PATERSON, N.J. (AP)—A New Jersey school district suspended a first-grade teacher after parents complained that she had posted derogatory comments about her students on her Facebook page.
The Record newspaper reports that the teacher wrote about feeling like “a warden” and referred to her 6- and 7-year-old students as future criminals.
The teacher, whose name was not disclosed, was removed from the classroom this week after several parents who saw the posts came to Paterson School 21 and asked that their children be removed from her class.
Superintendent Donnie Evans confirmed the suspension on Friday and said the district was investigating. He declined further comment because it was a personnel matter.
Board of Education President Theodore Best told the newspaper that the teacher was suspended “because the incident created serious problems at the school that impeded the functioning of the building.”
He added: “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.”
The flap comes just weeks after a high school English teacher from outside Philadelphia was suspended for a profanity-laced blog in which she called her young charges “disengaged, lazy whiners.”
And Chicago Public Schools officials are investigating a teacher who apparently posted a photo on her Facebook page of a student who wore Jolly Rancher candies in her hair. The 7-year-old girl’s mother complained to school officials after she saw negative comments written about her daughter’s picture on the page.