A New Jersey middle school has reassigned a teacher to duties outside of the classroom during the Pledge of Allegiance after community members complained that her decision to take a knee was forcing a political agenda on impressionable students.
The matter was raised in an October 2 Vineland Board of Education meeting when Ron Maccri ‘piggybacked’ off another audience member’s concern about the woman working at Sgt. Dominick Pilla Middle School.
‘I was law enforcement for 25 years, when I went to roll call every morning, I had to stand at attention. I couldn’t take a knee because I was working off of tax money, as she is,’ Maccri told the board.
‘If I took a knee, I would be sent home and progressive discipline would go from there. If you wanna be self-righteous go somewhere else. Not in our schools.’
The ex-cop also noted how the school is named after the U.S. Army Ranger killed October 3, 1993 while on the Battle of Mogadishu mission in Somalia.
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Ex-cop Ron Maccri spoke about the issue involving an unidentified teacher during the October 2 Vineland Board of Education Meeting in New Jersey
The school board listened as he said in his law enforcement days he ‘couldn’t take a knee because I was working off of tax money, as she is’ and they have now reassigned her
The complaint came from Sgt. Dominick Pilla Middle School where the woman teaches ‘impressionable’ 11-year-olds
Maccri then accused the unidentified teacher of crossing the line into assuming a mother role in the classroom due to her opting not to salute the flag in the same manner NFL players have in recent years to draw attention to police brutality and racial inequality in the country.
‘Parenting happens in the home. Not in schools, they are there to educate,’ Maccri continued. ‘I respect them for what they do, just educate, that’s all. That’s your job.
‘Teachers are paid to educate our students, they are not paid to indoctrinate our students. What this woman is doing would be bad in any school but because it’s in the Dominick Pilla – who gave his life, is reprehensible. There are 11-year-old children in that class.’
Prior to his speech, a military veteran had approached the issue and asked whether it was ‘part of the school’s policy for teachers to set that type of an example’.
The ex-cop also noted how the school is named after the U.S. Army Ranger killed October 3, 1993 while on the Battle of Mogadishu mission in Somalia
Pilla was one of eighteen Americans killed during the Battle of Mogadishu. He was shot while riding in a Humvee, as a convoy transported an injured fellow Army Ranger back to base following the downing of two Black Hawk helicopters
Maccri added: ‘If you wanna be self-righteous go somewhere else. Not in our schools’. He vowed to bring more people to the next meeting if nothing was done
NFL players have in recent years taken a knee to draw attention to police brutality and racial inequality in the country
Randy London – a veteran who served 20 years in the military complained how ‘that type of behavior offends me’.
‘I’ve risked my life hundreds of times to save people I didn’t know. I’ve saved thousands and thousands of pounds of illegal drugs from coming into this country, all for the flag and what this country stands for,’ he shared.
‘I’m not saying everyone has to agree with everything but there should be no teacher taking a knee during the Pledge of Allegiance.’
Maccri noted that the school rules and regulations state that ‘you cannot bring political agendas into the classroom’.
He warned the board that if nothing is done by the next meeting, he’d take the issue further.
‘This is a political agenda. She’s a self-righteous social warrior,’ he lashed out. ‘This needs to stop. Something needs to be done. I’m not going to go away and if nothing happens, next time I’m going to have more people here.’
With the former police officer saying he doesn’t want to see anybody get fired or suspended, the district executive director of personnel, Joe Rossi, told The Daily Journal that the teacher did not mean anything political by kneeling.
Randy London – a veteran who served 20 years in the military complained how ‘that type of behavior offends me’. He added: ‘I’m not saying everyone has to agree with everything but there should be no teacher taking a knee during the Pledge of Allegiance’
Rossi said on Tuesday that as a compromise the principal, Ismael Bermudez, has ‘reassigned homeroom oversight so the teacher would have alternate duties during opening announcements.’
The district noted that First Amendment rights played a factor in the arrangement.
‘It is a reasonable compromise that balances a school employee’s free exercise of their religion versus a parent’s concern of how that free exercise may influence their child,’ union president Lou Russo said. ‘We requested a legal opinion from our state affiliate and await its findings.’