COLUMBIA, S.C. — A large teacher protest planned for Monday was canceled after many educators received online messages they're calling threatening and harassing.
SC for Ed, the organization behind the protest, said their rally was mistaken as a pro-mask event, but it was meant to highlight many issues teachers have faced this year. Although they canceled the protest, teachers still gathered today to raise awareness of the issues in a different way.
A group of local teachers in the Columbia-area got together to write letters to lawmakers, have meaningful conversations and raise awareness online for safer working conditions and higher pay Monday.
"That mask optional ordinance was just the tipping point of a really rough year for teachers, where we weren't prepared, we weren't protected," said founder of SC for Ed, Lisa Ellis. "We were villainized from the get-go because we wanted to make sure that students and teachers were safe going back into the classroom."
SC for Ed planned the protest after Governor Henry McMaster announced his latest executive order that makes masks optional in schools, but Ellis said that wasn’t the only reason they were gathering.
"That was just literally the final nail in the coffin of an already tough year of mistreatment," Ellis explained.
Some who saw the planned protest were upset teachers were advocating for masks in schools, that’s when SC for Ed said they started getting threatening and harassing messages.
"I don't think we've ever gotten this level of hate before," said Steven Nuzum, a teacher in Richland School District Two. "The last thing that we would ever do intentionally is create a situation where anyone was going to be put in any kind of risk."
Nuzum said they cancelled the protest for safety reasons.
"I know in Lexington, they've tried to find the addresses of teachers so they can go to their houses, they're trying on social media to get people to come into these private Facebook groups that we have to spy on people," said Nuzum.
Ellis added that they started getting angry messages through social media, email and voicemail.
On Monday, teachers gathered in a small, private way to still make their voices heard. They hope lawmakers will put more funding toward public education and include teachers in the decision-making process.
SC for Ed said they haven’t filed an official report with Columbia Police yet because they were busy planning events, but plan to do so this week.