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Social media users uploaded a video of California educator Kristin Pitzen instructing her students to recite the oath of allegiance in front of a Progress Pride flag.
“All right, so during third period we do announcements and they do the Pledge of Allegiance,” she laughed in the video, which she has since taken down. “Stand if you feel like it, don’t stand if you feel like it, and say the words if you want,” is the general advice I give my kids. It is not necessary to speak the words. My class decided to stand instead of saying the words. Okay. Unless you include the fact that my room is flag-free.
She went on to say that she had removed the American flag, placed it somewhere, and couldn’t find it.
My student stated, “Hey, it’s kind of weird that we just stand and say it to nothing,” today. In the meantime, I remind the child, “We do have a flag in the class that you can pledge your allegiance to,” As she imitated her student pointing to the Pride flag, she said, “And he like looks around and goes, ‘Oh, that one?’…”
The reason she allegedly took off the Stars and Stripes was because it made her feel “uncomfortable.”
As anticipated, Pitzen’s video elicited a harsh response from the public.
In a statement, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District said that it has begun looking into Pitzen in relation to the video. While the inquiry continues, she has been placed on administrative leave.
The district said in its statement that “we assure you that we take matters like this seriously.” “We instill in our students the importance of respecting our nation’s flag, and we expect our employees to do the same.”
A personal post by a teacher about the American flag is causing alarm/concern. Respecting our flag is a value we instill in students and is an expectation of our staff. We take this matter with extreme seriousness and are investigating and addressing it.
— Newport-Mesa USD (@nmusd) August 28, 2021
One social media user said that Pitzen “is an absolute disgrace to teachers” and advised her not to bring her personal “views and political stances into the classroom.”
“While I have nothing against the pride flag, it was the banner that caused the deaths of 13 service people in Afghanistan a few days ago. Respect it! Another person commented.
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