By: Kyle James | 11-17-2018 | News
Photo credit: Katrina Brown | Dreamstime.com

MI – St Louis Teacher Fired Over Pledge Of Allegiance

A substitute teacher has been banned from working at Parkway South High School by school administrators after he thanked students for saying the Pledge of Allegiance. A student complained about substitute teacher Jim Furkin thanking students for saying the Pledge of Allegiance resulting in his immediate termination.

Furkin appeared before the Parkway School Board to tell his side of the story Wednesday night and asked them to investigate the credence of his story. "I'd like to know what happened," Furkin said. <a href="https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/118267070">A video recording of the meeting can be seen here</a> between school officials and Furkin.

By the next day, the video of his comments had gone viral and was shared over 150 times and racked up over 7,000 views on Facebook. Many of the comments were angry and directed their anger at the school district.

<img src="https://media.8ch.net/file_store/a85552f83348f73d99b47458ee80703194961c3ed1fec1fde917efa04714f883.jpg" style="max-height:640px;max-width:360px;">

<span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;">Jim Furkin | Parkway School District</span>

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Parkway School District issued their own statement on Friday saying:

<i>"We proudly recite our Pledge of Allegiance in all Parkway schools and classrooms. Students choose to participate, which is their right, and our role as educators is not to make a judgment about that choice. While we cannot share details of individual personnel matters, we would not recommend that a substitute teacher be restricted from a school simply based on a single isolated incident such as this. Several factors, including prior concerns at other schools, would be taken into consideration before making a recommendation."</i>

<i>"We always try to protect the privacy of everyone involved during these matters. However, there has been an omission of important facts in this case. The truth is, we recommended that this substitute not return due to a pattern of inappropriate conduct. The employee was previously restricted from another Parkway high school for recording video of students without their permission in class. In addition, he violated appropriate teacher-to-student interactions by sharing his personal contact information with students at South High. Based on previous concerns from staff and students, the principal of South High addressed these matters with the substitute teacher. The substitute was coached and reminded of his professional obligations."</i>

<i>Unfortunately, he did not maintain the high standards we expect of adults who work with our children. It is worth noting that during the recent incident regarding the pledge, the substitute’s comments caused disruption during class. By praising certain students for standing, the students who made the decision not to stand were humiliated and then teased. The class environment did not cultivate an atmosphere of learning and acceptance of the views and values of others. As you know, our mission and vision are integral parts of teaching and learning in Parkway. We take great care in every personnel matter as these decisions impact our students in the classroom each day. We appreciate the trust you place in us to make the best decisions for your children."</i>

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Perhaps Mr. Furkin loves America and wishes to instill a love of country in the hearts of his students. A noble cause. Thank you, Mr. Furkin– and shame on Parkway School Board. You should HIRE more teachers like him! <a href="https://t.co/ICwqrPpZnC">https://t.co/ICwqrPpZnC</a></p>&mdash; Chrissy Climber (@ccsaville) <a href="https://twitter.com/ccsaville/status/1063635465083985920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The agency that employs Furkin, Kelly Educational Staffing, issued a statement of their own Friday saying, "Kelly Educational Staffing does not discuss specific employee information publicly. We are working with the district on this situation." Furkin has been a substitute teacher for a freshman English class at Parkway South High in since late October. He told Post-Dispatch that the school makes its daily announcements over the PA system and once the announcements are concluded students are asked to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Furkin explained his actions on the day in question saying, "So I say, 'All right, let’s go,' and we recite the pledge. There are always two or three who don’t stand up because it’s not required. So at the end of the pledge, I said, 'Thanks to all of you that participated in that. I'm sure that all of those families who lost loved ones so that we could enjoy the freedoms we have today would appreciate the effort.'"

He recalls after his statement a student asked for a pass to go to the school counselor's office so Furkin wrote a pass. He later found out when a school administrator questioned him about what happened that the student had been "hurt" by what Furkin said after the pledge. "I said, 'Oh, I didn’t mean it that way, that wasn’t my intent at all,'" Furkin explained. "He said 'We'll get back to you,' and then the next day after that, I’m no longer welcome in the building."

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Furkin added, "To me personally, the flag represents freedom, and there’s a lot of price that’s been paid for the freedom we have today. That’s all I’m saying to the kids. … Could somebody feel offended by that? I would hope not. But like I said at the school board meeting, when you say something, you don’t know how someone else is going to perceive it."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/STLCoRepublican?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@STLCoRepublican</a> Jim Furkin needs a lawyer this was wrong. Shame on the St. Louis County’s Parkway School District</p>&mdash; Angel Mueller (@BigMamaAngel) <a href="https://twitter.com/BigMamaAngel/status/1063676494403256320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 17, 2018</a></blockquote>

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<a href="https://twitter.com/MAGASyndicate">@MAGASyndicate</a>

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Source: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/substitute-teacher-says-after-he-thanked-students-for-saying-pledge/article_00b2e81a-ada8-598d-92a4-29c979beff0f.html

Twitter: #Parkway #HighSchool #PledgeOfAllegiance #Missouri #JobsNotMobs #MAGA

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Thoughts on the above story? Comment below!
7 Comment/s
Anonymous No. 42538 2018-11-17 : 12:25

GOOD !! HE THANKED THEM (reaffirmed their feeling of being pressured against their will to participate in one of the stupidest, most blatant brainwashing techniques ever) fuck the pledge of allegiance and fuck America!

Doug Carver No. 42551 2018-11-17 : 13:54

It is people like you the anonymous ones that don't deserve the right to live in this great country. I take it from your comment that you had no family members who died for what the flag and the pledge of allegiance stand for. Their for you need to get your no good worthless ass out of here!!! That is whats wrong with this great country of ours today , we have very little or no respect from worthless people like you. So it's people here like you that need their candy ass kicked. so i gave you my name , come and get you some….. any time or place!

Paul Revere No. 42561 2018-11-17 : 14:41

Apparently, 'Mister Anonymous,' has no sense of Nationalism. Pledging Allegiance to the Flag is a Symbolic and Patriotic act, When one does the 'Pledge of Allegiance,' they are Pledging their Allegiance, not only to the Nation, but to the People. We, the People, make this Nation. Not one person having a temper tantrum.

Anonymous No. 42573 2018-11-17 : 16:17

Dung Carver, tough talkin turd

Africanus Noggerasaurus No. 42577 2018-11-17 : 16:35

The pledge is relatively new for our country. That said we are under assault by globalists. Therefore it helps us all. Anyone who doesn’t like the pledge can go fuck themselves in Africa.

Anonymous No. 42622 2018-11-18 : 01:50

"cultivate an atmosphere of learning and acceptance" SOME THINGS OUGHT NOT TO BE ACCEPTED. EVERY CHILD SHOULD HAVE THE PLEDGE ENGRAINED IN MEMORY AND ON HEART. MANDATORY, THEN WHEN THEY ARE OLD ENOUGH THEY CAN REMEMBER AND EVALUATE THOSE WORDS FOR THEMSELVES AND DECIDE WHAT VALUE THEY HOLD FOR THEM. IF THEY NEVER LEARN THEY ARE DEPRIVED OF THE RIGHT TO DECIDE, WHEN THEY HAVE A MATURE UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD AND WHY WE SAY IT. LETTING THEM REFUSE TO LEARN AND ACCEPT ISNT AN ATMOSPHERE OF LEARNING AND ACCEPTANCE.

Anonymous No. 42623 2018-11-18 : 01:55

THANK GOD FOR THE PATRIOTS ABOVE AND GOD BLESS. AS FOR THE NAZI, WELL, HE CAN GO TO HELL!

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