Inland Empire teacher placed on administrative leave following Trump election rant
A Moreno Valley teacher has been placed on administrative leave after they were caught in the midst of a rant about president-elect Donald Trump following Election Day last week.
The audio recording happened inside of a Valley View High School classroom on Wednesday, Nov. 6, just hours after the results of the highly anticipated election were announced, with former President Donald Trump once again winning the presidency, this time over Vice President Kamala Harris.
"I'm so f---ing sorry you guys, you deserve better. Look at me, you deserve better," the teacher can be heard saying. "I know a lot of Latino men on this campus, adults and students, that love Donald Trump. And he's called their mothers rapists, he's called their fathers rapists. He's called them criminals, he called them the poison in the blood of our country."
The recording has caused split feelings both on campus and throughout the community.
"He just kept talking about it, saying Trump is racist, Trump is a rapist ... treasonist," said Alek Colon, who was in the teacher's class during first period that day. "I like him, he's a good teacher."
He admits that the teacher did go too far that morning, however.
"He shouldn't be talking to kids about politics," Colon said.
Many other students echo that sentiment, especially after hearing the recording that has gone viral in recent days.
"My father always told me if you say something it's all about the tone and the way you deliver the message," said Noah Neri, a 10th grader at MVHS. "The way he did it was unprofessional and inappropriate for the students. ... The way he was speaking his opinion to his students is like he's pushing his agenda to them and it wasn't right. It's not what you should do as a teacher."
After the video began to make its rounds on social media, the Moreno Valley Unified School District sent a letter to parents.
"We were recently made aware of an incident at one of our high schools in which a staff member's discussion about the election results turned unprofessional," the letter said.
They placed the teacher on administrative leave, which has caused a bit of an uproar from some students on campus. They've started a change.org petition asking that he's allowed to come back to his position, and asking that all teachers receive equal punishment regardless of their political background.
A student walkout is planned for the MVHS campus by some of the student body on Tuesday morning while the incident remains under review from district officials.