'Teacher of Year' Shirley Bunn Suspended, Said "Go Back to Mexico"
Shirley Bunn, a two-time “Teacher of the Year” in Arlington, Texas, was suspended from her job after allegedly telling a Hispanic student to “go back to Mexico.”
Bunn, a Barnett Junior High School math teacher, has 24 years of teaching experience, but admitted she lost her temper on Sept. 30 while distributing Title 1 forms to her eighth grade class.
According to public documents, a student who had a history of being disruptive repeatedly asked his teacher for a form printed in Spanish by saying, “I’m Mexican. I’m Mexican.”
The documents said Bunn tried to tell him that he could get the forms in the office, but he continued to argue with her and repeat, “I’m Mexican.”
In response, Bunn blurted out “(Then) go back to Mexico.”
An independent hearing examiner has recommended that the school district reinstate Bunn: “Under the circumstances when taken in the context of the moment and the lack of intent for ‘Go back to Mexico’ to be a racially or nationality-based pejorative remark, I find it was not a remark of an egregious nature."
The school board is expected to meet about the reinstation recommendation soon.
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I think everybody has a bad day and that is all this was. Do you think if you go to other countries you're gonna find papers printed in all different languages? No, this crap also cost the state and federal government millions each year to have forms written and translated then add in the printing costs. My daughter attends a small rural school with a large population of Hispanic children.( my daughter is half Mexican) she has been reading since she was about 20 mos old. But when we moved to this district in her kindergarten year, she had to sit around and wait for all the kids to learn English and their letters before they could go on to even basic stuff. So people who want to come down on her, I suggest the schools move a bunch of non English speaking kids into your district and integrate them into your kids classes. Given the current state of the economy and the teacher lay offs, imagine how much easier it would be if illegals were removed from the public school. Class sizes would shrink as would the number of teachers needed, maybe then school taxes would go down. The child should have had some good home training and not back talked the teacher!! Looks like the English isn't the only thing his parents didn't teach him, Manners and respect being the others!!!!
Hi. I'm from Helsinki, Finland. I speak Finnish, Estonian, Swedish, German, French, Spanish and English. I'm working on my Russian because I often like to visit the Russian city St. Petersburg which these days is a very cool place indeed. I find that language skills are good for you and that knowing only one limits a person's view of the world.
However, firing the teacher for blurting out the unfortunate 'go back home' thing might be, on her past record, a bit much.
Of course, failure to speak Finnish in Finland would be no impediment at all. We all agree that speaking more than one language when you intend to visit other nations is a great thing. It improves relations between you and the nation in which you are a guest.
For this little self-described Mexican to demand that the nation in which he is a guest adopt his language for his convenience is where the insult occurs not when a teacher suggests he learn our customs or return home. The inference is much like when in Rome.
Another year she would get my vote for teacher of the year. It's time we teach America in our classrooms. Multiculturalism has failed anywhere it has been tried. It only leads to giving power to the offended. America has long been a melting pot of cultures not an enclave of cultural division. Cultures that adapt to America are welcome. Those that want to infiltrate and tear down our nation are no different than an invading army and should be given the same degree of deference.
When are the illegals going to leave? This is America learn English. Why are Americans being punished because of illegals who cannot speak English? It is the school district that should be fired!!!!!!