A substitute teacher at a Missouri high school allegedly was told “not to come back” after he thanked his students for standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.
According to the Daily Mail, “at least one student” said he felt “singled out” and “bullied” after Jim Furkin, a substitute for many years at Parkway South High School in St. Louis, offered his thanks.
Furkin said one of two students who did not stand up had asked to see a school counselor after the his expression of gratitude — which included saying “I’m sure all of those families that lost loved ones so we could have the freedoms we have today would appreciate that, too.”
An administrator later informed Furkin the student was “hurt” by his remarks.
Furkin said he “didn’t mean it” the way the student took it. Nevertheless, the next day Furkin was informed he was “no longer welcome in the building.” He could, however, sub at other district schools.
Ironically, the Parkway South’s nickname is the “Patriots.”
Furkin said the staffing agency told him that he wasn’t being allowed back because he had ‘bullied’ a student.
‘To me personally, the flag represents freedom, and there’s a lot of price that’s been paid for the freedom we have today,’ Furkin said.
‘That’s all I’m saying to the kids. Could somebody feel offended by that? I would hope not’.
Furkin compared his action to complimenting the hairstyle of one board member but not the others and then being banned from future meetings because he’d bullied the other board members. The flag, he said, was a special case with him.
‘I just think that I would try to convey something like that to the kids who just take everything for granted. That flag is not to be taken for granted, in my opinion. It is our symbol of freedom,’ Furkin said.
But Fox News reported that in a letter home to parents and staff, the school superintendent said the pledge incident was not the sole factor in Furkin being banned from Parkway South.
Indeed, BPR reports Superintendent Keith Marty wrote that Furkin had a “a pattern of inappropriate conduct” which includes recording students in class without permission and sharing personal contact information with students.
Marty added that the Pledge situation was a classroom “disruption”: “The class environment did not cultivate an atmosphere of learning and acceptance of the views and values of others.”
College Fix readers may recognize Marty’s name; a year ago, another school in his district fell victim to a race hoax. Though a “non-white” student had admitted to scribbling the N-word and “White Lives Matter” on a bathroom mirror, Marty said the incident didn’t “diminish the hurt […] or the negative impact it had on [the] community.”
Read the full Daily Mail and BPR articles.
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