A Detroit teacher has reportedly been fired after breaking up an in-class fight between students with a broom.
Two male students are seen fighting for at least 30 seconds on a cellphone video before the unidentified female teacher at Pershing High School intervenes, apparently striking one of the students on the back with the broom multiple times, MyFoxDetroit.com reports.
Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said he understood the teacher’s motive for using the broom, but said she was wrong for using the object as she did.
"Unfortunately, the method that she used, in terms of swatting one with a broom, is a violation of the corporal punishment provision under the Michigan school code,” Johnson said. “But she's caught in a quandary because under that same code she's expected to do what is necessary to diffuse a situation.”
The high school is part of the Education Achievement Authority, Michigan’s school turnaround district.
The two boys in the fight have been suspended for 10 days. The teacher, meanwhile, who was hired earlier this year, can appeal the firing during a meeting next month, district officials said.
Kiren Lowery, one of the students who has admitted to taking part in the fight, said the fired teacher was one of his favorites, but added he doesn’t feel responsible for her termination. She should have waited for security to come, he told MyFoxDetroit.com.
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