Two California teachers are under fire this week for political commentary, though only one has been suspended. A California middle school teacher in Ventura was removed from her classroom after a recording surfaced of her telling students that the government “has way too much power” and allegedly saying Donald Trump is still president. In the meantime, a high school teacher is under investigation after he trashed conservatives in a multiple choice question on an exam.
According to CBS LA, the teacher at Anacapa Middle School said “People need to wake up and see the government has way too much power right now.” Mother Sarah Silikula complained that her son was traumatized by anti-vax comments by the teacher and was convinced that Trump was still president. She complained that “He’s damaged. He’s hurt. He’s scared. He doesn’t trust his parents now. He thinks we lied to him.”
The record is a bit unclear since an aide reportedly said that the teacher did not discuss the 2020 election. The report however did allege that the teacher claimed that Hunter Biden “had child pornography on his laptop,” “was having sexual intercourse with his own niece,” and “is doing deals with China and Ukraine where he was funneling money illegally.”
Obviously, none of those topics were appropriate if made in a middle school class and would justify discipline. These are young children who do not need teachers using classes to advance their political agendas. We have been discussing such cases on both the left and the right recently.
The school district said Friday that the teacher would no longer teach at Anacapa Middle School.
Over at Whitney High School in Rocklin, a teacher slammed conservatives in a test question. The quiz question asked students in a social science class to identify “a group of complete idiots.” The possible answers were given in a multiple-choice format as: “A) KKK; B) all of Florida; C) Fox news; D) Texans.”
The question was clearly meant as a joke. However, it obviously disparages conservatives, including any students who hold such views. It increases the sense of viewpoint intolerance in such schools.
Whitney High School released a statement on Saturday telling parents it will investigate the controversial question.