- marylin zuniga -
Younger pic:
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!”
What in the hell is it that the lefties love about this guy???
It’s not like it is even in question that he killed the cop.
This debacle should be followed up with the widow of the assasinated cop visiting the classes to give her side. If this person is not up to doing such a thing, someone should speak up for her, to officially distance the school from advocating this murder any more than they already implicitly have. Yeah, I’m sure they were ‘Shocked! Shocked!”
Suspended WITH pay. Like the LAUSD teacher who was caught feeding his semen on cookies to his students. Teachers unions.
I would be outraged to learn that my kids teachers were involved in something like this. Suspended with pay is being far to nice. I can only hope that she loses her job and can no longer warp the minds of children.
OK, that one made me laugh:)
When people warned me wife (when she was younger) that tanning would make her skin wrinkled when she was old, she would say, “When I’m old my skin is going to be wrinkled anyway.”
OK, so she’s sorta old now and little wrinkled—but at least she’s not orange!
Comrade Zuniga, being a qualified community organizer, should run for political office as she already has as much in terms of qualifications as our president had when he first ran. Free Mumia is an adequate platform.
I know this sounds crazy but a few years ago I stopped eating potato chips at lunch and substituted lots of raw carrots.
I started turning orange, it was actually noticeable. Looked it up on the net and it really can happen - the term is Hypercarotenemia,
- marylin zuniga -
Younger pic:
Communism 101 has to start somewhere. It has ruled public ed and higher education for decades. Start early and often works for Marx, too.
We’ve known this for decades and decades. We didn’t give a damn.
Now we look kind of stupid to claim outrage and worse yet to claim surprise.
Yep, and when the furor dies down, brought back with a raise. Don’t fall for their crap, nothing will happen to her.
Wonder if she led the singing when 0bama was elected the first time.
comrade:
The communist word for friend or ally. Frequently used in Mother Russia, China, Cuba, and North Korea.
Arguably the most racist tax ever instilled on the American people!
I hope you are feeling better so that you can be executed soon for killing that policeman 20 years ago. Rotting in prison is no way to live and I know you believe in justice becuz I hear you jabber about it all the time so the state of Pennsylvania should just give you a needle ride and be done with it.
Get well soon.
Then die.
Signed,
Coerced child
So does this mean that within her twisted mind it was OK that a police officer died?!
Always stunning how the left is portrayed as more open minded, intellectual, inclusive, accepting, blah, blah, blah. Yet the reality is that the left is a culture of death (abortion), hate (racial division), suffering (poverty) and slavery to central gov’t (anti-liberty).
Nice-looking woman. Too bad she’s nutz!
Dear Cop Killer Mumia,
I hope you will be out of prison soon. All it takes is a date with Old Sparky, and you’ll be leaving feet first with a toe tag. I think that would be very nice. I hope you are well (so you can be executed).
love,
A Real American
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