PATTERSON, N.J. — Jennifer O’Brien has been suspended from her job as a Patterson, New Jersey first grade teacher after she made a post on her blog referring to her students as “future criminals.”
O’Brien claimed that she wasn’t a teacher — but a “warden for future criminals” — and said that she wanted a “Scared Straight” program for her young students.
The New American reports:
O’Brien was suspended because the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was upset with her comments, as was the president of the Paterson school board. O’Brien is white; most of her students are black and “Latino.”
“The reason why she was suspended was because the incident created serious problems at the school that impeded the functioning of the building,” board president Theodore Best told North Jersey.com. “You can’t simply fire someone for what they have on a Facebook page; but if that spills over and affects the classroom then you can take action.”
RELATED STORIES
