Henry County Schools described a student's recording of a teacher blasting President Donald Trump as an "isolated incident" and said the district does not tolerate "the infusion of political bias into classroom lessons."
In the recording, captured in a Hampton Middle School classroom by student Josie Orihuela and posted on YouTube in late February, a teacher can be heard questioning what Trump is talking about when he uses the slogan "Make America Great Again."
"He must be talking about when it was great for Europeans because when it comes to minorities, America has never been great for minorities," the teacher said, in a portion of the 15-minute recording. "Now he's trying to stop immigration."
“Because when I examine history, I can’t remember a time when it was great for anybody, other than the Europeans,” the teacher said.
The recording has sparked extensive news coverage and led to a Fox News interview with Josie. Her mother, Kimberly Orihuela, confirmed the authenticity of the YouTube video.
Henry County Schools spokesman JD Hardin issued a statement about the incident.
"It cannot be stated any more strongly or clearly that we do not condone the action taken by our teacher in this incident and will not tolerate the infusion of political bias into classroom lessons. Our teachers have a responsibility to plan instruction aligned to the state standards. Regrettably, this isolated incident did not hold to that. We responded swiftly to the matter at hand, and the appropriate action was taken with regards to this personnel matter," the statement read.
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