Pontiac teacher fired after video shows her cussing out students in classroom
The Pontiac School District in Oakland County, Michigan, said a teacher "no longer works for the district" following a video that appeared to show a profanity-laced confrontation during classroom time.
A video, which runs about 3 minutes and 12 seconds, has been circulating on social media. It includes a caption that it was taken at Pontiac High School. A shouting match between a male student and the teacher had begun by the time the recording started.
A view of a student's laptop during the scene appears to show assignments for an English language arts class.
"You calm down," the teacher told students early in that clip, as some jeered back.
A second two-minute video that CBS News Detroit viewed of that incident also shows a woman involved in a verbal confrontation with students in a classroom. The woman is seen getting on her phone and informing the person on the other line that a student threatened to send his mother to assault her.
"Put your phone down. Don't put me on social media," the woman said at one point while still on her call.
She then attempts several times to call the class back to the lesson.
The parent of a student who caught the incident on camera said she was not only disturbed by the video, but says she doesn't understand how the district could have hired a teacher like that in the first place.
Parent Kayla Burns says it was only that teacher's second day in her son's class, who she says took over for a previous teacher who is on administrative leave.
Burns says she and her son are now getting violent threats since calling out what happened.
"Seeing that video, I'm telling you, my whole mind was blown," Burns said. "How are you going to expect children to conduct themselves in a mature or adult manner, like they expect them to, when adults cannot? Not only an apology, I want change, transparency, and better with communication."
The school district says the teacher's behavior does not reflect the values or standards expected from its staff.
"The Pontiac School District is aware of a video circulating that shows a teacher using inappropriate language toward students," the district said in a statement. "This behavior does not reflect our values or the standards we expect from our staff. The matter was addressed promptly, and the employee involved no longer works for the district.
"The wellbeing of our students remains our highest priority. We appreciate our families' continued support as we work to ensure instructional continuity and maintain a safe, respectful learning environment. As this is a personnel matter, we cannot provide additional comment."
The Pontiac Education Association, the local teachers' union, says the district shares responsibility for this incident by not finalizing a new contract with its union.
In a statement, the union said in part, "We struggle to attract and retain educators who are fully equipped and supported to meet the complex demands of today's classrooms — including managing student behavior."
The union also said the teacher's actions are deeply saddening and her behavior doesn't represent what they see from the rest of the teachers they represent.
