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Second Staten Island Teacher Accused Of Badmouthing Donald Trump In Class
By
David Colon
Published Jun 9, 2017
Modified Jun 9, 2017
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Win McNamee/Getty Images
By
David Colon
Published Jun 9, 2017
Modified Jun 9, 2017
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Staten Island is often thought of as the city's conservative outpost, and has the lone Republican Representative of the city's House delegation and the large Trump "T" to show it. However, Staten Island's schools could be a hotbed of liberal indoctrination, judging by the fact that for the second time this year, a teacher on the island is in hot water for badmouthing Donald Trump.
According to the Post, a student complained to his parents and city investigators that Susan Wagner High School teacher Alfred Teutonico called Donald Trump a "rapist" and a "dictator" during class in November.
Teutonico also "challenged" a student to defend Trump's policies when he came in to class wearing a Make America Great Again hat, and would spend a couple minutes of class time trashing Trump over the course of the election, according to a report put together by investigators with the Special Commissioner of Investigation.
For his part, Teutonico admitted to investigators that he sometimes shared his thoughts on the election, and the report concluded that his political comments were "were unrelated to the topic of the class lesson."
Department of Education spokesperson Michael Aciman sent Gothamist the following statement:
We encourage schools to have respectful conversations about civics, current events and public policy as part of our goal of creating thoughtful and engaged citizens, but staff are directed to maintain neutrality when discussing political topics in school.
Additionally, a DOE source told Gothamist that Teutonico received a letter of reprimand.
Back in February, another Staten Island teacher got in trouble for assigning homework that was seen by one parent as disparaging to Trump, in which students were supposed to fill in blanks for vocabulary words that compared Trump's seeming "arrogance" to Barack Obama's seeming "humility."
DOE rules regarding political activities in school buildings specifically state that "While on duty or in contact with students, all school personnel shall maintain a posture of complete neutrality with respect to all candidates."
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