A teacher in Weston, Florida, has been suspended without pay for five days for allegedly calling a 14-year-old student in one of her classes a “raghead Taliban.”
Maria Valdes, who teaches French at Cypress Bay High in South Florida, is accused of saying to Deyab-Houssein Wardani:
“Here comes the raghead Taliban.”
But that isn’t the first time Valdes had made disparaging remarks to the boy, according to a complaint filed against the teacher. She also allegedly called on him in class and addressed him by remarking:
“Okay the Taliban, what is the answer?”
Wardani’s father,?Youssef Hassan Wardani, told the school board that the five-day suspension was not nearly as harsh as it should be in light of what Valdes said to his son:
“You have failed every teacher and parent and child in this district just to hide Mrs. Maria Valdes and racists like her.”
Tracy Clark, a spokesperson for the Broward County Schools, said the school system is committed to diversity:
“The diversity of our students, our families and this community is of tantamount importance to us as a school district.”
But you cannot help but wonder how the right wing in this country would howl if a teacher were to address a Christian student as a “Bible-thumping Godsquad member” or use an anti-Semitic epithet against a Jewish child. Would the suspension be longer than five days in a case like that?
Youssef Hassan Wardani vows that the issue is far from over in his mind. He told the school board:
“We are not alone, and we’re not going anywhere, and you are in violation, and you all should be removed for bullying.?Our son is not a raghead Taliban. Replace it with something else. Our son is not a bully. Replace it with something else. Our son is not the n-word. Our son is not a KKK.”
The Wardani family is also considering further legal action against Maria Valdes and the school district.
