Franklin West Supervisory Union Superintendent Ned Kirsch wrote to parents Thursday night that the incident involved a “long-term substitute” interacting with students who were walking to the cafeteria.
“The children were standing with their arm out in front of them and the teacher was modeling the position,” Kirsch wrote. “She then raised her arm slightly and said, ‘And now we say, Heil Hitler.'”
“I’m at a loss on the whole thing,” Kirsch told Seven Days on Friday. “People are shocked. People I’ve spoken to are at a loss for words.” He declined to identify the teacher.
The teacher admitted she uttered the words and made the gesture, Kirsch wrote. She was “immediately relieved,” Kirsch wrote, and will not return to the school of about 650 students.
She was subbing for a teacher on maternity leave who was scheduled to return on Monday, Kirsch said in an interview. The teacher had taught as a substitute at the school regularly for years and had not been the subject of any complaints, Kirsch said.
“It’s not a pattern; [I] never had a report about her, nothing,” Kirsch said. “No one can quite understand what happened.”
The school’s principal and a guidance counselor were scheduled to visit the class Friday morning, Kirsch wrote to parents.
“We are dedicated to ensuring a safe learning environment for our students and families,” Kirsch wrote. “This incident was completely unacceptable and I apologize.”
Got something to say?
Send a letter to the editor and we'll publish your feedback in print!
Can Seven Days clarify:
Was the teacher demonstrating the solute in a “this is part of history which is bad but we need to be aware of so we don’t repeat” sort of way or a “hey kids, try this new cool thing” sort of way?
3rd grade is probably too young for the former and the later is definitely unacceptable but there is still an important distinction that readers should be made aware of if you are going to report on this.
There doesn’t seem to be many details here that would warrant someone being immediately fired. Was she simply demonstrating it, was she trying to get students to buy in to it, was it part of an earlier lesson…? Certainly there is no room for Nazi ideals in a school but what exactly happened here?
You don’t have to give a lesson on doing the salute to teach children that it’s bad. Would you give a lesson on giving someone the finger in order to tell kids that it’s a poor way to communicate anger. Nazis and nazi sympathizers are given way too much leeway these days.
Her intent, either way, should get her fired. Demonstrates poor judgement at the very least.
World war 2 and Hitler are not in the third grade curriculum
To come to any reasonable conclusion, more information is needed. However this is scary. A teacher with an impeccable record shows an error in judgment and is immediately fired. No wonder it is hard to find good teachers. This is a horrible work environment.
agreed that there is a need for more info. It is likely that she was not training as a teacher, not qualified nor licensed, she was a substitute who passed a background check. Either way, it was strange behavior. perhaps she was trying to get them to be quiet in the halls and this novel approach had their attention. We will never know all the facts…bummer
We need to stop ALL the teachers from teaching history. We all know it makes you a bad person to see and hear such things.
Watch her sue.
What was her intention? It might have been innocent. If that is the case, then her judgment was flawed, but a summary dismissal would be inappropriate. One steady characteristic of Puritans is the tendency to overdo, especially when it comes to punishment.
Probably was a putin plant
The teacher was not in a classroom, so let’s stop with the “teaching history” angle here. It was probably something randomly inappropriate due to poor judgement, due to who knows? Poor as hell timing, in regards to the vandalism that has taken place in other parts of the state. Substitutes can be either very good, mediocre, or a bit whacked. I had an adopted daughter in the public school system, a child from Ethiopia, attending classes for the first time , 4th grade. When 9-11 happened, we kept our little ones away from the tv, and the horror of it. this sub art teacher had kids drawing the burning towers, describing the bodies jumping. My daughter comes home in a state of high anxiety. I did call the school, it was damn inappropriate for a sub with no training to introduce a subject that loaded. Since we do not know the entire story here, or if there was even an intent to indoctrinate (I highly doubt this), a reprimand would have sufficed. But, third grade , ouch. Now those kids know something they are not capable of comprehending. reminds me of a lot of adults around here. Capable of spouting off factoids with no history or context. WW2 history is not a third grade subject.