A Florida high school teacher has been suspended for one week but will avoid any stricter punishment after repeatedly bullying a Muslim student by calling him a “raghead Taliban.”
District officials claim no stronger punishment is possible thanks to union contracts that protect teachers, according to the Miami Herald.
Deyab-Houssein Wardani, 14, is of Lebanese and Moroccan descent. However, Maria Valdes treated his presence in her French class as an opportunity to repeatedly poke fun at the boy and suggest he had ties to insurgents in Afghanistan.
According to a complaint filed by the boy’s father, Youssef Wardani, Deyab-Houssein was subjected to a barrage of mockery after coming to class one day in February while wearing a hoodie. Valdes reportedly responded by exclaiming “Ah no! The Taliban is here!” Later in the class, she continued to refer to the boy as “the Taliban” when calling on him to answer a question. At other times, she allegedly called the him a “raghead Taliban” and a “terrorista.”
Deyab-Houssein claims that he wasn’t aware of what the Taliban is until he asked his parents later.
After receiving Wardani’s complain, the Broward School Board decided to suspend her without pay for just five school days. Valdes will also be forced to attend diversity training to atone for her deeds. No stronger punishment is possible, officials say, because of government regulations coupled with union protections.
Representatives of the Broward Teachers Union were not immediately available for comment, so it’s unclear just what provisions of the county’s teaching contract prevent harsher discipline.
Contract or no contract, Wardani is not happy with the board’s decision. He said Valdes should have been fired, or at least suspended for a year or more, and said he is considering a lawsuit.
“You have failed every teacher, parent and child in this district just to hide Mrs. Maria Valdes and racists like her,” he told the board during the hearing, according to CBS Miami.
This isn’t the first time a Broward County teacher has landed in hot water for offensive remarks. In 2013, a teacher received a week’s suspension for calling a Haitian child a “little chocolate boy” in class.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.