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A substitute teacher in Texas scolded a high school student for talking in Spanish in class, instructing him to “speak English” because he’s in America, video shows.
The unidentified teacher, who is white, made the demand last week at Socorro High School in El Paso after she caught junior Carlos Cobian watching soccer on his cellphone in class, according to footage obtained by KVIA.
“Speak English, we’re in America,” the teacher said, prompting groans and jeers from Cobian’s classmates. “Give me your phone.”
Moments earlier, the teen asked the teacher in Spanish why he was being singled out, as several other students were also using their cellphones. But the educator was seemingly unmoved by Cobian’s attempt to engage in any discussion with her, video shows.
“I was shocked, and then I got a little mad,” the teen told the station. “For her to come to teach at Socorro, being a sub, like 90 percent of the students here are Mexican and Latinos.”
Cobian, who said he considered the teacher’s comment racist, claims he didn’t antagonize her during the interaction. He was later removed from class and questioned by the school’s security personnel, but he was not disciplined in connection with the incident, KVIA reports.
“She actually tried to say that I pushed her, but I didn’t and some of the videos [showed] that I didn’t really push her,” the teen told the station.
It was the first time anyone at the school admonished him for speaking Spanish, Cobian told KWKT.
The brief exchange remains under investigation by district administrators, according to a statement released by the Socorro Independent School District.
“Appropriate action, per our employee code of conduct policies, will be taken,” the statement reads.
A message seeking comment from district officials early Wednesday was not immediately returned.
The teacher should be “permanently banned” from the classroom, according to the League of United Latin American Citizens, which bills itself as the largest Latino organization in the country.
“Teachers and all school staff are meant to be leaders and mentors to our children — not racists who harbor anti-immigrant sentiments,” LULAC national president Domingo Garcia said in a statement. “It is abominable that this institutionalized racism against the Hispanic community in Texas hasn’t ended.”
https://nypost.com/2019/11/27/texas-...speak-english/
The unidentified teacher, who is white, made the demand last week at Socorro High School in El Paso after she caught junior Carlos Cobian watching soccer on his cellphone in class, according to footage obtained by KVIA.
“Speak English, we’re in America,” the teacher said, prompting groans and jeers from Cobian’s classmates. “Give me your phone.”
Moments earlier, the teen asked the teacher in Spanish why he was being singled out, as several other students were also using their cellphones. But the educator was seemingly unmoved by Cobian’s attempt to engage in any discussion with her, video shows.
“I was shocked, and then I got a little mad,” the teen told the station. “For her to come to teach at Socorro, being a sub, like 90 percent of the students here are Mexican and Latinos.”
Cobian, who said he considered the teacher’s comment racist, claims he didn’t antagonize her during the interaction. He was later removed from class and questioned by the school’s security personnel, but he was not disciplined in connection with the incident, KVIA reports.
“She actually tried to say that I pushed her, but I didn’t and some of the videos [showed] that I didn’t really push her,” the teen told the station.
It was the first time anyone at the school admonished him for speaking Spanish, Cobian told KWKT.
The brief exchange remains under investigation by district administrators, according to a statement released by the Socorro Independent School District.
“Appropriate action, per our employee code of conduct policies, will be taken,” the statement reads.
A message seeking comment from district officials early Wednesday was not immediately returned.
The teacher should be “permanently banned” from the classroom, according to the League of United Latin American Citizens, which bills itself as the largest Latino organization in the country.
“Teachers and all school staff are meant to be leaders and mentors to our children — not racists who harbor anti-immigrant sentiments,” LULAC national president Domingo Garcia said in a statement. “It is abominable that this institutionalized racism against the Hispanic community in Texas hasn’t ended.”
https://nypost.com/2019/11/27/texas-...speak-english/
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