Texas elementary school teacher claims she was FIRED over TikTok post about letting third graders sit out Pledge of Allegiance 'after she taught lesson on Nazi propaganda and students saw parallels'
Sophia DeLoretto-Chudy was let go over a TikTok video she posted in March. And she let students sit during the Pledge of Allegiance
By Hope Sloop
Daily Mail
June 12, 2023
A third-grade teacher at a Texas elementary school was fired after she made a TikTok video where she 'embarrassed' an administrator by talking about a list of concerns given to her
An elementary school teacher has claimed she was fired for allowing third graders to sit during the Pledge of Allegiance.
Sophia DeLoretto-Chudy posted a viral TikTok video claiming that she was ousted after she taught kids about Nazi propaganda and they saw parallels with the Pledge.
In the video she posted a list of concerns purportedly raised by administrators at Becker Elementary School in Austin, Texas. Among them were failure to respond to emails in a timely manner and failure to complete data analysis.
According to DeLoretto-Chudy, the students made their own decision to sit after discussing the Pledge and their right to protest.
She claimed their interest in protesting came after she taught them about how Adolf Hitler had tried to brainwash Germany's youth with Nazi propaganda, and implied her students had begun to view the Pledge similarly.
Sophia DeLoretto-Chudy was in her first-year of teaching at Becker Elementary School in Austin when an official pulled her into a meeting to discuss some issues.
Becker Elementary School in Austin, Texas where DeLoretto-Chudy taught
Text displayed on her video reads: 'In Texas it's a crime to question the pledge of allegiance.' It amassed millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes.
Talking with FOX 26, DeLoretto-Chudy said she thought when a school official called her into their office that they were going to offer help after a rough first year.
'They brought me a list of concerns. I was a little taken aback,' the teacher who worked with eight-year-olds said. 'It caused me to have quite a bit of anxiety.'
In that meeting, the administrator presented her with a lengthy list of issues with her job performance, including her work attire among other things.
'It just felt like a very demoralizing meeting. I think that's really the word for it, where I didn't feel supported, and I felt disrespected,' said DeLoretto-Chudy.
Shocked by the interaction, she took the paper to TikTok where she showed the world what her administrator had told her she was doing wrong.
'We've noticed an intentional attempt in teaching your students about their legal and constitutional rights,' one line from the paper reads.
It goes on to ask how the students came to the decision to 'stay seated' and inquire whether the group is doing it to 'please their teacher' or for their own reasons.
DeLoretto-Chudy had previously run as a Democrat for California Assembly District 54 in 2019, according to a Facebook page dedicated to her campaign.
She remains an outspoken advocate for liberal causes on TikTok where she has posted political content calling out Republicans and right-leaning politicians.
In a follow-up video posted on the same day, she stated that the concerns only were brought up to her after officials noticed her kids sitting during the Pledge.
This is the note presented to the teacher indicating the concerns administrators brought up during their meeting
DeLoretto-Chudy had previously run as a Democrat for California Assembly District 54 in 2019, according to a Facebook page dedicated to her campaign
DeLoretto-Chudy at a protest in support of abortion rights for women
She remains an outspoken advocate for liberal causes on TikTok where she has posted political content calling out Republicans and right-leaning politicians
'Which they decided to do for themselves after learning during Holocaust Remembrance Week about propaganda and the Hitler Youth,' she said.
DeLoretto-Chudy went on to explain that she had a conversation with her class about the Civil War origins of the Pledge which led to the children choosing to abstain.
The teacher said that the class had looked up the history of the Pledge together and discovered it was recited in schools after the war to unite the country.
According to the Smithsonian Institution, the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools was not commonplace until October 1892, nearly 30 years after the Civil War had ended.
The administration officials shared their concerns that the teacher may have been forcing her own political opinions on the topic onto the students.
Among the questions presented to the teacher were inquiries into whether or not parents were aware of the silent protest and if they fully understand their actions.
In the video, DeLoretto-Chudy mentioned that following the conversation about the Pledge's history, she told the students about Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick, a former NFL quarterback, notably received backlash for his protest of the National Anthem before games and has remained a free agent since 2017.
'It didn't have anything to do with my instructional practices or what I was teaching or how I was teaching,' DeLoretto-Chudy said of the way she was dismissed. Pictured: The letter informing her that administration officials were pushing for her termination
The letter given to the teacher informing her of her termination on April 27
The topic has divided many on the internet who disagree fervently on whether or not the teacher had the right to have such discussions with young children
The original 45-second video made to vent about the issues administrators had presented blew up overnight, amassing more than a million views.
The next day, human resources put her on administrative leave for the video.
'I had my badge taken away,' DeLoretto-Chudy said. 'I was locked out of all the apps, was not allowed to communicate with anybody.'
According to the district, the third-grade teacher was let go not because of her actions inside the classroom, but because she violated the social media policy.
FOX 26 reported that the employee handbook explicitly addresses social media interfering with an employee's ability to do his or her job.
If it does impact their performance, the employee is subject to termination.
'It didn't have anything to do with my instructional practices or what I was teaching or how I was teaching,' DeLoretto-Chudy said of the way she was dismissed.
'And it had everything to do with the fact that I had embarrassed one of my administrators on TikTok,' she continued.
The topic has divided many on the internet who disagree fervently on whether or not the teacher had the right to have such discussions with young children.
Others argued that it comes down to her refusal to follow the school district's social media policy and nothing more.
'As an educator, she did several things wrong ... Her audacity just blows my mind,' one YouTube commenter wrote on FOX 26's video.
'In public schools, students do not have to stand for the pledge of allegiance if they choose not to. First Amendment,' another wrote.
'Teachers don't have more rights than the parents,' one person added.
'What did she do wrong though,' wrote one more.
1 comment:
Close the door on your way out.
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