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A Texas teacher was fired on Friday for allegedly telling her students not to judge people for wanting to have sex with five-year-olds.
The El Paso School District initially suspended Amber Parker who taught English at Franklin High School in El Paso. However, on Friday, the district voted unanimously to fire her.
“After a thorough investigation was conducted, on September 6, 2022, during a Special Board Meeting, the Board of Trustees approved a decision to notify a Franklin High School teacher of proposed termination,” Chief Communications Officer Liza Rodriguez stated, according to NBC News.
“Any allegation of potential misconduct is investigated thoroughly, and the safety of our students is a top priority.”
A video from TikTok shows Parker telling her students “Stop calling them that. ‘You’re not allowed to label people like that. Stop it, Diego. We’re not gonna call them that. … We’re gonna call them MAPs, minor-attracted persons. So don’t judge people just because they wanna have sex with a five-year-old.”
A school board trustee named Daniel Call said that Parker’s comments were taken out of context and he posted his reaction on Facebook.
Parker’s husband responded to Call’s reaction and said:
Mr. Daniel Call, I happen the be the husband of the teacher in question. I can tell you that we were shaken to the core by these accusations. It is both scary and disturbing that that an edited 18-second clip could destroy a 30 year career when taken completely out of context. She is exemplary as a teacher and truly cares about the students. Needless to say we have spent many sleepless nights because of this cruel release on social media of the 18 seconds. We pray that you and the rest of the board will see this for what it is and not allow and edited video destroy an innocent woman, her career and her family in the process. I want to thank you personally for the updated post to begin to right this wrong.
However, a week later Call changed his stance and said “Any reasonable person that heard what the seven trustees heard would’ve voted to terminate Amber Parker. … There were more things that the public may not know about that was included on the closed findings.”
“Initially I was shocked and horrified when I saw the video. Then when I heard that she was trying to be sarcastic, I felt bad for her,” he told NBC News. “However, when the district’s investigation into this situation helped me understand the full story, I have no doubt that terminating this teacher is the right thing to do.”
Call noted that administrators have to approve lesson plans, and explained why Parker was responsible for what she said.
“She should not have strayed as far as she did. Hypothetically, I could have the best lesson plan in the world. But if I don’t follow the lesson plan and I deviate into some areas I shouldn’t be teaching about, or talking about? The lesson plan is kind of pointless.”
The President of the board, Al Velarde, said the next step for Parker could be an appeals process.
