Texas governor demands teacher fired for giving students assignment that compares police to the KKK 

The governor of Texas has called for the firing of a junior high teacher after an assignment was set based on a cartoon likening police to slave masters and the KKK.

The unnamed teacher tasked eighth grade students at Raymond Cooper Junior High, in Wylie, 30 miles out of Dallas, to write about the offensive cartoon.

An email from the school principal to parents said ‘teachers wanted to provide the students with current events to analyze the Bill of Rights.’

Some parents did not have a problem with the lesson, saying it was taken out of context. 

One parent told CBS 11 News that the lesson was necessary, because it sparked a ‘difficult conversation.’

Students at a junior high school in Wylie, Texas, were set an assignment based on this cartoon

Raymond Cooper Junior High, in Wylie, 30 miles out of Dallas, set the assignment

The row escalated when Joe Gamaldi, vice president of the Fraternal Order of Police, tweeted the cartoon on Thursday.

‘This is abhorrent and disgusting, and only further widens the gap between police officers and the youth in our community,’ said Gamaldi.

Abbott then tweeted his call for the teacher to be fired.

‘A teacher in a Texas public school comparing police officers to the KKK is beyond unacceptable,’ he said on Saturday. 

‘It’s the opposite of what must be taught. 

‘The teacher should be fired. I’m asking the Texas Education Agency to investigate and take action.’

Gamaldi, vice president of the FOP, tweeted that the assignment was ‘abhorrent’

Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, then demanded that the teacher be fired

Wylie school district has apologized. 

‘Wylie ISD is aware that a junior high social studies lesson taught at one of our schools included political cartoons that have been divisive in our community,’ they said in a statement. 

‘These political cartoons portrayed in this lesson are not part of the district’s curriculum resources or documents. The assignment has been removed, and students will not be expected to complete it. 

‘We will continue to work with our staff to ensure content follows the state curriculum.’

They also tweeted an apology, saying: ‘We are sorry for any hurt that may have been caused by a lesson that included political cartoons that reflected negatively on LEOs. We value them and will do better.’