
dles” faced by claimants in the
process.
Evermore said the District also
proposed using the funds to ex-
pand its data collection to better
assess which populations have
the most access to benefits on the
basis of race, ethnicity and gen-
der, among other factors.
DOES Director Unique Morris-
Hughes said in a statement that
the effort would overall “better
assist District workers in their
ability to support themselves and
their families.”
Neither the Virginia Employ-
ment Commission nor a spokes-

GRANT FROM B1

Labor grants inbound for D.C. and Va.

This year the city is prepared

to welcome the crowds back with

full programming. Events will

include traditions such as the

National Cherry Blossom Festi-

val Parade that runs for runs for

10 blocks along Constitution Av-

enue Northwest; the Blossom

Kite Festival, which attracted

more than 50,000 attendees on

the National Mall in 2019; and

Petalpalooza, a live music festi-

val along the banks of the Ana-

costia River.

Other features that started

during the pandemic are also

back, like Petal Porches, a home

decoration competition, and the

BloomCam that allows flower

fans to watch the blooming from

anywhere.

“We’re thrilled to welcome so

many of these events here today.

I already sensed such a differ-

ence driving to work today, there

was traffic, and people were

honking. It reminded me of 2019

days,” D.C. Council member

Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) said.

“People are back to work and

ready to celebrate.”

2019, the last year it was held in

person.

The city marked a record year

in tourism that year, with

24.6 million visitors generating

$896 million in tax revenue,

according to the city’s tourism

arm, Destination DC. In 2020,

with shutdowns, fear and limited

travel, those numbers plummet-

ed, cutting the number of domes-

tic visitors nearly in half.

The festival was one of the

first major events in Washington

impacted by the onset of the

pandemic, leaving organizers

scrambling to cancel events and

recalibrate. Last year, as cases

still raged, and vaccines were not

yet widely available, the festival

was reimagined with a hybrid of

limited in-person events and vir-

tual experiences.

Still in 2020, crowds flooded

the Tidal Basin to take in the

blooming trees, leading officials

to enlist the help of police. And in

2021, the Tidal Basin remained

open for visitors, but Park Serv-

ice officials threatened to close it

off entirely if crowds got too big.

well-loved traditions and explor-
ing new ways to celebrate spring-
time throughout Washington,
D.C., and the surrounding areas,”
Diana Mayhew, president of the
National Cherry Blossom Festi-
val, said.
The region’s leaders have been
trying to return the region’s
tourism, food and entertainment
industries back to normal after
about two years of the pandemic.
Last month, D.C. Mayor Muriel
E. Bowser (D) announced that
the city’s proof-of-vaccination re-
quirement and mask mandate
would be lifted, citing declining
coronavirus cases in the city. And
last week the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention eased
indoor masking guidance for
much of the country.
“One thing I know about our
destination,” Bowser said, “is
that people will be flocking back
to it. So let me say without
equivocation, that D.C. is open.”
The Cherry Blossom Festival
attracted 1.6 million guests in

FESTIVAL FROM B1

District plans to welcome crowds back to the Tidal Basin

ASTRID RIECKEN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

National Mall and Memorial Parks Superintendent Jeff Reinbold watches a juggler at an event

announcing this year’s National Cherry Blossom Festival, expected to coincide with peak bloom.

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