I'm orange!
Posted on 04/10/2015 9:53:39 AM PDT by fungoking
An Orange elementary school teacher has been suspended for having her third-grade students write “get well” letters to an inmate convicted of killing a cop, school officials announced today.
In a statement provided by Orange Superintendent Ronald Lee, district officials sharply criticized the assignment given by teacher Marylin Zuniga to write letters to former death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal.
School officials said they “vehemently deny” having prior knowledge of the assignment, and said Zuniga neither sought prior approval nor notified parents about this “unauthorized activity.”
“The school’s principal and district administrators vehemently deny that it had any knowledge of the assignment and preliminary inquiries find that no approval was ever sought nor were parents notified about this unauthorized activity,” the statement reads.
“The incident reported is in no way condoned nor does it reflect curriculum, program or activities approved by the district.”
The district is closed for spring break this week, but school officials said they will commence a full investigation into the matter when staff and students return on Monday.
“Ms. Zuniga will be immediately suspended with pay until such time the investigation is completed and based upon the results of the investigation additional action may be taken by the Board of Education,” the statement reads.
District officials declined further comment on the matter, “because it has now become a personnel issue.”
Zuniga did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Abu-Jamal, 60, is serving a life sentence for killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. He has been suffering from complications related to diabetes, according to reports.
A federal appeals court upheld Abu-Jamal’s conviction in 2008 but ordered that he receive a new sentence. He was later removed from death row, and is serving life without the possibility of parole.
In a tweet sent on Sunday, Zuniga wrote about her students’ letters being delivered to Abu-Jamal:
Just dropped off these letters to comrade Johanna Fernandez. My 3rd graders wrote to Mumia to lift up his spirits as he is ill. #freemumia
— Marylin (@Marylin_Zuniga) April 5, 2015
Her Twitter account has since been deactivated.
The woman mentioned in Zuniga’s tweet is Johanna Fernández, an assistant professor in the Department of Black and Latino Studies at Baruch College in New York City.
Fernandez also is part of an organization called “Educators for Mumia Adu-Jamal,” a group that advocates for Abu-Jamal’s innocence in the killing. Fernandez also is one of the coordinators of the “Campaign to Bring Mumia Home.”
On her Facebook page, Fernandez wrote on Monday about how she had visited Abu-Jamal on the previous Friday and delivered the letters from Zuniga’s students and from a group of Philadelphia High School students.
“We shared a touching moment with Mumia in an effort to raise his spirits,” Fernandez wrote in the Facebook post.
“Two teachers delivered letters to us that their students had written to Mumia. One batch came from a 3rd grade class taught by Ms. Marylin Zuniga in Orange, New Jersey. The other batch was from a group of high school students in the Philadelphia Student Union, which fights for school reform and is led by Mr. Hiram Rivera.
“It had been a long time since we had seen Mumia smile. He chuckled as he read excerpts from these touching letters.”
Fernandez did not respond to messages seeking comment.
According to Zuniga’s page on the school website, she holds “a Bachelors of Arts in Family and Child Studies and a NJ certification of eligibility with advanced standing (grades K-5) from Montclair State University.” She also graduated from “Teachers College, Columbia University with a Masters in Curriculum and Teaching,” according to the page.
“Marylin is fluent in Spanish and has over 6 years experience working with children as a student teacher, after-school teacher and curriculum designer, and community organizer,” the page reads.
“During her spare time she enjoys yoga, reading and DJing. Ms. Zuñiga is passionate about her students and always keeps them first!”
How about Mr. Hiram Rivera of the Philadelphia Student Union, will there be any fall out there?
This is clearly racist; why should it matter what her skin color is...
Hell, suspend ME with pay, too! Oh wait - I'm not in the teachers union, I just fund it with my tax dollars...
Why do we put up with these people?
Should be fired and forever banned from teaching again.
“Ms. Zuniga will be immediately suspended with pay...”
In other words, a paid vacation. Is that supposed to be a punishment?
If my child were in her class. I would threaten to remove her if this woman is not fired.
In the interests of humanity maybe euthanasia should be considered. It's for the children, or something like that.
“Just dropped off these letters to comrade Johanna Fernandez.”
Her tweet,, just wow.
“Just dropped off these letters to comrade Johanna Fernandez”. Comrade, really? We are being invaded with south of the border commies I guess.
Free paid vacation until the end of the year. Not a bad gig if you can get it.
Not being able to warp young minds with her leftist ideology is probably killing her. She should be kept away from public parks or she would be getting kids on the swingsets to join the Young Pioneers.
I'm orange!
"I like teachers you do something bad they make you do it over again."
Apparently if you do something wrong as a teacher, you get a paid vacation.
Fire her, post haste!
I fully expect that Obama will pardon this piece of filth on his way out the door in January 2017, as a final F-U to America. Of course, that assumes that America will still exist in January 2017.
Ironic that the “tanning booth tax” passed while he was in Congress (although that was when he was the Minority Leader).
Zuniga is a real, hard-core, revolutionary communist, perfectly delighted with her place in the ranks in the Long March Through The Institutions. This is not a case of respecting the opinions of someone who differs from you politically, this one is an open enemy and happy to tell you so.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.