An Orange County middle school teacher who was placed on administrative leave is receiving more and more support.
At Howard Middle School, Ethan Hooper teaches language arts to sixth graders.
He was placed on leave by Orange County Public Schools on Friday. In recordings uploaded to TikTok, the district charged him with exploiting students as “political pawns.”
One of the students claimed she didn’t believe they were utilized for political purposes in the video. She said that it was their concept. They shot the video at lunch.
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Florida teacher makes students participate in a series of tiktoks mocking the FL Dept of Education for removing books from schools containing pornography, CRT, and gender ideology pic.twitter.com/i8BzdhFsbw
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 17, 2023
“We all agreed to it,” said Jaida Jackson, who appeared in one of the videos. “He didn’t really do anything wrong.”
She said other students in her class agreed and want Hooper back in the classroom soon.
“None of them think that this should be really happening. He’s one of my favorite teachers. He’s probably the best. It’s just not fair,” Jackson said.
This Florida teacher made students participate in a skit for black history month where white students act like servants for black students pic.twitter.com/g29SgNd3pn
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 17, 2023
“The fact that the students really devised the content specifically means that it’s something that matters to them. And to say that they were used as pawns is false,” said Jackson’s mother, Shauna Thompson.
“The other example my daughter showed me was for Black History Month. They put some Black students on the chairs, and then the white students were fanning them and making them comfortable. You know, it’s awesome, it’s beautiful, it’s celebratory, and I loved it,” Thompson said.
“A lot of them are feeling guilt because when you love somebody, you want to protect them, and they’re so young, they don’t understand what’s happening. Why are adults coming for our favorite teacher?” Thompson asked.
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