Teacher fired for defending 9-year-old who was called n-word by bullies
An Arizona teacher has lost her job for defending a fourth-grader from bullies who harassed him with racist words.
Pam Aister, a 25-year veteran, was booted from her position at Four Peaks Elementary School after administrators said she was too harsh on the group of boys who called Malachi Gillis a monkey, crackhead and the n-word.
The Gillises told local CBS5 the abuse was so bad they had to move Malachi to a different school. “‘You belong to a zoo,’ ‘stupid head,’ ‘monkey,’ ‘crackhead,'” said Malachi, quoting what he said were daily taunts from a group of five boys.
Things came to head last spring when Aister confronted the alleged bullies.
“He is not alone. When you pick on him, you pick on me,” Aister told the group,according to CBS5. “It is not five to one anymore. It is five to two.”
Read more at New York Daily News
Administrators made the decision to fire Aister after a mother of one of the alleged bullies complained. Aister was accused of threatening the boys, telling them to “shut up,” according to one report.
Fountain Hills Unified School District officials voted 4-1 to fire her at a hearing earlier this week.
Supporters have launched a change.org petition to have Aister reinstated.
It seems like the bigger problem is the fact that these children are expressing racist behavior.
Thoughts on Aister getting fired?
Aren’t teachers supposed to stand up for students?
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